Shadowing Practice: I used to be addicted to discipline until I realized this - Learn English Speaking with Video

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priorities right you got to figure out what your priorities are
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if you want to be a great leader
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if you want to be able to manage multiple things you have to first be able to manage yourself
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so what are the priorities that you have to yourself obviously making sure
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that you're healthy going to the gym we know this
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but you also can't get lost in that too
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because a lot of people get lost
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and okay i'm just going to be at the gym
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or i'm just going to make money
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and i won't focus on anything else i've noticed the people
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who make the most money they they manage people people help them make more money
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so you have to be good with people
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and that's something I've had to learn for a
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while even having my my tech startup I had to manage
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people developer teams co-founders I had to manage investor investor expectations there were a lot of different things
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that had to be managed so your time management skills have to be elite
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so there's a lot of people they want to have multiple businesses but they don't know how to manage their time.
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So for me, it's always in the morning.
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I always make sure that, and sometimes I struggle with this first hour, no phone, no nothing.
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I might read a little bit.
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I'll also pray.
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I'll meditate.
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I'll do all these different things just to clear my mind for the day, start with positive thoughts, and then I'll go right into, okay, what's the hardest thing I can get done right now?
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So when I do this and I wake up earlier, not just for the self-improvement bullshit of waking up early but
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because strategically my wife stays asleep for a longer period of time in the morning
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so I have all of that time let's say I wake up at 6 a.m.
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I from 6 a.m to 10 p.m of pure work
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and most humans they work hard for four hours
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and the rest is bullshit
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so I have those four hours to get as many things
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done as I possibly can all of the tasks I need to get done
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because I live in Eastern Europe the time zone with the U.S is different
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so everyone's still sleeping I can send all the messages to my team.
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A lot of the people that work with me are here in Eastern Europe as well, so I can message them.
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When they get up, they can see it.
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Handle the communication side of things.
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Go to the gym probably an hour after my wife wakes up.
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Go for an hour.
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I strictly keep it at an hour.
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Don't want to spend too much time.
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Come back home, eat something real quick.
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I keep all of my meals very simple.
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One macro nutrient per meal typically.
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And I try to keep this pattern and I give myself sprints and you should also give yourself sprints.
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Let's say you want to do multiple businesses, right?
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You want to start with, let's say a three to six month sprint in one business that you want to run just to validate it.
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That's essentially what I'm doing right now with the business that I have.
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Six months, go as hard as you can, validate the business, get to a point where you can hire some people to handle all the things you don't want to do.
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That is the only time you move on to another business.
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The biggest mistake I made was trying to do three
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or four things all at once and not having anybody to help me with it and having to do everything.
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So my attention was spread so thin that at the end of the day, I got nothing done.
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There was no depth in anything.
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There was no value created even more in anything.
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Everything was just spread out evenly so
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that caused a lot of confusion it caused me to quit a lot of things very fast
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and very easily but at this point in time what i've noticed is
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when you have a real mission
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which i believe every man should have a mission there are
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a lot of men who don't know what their mission is find one find something
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that scares you for me transparently my mission is to build a billion dollar last name
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that truly is my mission that has scared me for years why because
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who the fuck does that who wakes up
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and says i want my last name to be worth a
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billion dollars who even compares themselves to tom ford to um
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i don't know ralph loren like all of these guys who
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built their last names from nothing nobody in the modern times do that
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so for me as a crazy person the only way for
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me to actually succeed in this life i've figured out my name has to be tied to something.
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That is my sole mission for myself in the material world is how much can your last name be worth?
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Not even just with money, but also with respect, with, you know, acknowledgement, with distribution, right?
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How can you build that value for that name in on buildings?
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How can your name be on different buildings?
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How can you have that reputation that you can pass on to your children, that your wife can be proud that she holds your last name?
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That's how deep this shit goes for me.
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So you have to take that.
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And I'm not saying that should be your mission, but you got to figure out, well, what the fuck am I aiming for?
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Because most guys, they aim so low that they have to be super disciplined, super grind set, super everything,
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because they don't even like the shit that they're doing.
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They realize it's way too small.
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So to make that thing seem significant, they have to feel like they're working 15-20 hours a day grinding, grinding, grinding, super tense all the time.
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But I've noticed the people who have massive things
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that they're working on love to have fun because they know what the big thing is that they're doing.
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They have all of the highest leverage activities to make that thing a reality.
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So they optimize their time for that.
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And any free time they have, they enjoy it with their loved ones.
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They enjoy it with their friends.
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they don't talk about business all the time because what they're doing is big enough.
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When what you're doing is not big enough or it's too small, you don't really see what the end goal is.
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All you can do is make yourself feel better by you being the guy who grinds all of the time
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so that people can feel bad for you so that people can see like, oh yeah, like he's suffering.
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He's suffering for the suffering for what?
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What is the point of suffering?
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I don't believe in suffering.
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I used to believe in suffering.
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I used to believe in discipline.
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I used to believe in all that.
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But when you're going for some shit that you truly want to do, which I believe most men are not You don't need discipline for that.
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I don't need discipline to wake up at 6 a.m.
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If I know what I'm going for I used to need
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discipline to build just a regular coaching business I used to need discipline to build something, you know Like a small little business that I was trying here and there
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that has had no Like psychological effect on me no tie
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to me at all just some random business just to make money I had to force myself to do that.
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I had a lead gen agency I was working on with my friends.
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I had to force myself to do that.
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Because there was no legacy tied to it for me.
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That was my internal driver.
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So most men, find what your internal driver is.
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Find what drives you to do the things that you truly want to do.
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So that you don't have to feel like you're grinding.
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I go, I talk to some of the richest people I know, and none of them feel like they're grinding.
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They all don't even wanna retire.
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I met this guy when I was in Nice, he sat next to me and I remember at the very end of the conversation, I was like, when are you gonna retire?
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He's like, buddy, I'm 70 years old, I'm not retiring.
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I'm doing this for the rest of my life.
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I'm having the time of my life.
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And that taught me something very important, which was if you're doing exactly what you're supposed to do, what you truly want to do, what you're truly built to do,
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you will never want to retire because what you're doing is not a fucking job.
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What you're doing is a mission that's lifelong, that will always evolve, that will always get better over time.
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Until then, everything will be a grind.
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Your life will feel miserable.
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You'll think like, oh, I'm going to put in five years of hard work into this thing, only to see yourself burn out at the very end of it,
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lose all of your relationships because you were that one guy who never wanted to share your time with other people.
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And on your deathbed, the one thing
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that you'll remember is all of the times that you didn't spend with your loved ones, that you didn't build relationships with people, because you were grinding for this one thing that didn't even fucking matter when you died.
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I know for a fact, if I, if on my deathbed, if I found out that my last name was one of the biggest last names in the world, and that my kids had it,
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and that their kids would have it, and that everybody would know what it was and basically would live on after me.
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I'm good with dying at that point.
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But until you find something like that, it'll be really hard to accomplish the big things that I believe all men are capable of.
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So think about that.
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I know this is a deep video and I appreciate you.
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Go for the biggest thing you want.
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Aim for the moon.
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Or was it shoot for the stars, land on the moon, which means it doesn't matter how high you aim even
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if you you land a little bit short you're still leagues
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away from most people who even try to aim for the short things anyway
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so you might as well go big going big only helps
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you it's easier to go for something that's big than it is to go for something that's small
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because if you fail at something that's big you still accomplish the small shit
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that seems bigger than anything anybody else has done i'll catch you on the next video

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Why Practice Speaking with This Video?

Want to level up your English speaking while learning real-world time management and entrepreneurship tips? This video is perfect for english speaking practice—it’s conversational, packed with natural phrases, and covers relatable topics like balancing work, health, and goals. Plus, the speaker’s tone is casual yet focused, making it ideal for shadowspeak (repeating aloud to mimic rhythm and pronunciation). Whether you’re a beginner or intermediate learner, practicing with this dialogue helps you master everyday expressions for discussing routines, priorities, and business strategies. It’s like having a friendly mentor guide you through both language and life skills!

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Let’s break down key phrases to boost your fluency:

  • "I used to be addicted to discipline until I realized this": The structure "used to + verb" talks about past habits, while "until" shows a turning point. Great for sharing personal growth stories.
  • "You have to be good with people": "Have to" emphasizes necessity, and "good with" is a common phrase for describing social skills. Use it to talk about work or relationships.
  • "I give myself sprints": "Give oneself" is a reflexive verb phrase, and "sprints" (short, intense efforts) is a metaphor for focused work. Perfect for discussing goals—try saying, "I’m doing a 3-month sprint to finish my project."
  • "The biggest mistake I made was trying to do three": "The biggest mistake + subject + was + gerund" is a useful structure for admitting errors. It’s more natural than "I made a mistake by..."

These phrases are practical for learn english with youtube sessions—repeat them aloud to build muscle memory!

Common Pronunciation Traps

Watch out for these tricky sounds:

  • "Priorities": Pronounce it "pry-OR-uh-tees" (not "pry-OR-ih-tees"). The stress is on the second syllable.
  • "Validate": Say "VAL-ih-date" (not "val-EE-date"). Keep the middle syllable short.
  • "Macro nutrient": It’s "MAK-roh NOO-tree-uhnt"—don’t rush the "roh" sound. The speaker blends "macro" and "nutrient" smoothly, so practice linking them: "mak-roh-NOO-tree-uhnt."

Use shadow speak to mimic the speaker’s pace—he often pauses after key points, which helps you catch breath and stress. With practice, these words will roll off your tongue!

Ready to start? Hit play, pause, and repeat—shadowspeaks is the best way to turn passive listening into active speaking skills. You’ve got this!

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

StructureIn the video
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer trueused to believe
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters nowi've noticed · I've had · has scared
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thingmen who don · people who have · guy who grinds
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does itbe managed · was spread · was just spread

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →