Shadowing Practice: I'm 44. If you're in your 20's watch this. - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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At the time of doing this video, I'm 44 years old, and if I could go back and talk to my 20-year-old self and give me some advice, here's what I would say.
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At the time of doing this video, I'm 44 years old, and if I could go back and talk to my 20-year-old self and give me some advice, here's what I would say.
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Number one, you will see a massive divide between the people who took care of their bodies and those who didn't.
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Number two, getting eight hours of sleep and taking a nice 30-minute walk in nature is going to help you better than any health guru on the planet.
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Number three, sleep is the best legal performance enhancing drug on the planet.
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You sleep for one third of your life.
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You might as well make it amazing.
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Now, if you're wondering how to do that, I have a free guide that you can download in the description below that teaches you the protocol that we use to help clients 10x their sleep quality and have amazing nights.
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Number four, your parents did the best they could with what they had been taught.
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So one of the best things that you could do, at least for your own mental peace, is to forgive them, to avoid the resentment, and to understand that they didn't have the tools that you have right now.
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Number five, exercise is the most underutilized antidepressant and food is the most abused drug.
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Number six, what you measure is what you manage.
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If you want to get better at anything, you must track it.
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Number seven, any list that says that you should be doing X things by 30 years old are f***ing bullshit.
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You have your own timing when it comes to this life.
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You must honor it.
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Number eight, as you level up, your friends are going to change.
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Accept this because it just is what it is.
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Number nine, at some point it is going to be the last time that you spend with a friend.
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Make sure that you take every single moment and cherish them as if it were your last.
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Number 10, if you hang around someone and you feel like your energy was just zapped out of your body after hanging with them, take this as a signal to not hang around that person again.
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Number 11, your diet consists of not only your food, but the information you take in and the friends that you hang around.
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Be mindful of all three of these choices.
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Number 12, if you want better results, you have to find better friends.
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This doesn't mean that you have to get rid of the friends that you're hanging around right now, but it does mean that you have to level up in terms of the people that you surround yourself with.
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Number 13, the less f**ks you give about what other people think, the more peaceful you are going to be.
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Number 14, your brain is a piece of software.
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You upgrade it by reading amazing books, doing courses, learning new skills, crushing new challenges, and choosing the people you surround yourself with.
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Number 15, your body is a piece of hardware that you upgrade through cardio, stretching, and lifting.
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Number 16, create a habit of always paying off your credit card at the end of each month.
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One of the quickest ways to create financial frustration is to always be mired in consumer debt.
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Number 17, create a habit of saving at least 10% of what you earn.
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And this is regardless of how much debt that you have.
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And the reason I say this is because the more money that you're able to see in your bank, the more secure you're going to feel overall.
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Make sure you learn how to invest so you can understand how to turn your dollars into more dollars.
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19.
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Make it a habit of spending quality time away from your phone every single day.
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A great life is lived outside, not in front of a screen.
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20.
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Learn how to be bored.
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The ability to be bored without having to distract yourself is a superpower in modern society.
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Number 21, write a vision out for your life and then break that vision down into three-year goals and then break those three-year goals down into one-year goals and then afterwards you want to take those one-year goals and then break them down into quarterly projects which will then turn into monthly tasks and then these are the tasks that you're gonna be lining up your week with.
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This is the formula to turning your vision into an actual reality.
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Number 22, train yourself to get the most important task done at the beginning of the day.
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This is called eating the frog and when you do this, you are going to make sure that you are pushing your projects forward and hitting your goals and doing at least one thing every single day that gets you closer to the goals that you set for yourself.
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yourself.
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Number 23, hire mentors or coaches as fast as humanly possible.
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They will get you from point A to point B much faster than any book or course ever could.
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Number 24, pay whatever money it takes to get yourself into better rooms.
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Invest in the mastermind.
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Go to the conferences.
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This is one of the best ways to build out your network.
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Number 25, self-pity and arguing for your excuses are signs of learned helplessness.
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Avoid these at all costs because these are damaging your spirit.
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Number 26.
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If you are feeling uncomfortable, it actually means that you're growing.
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Instead of trying to resist it, invite it and understand that feeling this is a path to a better version of yourself.
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Number 27.
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The foods you eat affect your gut and your gut affects your brain.
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If you want your brain to work better, then you have to improve the quality of the foods that you put into your body.
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Number 28, the things you want are on the other side of facing your fears.
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A good life was never a comfortable life.
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Number 29, worrying is wasted energy.
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You will never make a problem better by just the sheer amount of worry that you place upon it.
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Number 30, a goal is simply a destination and the steps to attain it are going to be your GPS.
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Do not put more focus on the goal as opposed to the actual steps that's going to take you there to get to the destination.
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31.
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Sleep is more important than food.
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You can go a week without food and even lose a little bit of weight.
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But if you go a couple days without sleep, you become the absolute worst version of yourself.
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Number 32, get your body to a level where food and pharmaceutical companies cannot profit off of you.
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Number 33, choosing who you're going to partner with in this life is going to be the most important decision that you make.
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avoid making the choice based on looks alone.
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They have to fit your personality and values.
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Number 34.
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When you're younger, you live in the cities for more opportunities and a better network.
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And when you get older, you want to live in small towns, especially if you have a family, for more peace of mind and just more tranquil settings.
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Number 35.
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Life is way too short to not live in the place that suits your personality.
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Number 36, make sure that you choose your habits and your vices wisely because the older that you get, the harder it is to break a habit.
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Number 37, cut off all energy and happiness vampires from your life.
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They will do nothing but drain you and you have to be ruthless about the people that you spend the most time around.
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38.
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Make sure that you get married and have kids on your own timeline and not anyone else's.
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39.
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Live life according to your rules.
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Not your parents, not the people around you, and not some random dude off of the internet.
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40.
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Don't take anything that I said at face level.
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Test them out on your own.
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In your own life, everyone is going to be different.
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And if they work for you, awesome.
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If they don't, then you can disregard them and get rid of them.
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When I was in my 20s, I thought life would be worse when I got to my 40s.
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What I realized is that age is largely a factor of how you perceive it.
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Now I'm 44 years old and I feel much better than I did in my 20s and each year keeps on getting better and better.
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So if you are watching this and you're feeling a little bit lost, I hope this video pointed you in the right direction.
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I had a lot of fun doing it and I'll see you on the next one.
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Take care.
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About This Lesson

You're practicing English with "I'm 44. If you're in your 20's watch this." using the Shadowing technique — a method originally developed for professional interpreter training.

Focus on sounding like the speaker — not just repeating words. With 15–30 minutes of daily practice, you'll build real-world speaking confidence.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

How to Practice Effectively on ShadowingEnglish

  1. Choose your video: Pick a YouTube video with clear, natural English speech. TED Talks, BBC News, movie scenes, podcasts, or IELTS sample answers all work great. Paste the URL into the search bar. Start with shorter videos (under 5 minutes) and content you find genuinely interesting — motivation matters.
  2. Listen first, understand the context: On your first pass, keep the speed at 1x and just listen. Don't try to repeat yet. Focus on understanding the meaning, picking up new vocabulary, and noticing how the speaker stresses words, links sounds, and uses pauses.
  3. Set up Shadowing mode:
    • Wait Mode: Choose +3s or +5s — after each sentence plays, the video pauses automatically so you have time to repeat it out loud. Choose Manual if you want full control and press Next yourself after each repetition.
    • Sub Sync: YouTube subtitles sometimes appear slightly ahead or behind the audio. Use ±100ms to align them perfectly so you can follow along accurately.
  4. Shadow out loud (the core practice): This is where the real work happens. As soon as a sentence plays — or during the pause — repeat it out loud, clearly and confidently. Don't just mouth the words: mirror the speaker's exact rhythm, stress, pitch, and connected speech. Aim to sound like a shadow of the speaker, not just a word-by-word recitation. Use the Repeat feature to drill the same sentence multiple times until it feels natural.
  5. Scale up the challenge: Once a passage feels comfortable, push your limits. Increase speed to <code>1.25x</code> or even <code>1.5x</code> to train high-speed language reflexes. Or set Wait Mode to <code>Off</code> for continuous shadowing — the most advanced and rewarding mode. Consistent daily practice of 15–30 minutes will produce noticeable results within weeks.

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