Shadowing Practice: I Studied Neuroscience For A Year, Here's All You Need To Know - Learn English Speaking with Video
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I spent the last year studying neuroscience because I was tired of quitting every single habit that I started.
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Then I tested every single thing that I found on myself.
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And I found out the real reason I kept quitting wasn't motivation, willpower, discipline, or laziness.
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It's something that almost nobody talks about.
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In this notebook, I have pages and pages of protocols, tests, and results I've been collecting over the past year.
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Half of it did nothing, but the other half I still do every day.
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So in this video, I'm breaking down every single discovery that I made, which popular discipline advice works versus is a complete scam.
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The one thing that I learned that changed my life more in one week than the whole 11 months before.
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So let's start with the one concept
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that everything else in this notebook is built on because none of the other discoveries make sense without this one.
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It's called predictive processing and once you understand it you'll never think about discipline the same way again.
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So think about the last habit that you tried to build.
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Maybe it was going to the gym or journaling or meditating.
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Every single habit no matter what it is comes with a certain amount of resistance.
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That resistance shows up as procrastination, which is like putting off doing the habit all day, or negotiation, which is that voice in your head that's like, you don't have to do it today, why don't you do it tomorrow?
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So every single habit generates a certain amount of resistance.
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Now I used to think that my laziness was generating my resistance.
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My laziness was making me want to procrastinate or negotiate, that I just needed to try harder and lock in.
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But now that I've studied the psychology of the brain, I've realized that it's actually more complicated than that.
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See, that resistance is being generated by something very specific.
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And once you understand what it is, you're going to know exactly how to make discipline feel effortless.
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That's what this whole video is about.
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So what's actually creating the resistance that you feel before doing a habit?
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This is where predictive processing comes in.
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Basically, before you even like think about doing the habit, your brain has already run a quick background check on you using every past experience it has on file.
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And it's already decided how much resistance to hand you before you even move.
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That background check is basically three questions.
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Can I actually do this?
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Will I follow through?
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And is this the kind of thing that I even do?
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Your brain answers all three questions instantly using your history, not your intentions or goals.
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And whatever it decides becomes the resistance that you feel.
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If your history says, yes, I can do this.
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I will follow through.
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This is the kind of thing that I do.
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Your brain doesn't give you a lot of resistance.
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So the habit feels But if your history says, no, I can't do this because I've tried to build the habit before and failed every time,
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your brain piles on a whole bunch of extra resistance before you've even started moving.
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This is the difference between acting with or against your self-belief.
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You are never just doing the habit.
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You're doing the habit plus whatever resistance your brain has decided
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to add based on a prediction it made about you before you even walked into the room.
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But the good news is, predictions can change when the evidence that it uses changes, which means the resistance can change too.
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That's exactly what the rest of this video is about.
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How to build new, better proof so your brain starts predicting a different version of you.
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So now we know your resistance is created by how much your brain believes that you can actually do the habit.
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So the next question is simple.
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What is that belief actually made of and how do you change it?
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So there's a concept in psychology called your self-concept.
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It's just your brain's file on who it believes you are.
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Think of it like a folder your brain pulls up every single time you're about to do something.
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And that file is made up of two things.
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What you believe about yourself, which is your beliefs, and what you actually do, which is your behaviors.
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Not one or the other, but both together.
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And the reason that it's both is because they both feed each other.
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What you do changes what you believe about yourself
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and what you believe about yourself determines the amount of resistance
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which changes what you do now here's how those two things work together
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because this part is what ties everything back to resistance the amount of resistance you feel directly controls how easy
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or hard a behavior is to do low resistance the behavior is easy
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so you're more likely to do it high resistance
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and the behavior is hard so you're less likely to do it
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and here's where the loop closes whether you did the habit
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or skipped it your brain files
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that as evidence you did it that's evidence you're capable you skipped it that's evidence you're not
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and that new evidence updates your belief about yourself and
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that belief is exactly what sets your resistance the next time
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so it's a full circle belief sets resistance resistance decides whether you do the habit what you do becomes evidence
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and evidence resets the belief this is exactly why the loop can trap you in place if your belief is low
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resistance is high so then you're more likely to skip the habit
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which becomes more evidence that you can't do it
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which keeps the belief low it's the same loop just running in the wrong direction over
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and over and this loop is why some people stay stuck for years
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but it's also the cheat code
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which you'll see why in a second see most people think that becoming your dream self is just a mindset thing.
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Like if you just believe in yourself enough or get motivated enough or manifest, you'll eventually turn into her.
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But that's not actually true.
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Your dream self isn't just someone with different beliefs, she's also someone who does different things.
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She wakes up earlier, she follows through on stuff that your current self would talk herself out of.
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So the gap between who you are now and who you want to be isn't just one gap, it's two gaps, a belief gap and a behavior gap held together by that same loop that we just talked about.
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So how do you actually close both gaps as fast as possible?
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Well this is something that I talk about in my book and it's called the proof bridge.
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So picture a number line.
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Zero is where you're at right now and 100 is where your dream self is.
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Now you don't jump from zero to 100 like most people online tell you to do.
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You move one block at a time and every block does two things at once.
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It's a real action that you took so a behavior that's closer to your dream self,
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and it's a piece of evidence that your brain uses to update its belief about what it thinks you're capable of.
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And once that belief updates, your resistance drops, because now your brain believes it's something that you actually do, not just something you're trying to do.
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That's why one single block can close both gaps at the same time.
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You did the behavior and your belief moved with it.
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So that's the loop.
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One real action becomes one piece of evidence that evidence updates your belief
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and your resistance drops because of it it's simple right do the thing get the block
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and move down the line towards your dream self except it's not quite
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that simple because here's something
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that i didn't tell you yet not every block is actually worth the same amount
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because sometimes an action can count for way more than one block on
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that line and other times that same action doesn't even count for one whole point
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and the reason why comes down to something happening in your brain the second after you do an action
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that you don't even realize is happening
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and that's exactly what we're getting into next so we just established
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that the gap between who you are right now
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and your dream self is closed by one proof block at a time moving down
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that number line from zero to 100
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but like i said before not every single proof block is worth the same amount
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and this is where emotional memory tagging comes in.
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See, your brain doesn't just log what you did.
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It logs what you did, plus how you felt about it right after.
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That feeling becomes part of the file and it directly controls how many proof block points that that action is worth.
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So two people can do the exact identical action, same workout, same effort, everything,
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and walk away with completely different amounts of progress on the number line purely based on the meaning
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that they attach to it.
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So what do I mean by this?
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So let's say like a part of your dream self is somebody who's like super fit, super active, right?
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So one of the actions to build towards that is like going to the gym.
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So let's say going to the gym, you know, on a day is worth one point to build towards that dream self.
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If you do it and after you work out, you think that doesn't really count, you know, it was an easy workout, your brain barely registers it.
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The behavior happened, you did it, but the block barely counts.
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Maybe it's like a fraction of a point like maybe 0.25 of a point versus the whole one point
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but if you do the same action going to the gym
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and you say after you do the workout I said I was going to go to the gym today
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and I went to the gym this proves
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that I am becoming my dream self
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and really feel it your brain follows it as strong evidence
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and that same action can be worth maybe two to three points on the line just
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because of how you emotionally tagged it in your brain so the same behavior and same effort in the workout
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but completely different distance covered on the number line just based on what you told yourself right after.
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But there's a trap here, one that I fell into for months without even noticing it, and it was quietly stealing my progress and my points on the number line the whole time.
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You might feel like, why would I ever dismiss my own win?
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Why would I tell myself that the action that I did, even if it was easy, it didn't matter, right?
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Nobody wakes up and decides, today I'm going to undermine my own progress.
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It happens automatically without you noticing because it's something your brain does to literally everything that you repeat.
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The more you do something, the less special it feels.
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This is basic psychology and this is called habituation.
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The first time is new and so it's exciting and fun or hard or impressive.
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But by the hundredth time, your brain has adjusted and it stops registering as a big deal.
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But there's a second layer that makes this worse and it's the real trap.
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As you get more consistent, your standards, what you expect of yourself and what you fall to,
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your standards quietly rise along with you without you ever deciding to raise them.
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Something that would have blown your mind three years ago becomes the new normal.
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It stops feeling like proof of anything and I call this the raised bar trap.
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The more progress that you actually make, the higher your bar climbs until your own wins stop registering as wins at all.
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And here's a real example of this from my own life.
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I go to the gym about three to four times a week now and it honestly just feels normal.
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I don't think twice about it but if I could show
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that to the version of me
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that was struggling to go to the gym four years ago who could barely get through a single workout, she would be blown away.
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Same action, same you know three to four times a week consistency
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but because I've done it so many times my bar rose without me noticing
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and now it doesn't feel impressive at all even though it absolutely still counts as proof.
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This is why proof blocks quietly lose their value over time if you're not paying attention.
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So the raised bar trap is one way your brain quietly shrinks proof blocks after you've earned it
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but there's something way more damaging than that.
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Something that doesn't just shrink a block.
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It goes back and deletes blocks that you already placed blocks
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that were sitting there already counted already part of your progress and it usually shows up wearing a disguise
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dressed up as responsibility and that's exactly what we're getting into next.
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So this next concept is one of the most well-documented patterns in psychology and it's extremely dangerous to your progress.
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Like we need to take this seriously.
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Let me show you what this actually looks like.
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So imagine you're at your daughter's soccer practice.
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She's new to soccer and she's not the best yet but she's she really likes playing it.
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So at practice, she misses an easy shot.
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And the coach storms over, gets right in her face, and says, What's wrong with you?
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You always do this.
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Why can't you just make a shot like Sally over there?
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You're never going to be any good if you keep messing up like this.
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Now, what would you do?
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If you're like me, you'd probably walk over to the field and say something.
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You know, that's not coaching.
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That's cruel.
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No kid deserves to be talked that way over a missed shot.
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Now, I want you to picture a different coach walking over after the same exact easy miss.
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This coach kneels down to her level, slows everything down, and says, hey, you know, that happens to everyone.
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Let's look at what happened and figure it out together.
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I believe in you.
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Let's go again.
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So the same mistake was made, but we have two completely different responses.
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You don't even have to think for a second which coach is going to get better results
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and which one makes your kid want to come back tomorrow instead of quitting.
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Now here's what I need you to sit with.
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The first coach, the one that you wanted to probably pull off the field and maybe punch in the face, is probably exactly how you're talking to yourself after you miss a habit.
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And you probably don't even notice that you're doing it.
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Now what I'm about to show you is exactly what
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that voice is doing to your brain mechanically because once you see it, you can't unsee it.
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So we already know that your beliefs are built from proof blocks, real verified evidence that your brain stacks up over time to decide who you are
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but here's what most people don't realize shame
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when you miss a habit doesn't just fail to add a new block it actively pulls down blocks
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that you've already earned when you miss a habit
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which is going to happen because nobody's ever 100 consistent that'd be perfection
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and no human's ever been perfect when you miss a habit
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and the shame coach shows up i always do this what's
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wrong with me why can't do what everybody else is able to do it.
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I never stick to anything.
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Your brain doesn't just file that as one small miss.
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It files it as a rule about who you are.
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This is what I always do.
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One event just became a pattern.
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And like I said, that pattern doesn't just cancel out one small miss.
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It reaches backwards and knocks down blocks you already placed.
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Because your brain now believes that that pattern outweighs individual proof.
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One miss day is just one data point.
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It's supposed to costs you just one block, but the shame spiral that follows can cost you five, ten, all from a story that you told yourself about a single moment.
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People think that the shame coach is the responsible one.
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It feels like accountability.
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It feels like you're taking things seriously instead of letting yourself off easy, but there's a real difference between the two voices.
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The belief coach asks, what happened?
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What can I do about it?
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What do we adjust?
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Let's go again.
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It keeps your proof blocks standing and just adds a correction.
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But the shame coach asks, what's wrong with me?
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And tears the blocks down instead.
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The trap is that shame feels productive, but being cruel to yourself isn't the same as improving.
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So once you can actually hear the shame coach show up and recognize it as just a voice, not a fact, you can choose to switch coaches in the moment.
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You don't have to silence it forever, you just have to notice it and ask what would the belief coach say instead.
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That single swap is the difference between a missed day staying as a missed day
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or turning into a collapse that costs you weeks of proof that you've already built.
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I hope you enjoyed this video and I'll see you in the next one.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you’ll practice English speaking by engaging with a video that blends neuroscience and habit-building. You’ll focus on understanding complex ideas like "predictive processing" and "self-concept" while improving your fluency through shadowing. This content is perfect for English speaking practice and even IELTS speaking practice, as it challenges you to follow conversational explanations and replicate natural tone and pacing.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Predictive processing: The brain’s ability to forecast outcomes using past experiences.
- Resistance: The mental barrier that makes habits hard to start (e.g., procrastination or negotiation).
- Self-concept: Your brain’s "file" on who it believes you are, shaped by history.
- Procrastination: Putting off tasks, often due to perceived resistance.
- Follow through: To complete a task or habit you’ve started.
Practice Tips
To master shadow speech with this video, start by breaking it into 10-second clips. The speaker’s tone is conversational but informative, so focus on matching their pace—pausing slightly when they emphasize key terms like "predictive processing." Use a shadowing app to record yourself and compare: did you stress "resistance" the same way? For shadowspeak practice, repeat phrases like "your brain has already run a quick background check" immediately after the speaker, mimicking their intonation. This trains your brain to process and reproduce complex sentences in real time, a critical skill for English speaking practice. Remember: the goal isn’t perfection—it’s to build muscle memory for natural speech patterns. Over time, you’ll notice less hesitation, even when discussing abstract concepts like those in the video.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've studied · has already run · I've tried |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is built · being generated · is created |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | procrastination, which is · changes, which means · yourself, which is |
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.