Shadowing Practice: Most People Waste Their Life Without Realizing It | Naval Ravikant - Learn English Speaking with Video
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What is happiness?
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I think it's just basically being okay with where you are.
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Not wanting.
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Not wanting things to be different than the way they are.
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Not having the sense that anything is missing in this moment.
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If you can observe your own thoughts and view them a little objectively, then you can start being a little more choosy, a little more critical.
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And you can realize that there are no problems in the real world other than maybe things
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that inflict pain on your body.
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Everything else has to become a problem in your mind first You have to view it
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and interpret it and create a narrative
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that it is a problem before it becomes a problem and then you realize that a lot of your
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emotional energy is spent on reacting to things
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that your mind is automatically saying are problems And you don't need all those problems.
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Do you really need that many problems in your life?
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Again, I would say try to focus on just one Overarching problem and then go solve that problem.
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If you define pain as physical pain, then it's a real thing.
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It happens and you can't ignore it.
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But that's not what we mean by suffering.
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Suffering is mostly mental anguish and mental pain.
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And it just means you don't want to do the task at hand.
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If you were fine doing the task at hand, then you wouldn't be suffering.
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And then the question is, what's more effective, to suffer along the way or just to interpret it in a way that it's not suffering?
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You hear from a lot of successful people, they look back and they say, oh, the journey was the fun part, right?
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That was actually the entertaining part
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and i should have enjoyed it more it's a common regret
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but just be careful because your attention is the only thing
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that you have one big anxiety resolve for me is just
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ruminating on death i think that's a good one you're gonna die it's all going to zero
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if you can keep the idea in front of you at all times
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that you're going to die and that everything goes literally to zero
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what's there to stress about yeah for better
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or worse life is very short how should people deal with
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its briefness enjoy it there's a little thought exercise i like to do
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which is you can go back into your own life
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and try to put yourself in the exact position you were
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in five years ago 10 years ago 15 years ago 20 years ago
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and you try to remember okay who was i with what
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was i doing what was i feeling what were my emotions what were my objectives
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and really really try to transport yourself back and see
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if there's any advice you'd give yourself anything you'd do differently
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now you don't have new information don't pretend you could have gone back
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and you know bought a stock or bought bitcoin or whatever
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but just knowing what you know now in terms of your temperament
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and a little bit of age related experience how would you have done things differently
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and i think it's a worthwhile exercise to do
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so don't let me rob you of the conclusion
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but i'll tell you for me uh i would have done
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everything the same except i would have done it with less anger, less emotion, less internal suffering.
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Because that was optional, it wasn't necessary.
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And I would argue that someone who can do the job at least peacefully,
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but maybe happily, is going to be more effective than someone who has unnecessary emotional turmoil.
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And the journey is not only the reward, the journey is the only thing there is.
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Even success, it's human nature to bank it very, very quickly.
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Because the normal loop that we run through is you sit around, you're bored, then you want something then
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when you want something you decide you're not going to be happy until you get
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that thing then you start your bout of suffering or anticipation
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while you strive to get that thing if you get
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that thing then you get used to it
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and then you get bored again then a few months later you want something else
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and if you don't get it then you're unhappy for a bit
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and then you get over it then you want something else right that's the normal cycle
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so whether you're happy
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or unhappy at the end it tends not to last now i don't want to be glib and say that, oh, there's no point in making money or being successful.
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There absolutely is.
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Money solves all your money problems.
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So it is good to have money.
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That said, there are those
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stories that shows that people who break their back
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and people who win the lottery are back to their baseline happiness two years later.
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Again, I don't know if that's entirely true.
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I think money can buy you happiness if you earned it, because then along the way, you have both pride and confidence in yourself
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and you have a sense of accomplishment and you set out to do something and you were right.
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How do you shortcut that desire contract?
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You could focus, you could decide that I don't want most things.
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I think we have a lot of unnecessary desires that we just pick up everywhere.
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We have opinions on everything, judgments on everything.
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So I think just knowing that those are the source of unhappiness
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will make you be choosy about your desires and frankly
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if you want to be successful you have to be choosy
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about your desires you have to focus you can't be great
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at everything you can't be great at everything you're just going to waste your energy
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and waste your time don't do something you don't want to do why are you wasting your time there's
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so little time on this earth life goes fast what are the four thousand weeks that's your lifespan um
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and and yes we hear that but we don't remember it
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but uh i guess i'm keenly aware of how little time I have, so I'm just not going to waste it.
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Don't fritter away your life on randomly scheduled things and things that aren't important, don't matter, and events and weddings and,
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you know, tedious dinners with tedious people that you don't want to go to.
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To the extent you can bring freedom into your life, optimize for that, you'll actually be more productive.
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You won't just be happier, more free.
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You will be more productive because then you can focus on what is in front of you, whatever the biggest problem of that day.
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When I wake up in the morning, the first four hours are when I have the most energy.
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And that's when I want to solve all the hard problems.
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And the next four hours are when I kind of want to, you know, do some more outdoorsy activities or I want to work out or maybe I can, you know, have some meetings,
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but I'll try to do those last second based on whatever the day's priorities demand.
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The last four hours, I kind of want to wind down.
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I want to hang out with the kids and I want to play games or read a book or something like that.
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So having that flexibility and freedom is really important.
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So you can just put whatever is most needed into the slot at that moment.
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I reject this frame that efficiency and productivity and success are counter to happiness and freedom.
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They actually go together.
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How so?
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The happier you are, the more you can sustain doing something, the more likely you're going to do something
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that will in turn make you even happier and you'll continue to do it and you'll outwork everybody else.
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The more free you are, the better you can allocate your time
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and the less you're caught up in a web of obligations
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and commitments and the more you can focus on the task at hand.
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So what matters is just being present for the thing.
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So if you're doing something that you want to do and you're fully there for it, then it's not wasted time.
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If you don't want to do it
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and your mind is running away from it and you're reacting against it
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and you're wishing you were somewhere else and you're thinking about some other thing
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or you're anticipating some future thing or regretting some past thing or being fearful of something, then that's wasted time.
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That's time that's being wasted when you're not actually present for the reality in front of you.
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So my definition of wasted time, yes, I do want some material things in life and there are things that have more value than others within this life.
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But this life is very short and bounded.
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So the true waste of time is a time that you are not present for, when you are not there for it,
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when you are not doing the thing you want to do to the best of a capability such
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that you're immersed in it.
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If you're not immersed in this moment, then you're wasting your time.
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The worst outcome in the world is not having self -esteem.
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Why?
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Yeah, it's a tough one.
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I look at the people, and I don't want to offend anybody, but I look at the people who don't like themselves, and that's the toughest slot because they're always wrestling with themselves.
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And it's hard enough to face the outside world.
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And no one's going to like you more than you like yourself.
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So if you're struggling with yourself, then the outside world becomes an insurmountable challenge.
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And it's hard to say why people have low self -esteem.
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It might be genetic it might just be circumstantial.
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A lot of times I think it's because they just weren't unconditionally loved as a child, and that sort of seeps in at a deep core level.
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But self -esteem issues can be the most limiting.
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To some extent, self -esteem is a reputation you have with yourself.
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You're watching yourself at all times, you know what you're doing, and you have your own moral code.
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Everyone has a different moral code.
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But if you don't live up to your own moral code, the same code that you hold others to, it will damage your self -esteem.
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So perhaps one way to build up your self -esteem is
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to live up to your own code very rigorously have one and then live up to it
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another way to raise your self -esteem might be to do things for others
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if I look back on my life and you know what are the moments
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that I'm actually proud of there's very far and few between
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and it's not
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that often it's not the things you would expect it's not the material success it's not having learned this thing
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or that it's when I made a sacrifice for somebody
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or something that I loved and that's when I'm actually ironically most proud.
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Now that's through an explicit mental exercise but I'll bet you at some level I'm recording that implicitly.
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So that tells me that even if I am not being loved then the way to create love is to give love, to express love through sacrifice and through duty.
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And so I think doing things like that can build up your self -esteem really fast.
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Because anxiety is the emotion du jour of the 21st century and lots of driven people,
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very anxious, very paranoid, that's what's caused them to be affected it pays
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so much attention detail oriented not letting things go staying up
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at night thinking about it that's the paranoia coming in what have you come to learn about anxiety
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and dealing with it so anxiety and stress are interesting they're very related stress is
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when like if you look at an iron beam
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when an iron beam is under stress it's
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because it's being bent in two different directions at the same time
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so when your mind is under stress is
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because it has two conflicting desires at once
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so for example you know you you want to be liked
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but you want to do something selfish and you can't reconcile the two and
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so you're under stress you want to do something for somebody
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else you want to do something for yourself right these are you you don't want to go to work
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but you want to make money so you're under stress right
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so you have two conflicting desires
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and I think one of the ways to get through stress is to acknowledge
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that oh I actually have two conflicting desires
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and either I need to resolve it I need to pick one
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and then be okay losing the other or I will decide later
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but at least just being aware of why your stress can help alleviate a lot of stress
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and then anxiety I think is sort of this pervasive
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unidentifiable stress where you're just kind of stressed out all the time and you're not even sure why.
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And you can't even identify the underlying problem.
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And the reason for that is because you have so many unresolved problems,
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unresolved stress points that are piled up in your life that you can no longer identify what the problems are.
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And there's this mountain of garbage in your mind, and it's a little bit of it poking out the top like an iceberg.
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And that's anxiety.
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But underneath, there's a lot of unresolved things.
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And so you just need to kind of go through very carefully every time you're anxious.
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Like, okay, why am I anxious this time?
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I don't know why.
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Oh, well, let me sit here and just think about it.
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Let me write down what the possible causes could be.
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Let me meditate on it.
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Let me journal.
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Let me talk to a therapist.
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Let me talk to my friends.
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Let me just kind of see, like, when does that stress go away?
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If you can kind of identify and unravel and resolve these issues, then I think that helps get rid of anxiety.
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A lot of the anxiety is piled up because we move through life too quickly, not observing our own reactions to things.
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We don't resolve them.
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So this goes counter to what I was saying earlier about not reflecting too much on things.
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But you reflect on the problems to observe them and solve them.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Most People Waste Their Life Without Realizing It”. This video has 190 sentences and 2450 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:34. The speaker talks fast, about 212 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| distress noun | /dɪˈstɹɛs/ | Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature. |
| esteem verb | /ɪˈstiːm/ | To set a high value on; to regard with respect or reverence. |
| choosy adjective | /ˈt͡ʃuːzi/ | Taking care when choosing that what is chosen best suits one's tastes, desires or requirements. |
| unresolved adjective | For which no solution has been found. | |
| observe verb | /əbˈzɜːv/ | To notice or view, especially carefully or with attention to detail. |
| immerse verb | /ɪˈmɜɹs/ | To place within a fluid (generally a liquid, but also a gas). |
| tedious adjective | /ˈtiː.dɪəs/ | Boring, monotonous, time-consuming, wearisome, livelong. |
| interpret verb | /ɪnˈtɜː.pɹɪt/ | To decode the meaning of a topic and then act, whether to continue researching the topic, follow through, act in opposition, or further the understanding… |
| bore verb | /boɹ/ | To inspire boredom in somebody. |
| unhappy adjective | /ʌnˈhæpi/ | Not happy; sad. |
| slot noun | /slɑt/ | A narrow depression, perforation, or aperture; especially, one for the reception of a piece fitting or sliding into it. |
| allocate verb | /ˈæl.ə.keɪt/ | To set aside for a purpose. |
| anguish noun | /ˈæŋ.ɡwɪʃ/ | Extreme pain, either of body or mind; excruciating distress; an emotional state caused by intense misery or suffering. |
| briefness noun | The characteristic of being brief. | |
| circumstantial adjective | /səɹ.kəmˈstænʃəl/ | Pertaining to or dependent on circumstances, especially as opposed to essentials; incidental, not essential. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| build up verb | To erect; to construct. | |
| get over verb | To overcome. | |
| get through verb | /ɡɛt ˈθɹu/ | To overcome; to endure. |
| go away verb | To depart or leave a place. | |
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| go together verb | To be in a relationship. | |
| look back verb | To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight). |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Do you really need that many problems in your life?
- It happens and you can't ignore it.
- How do you shortcut that desire contract?
- You won't just be happier, more free.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is spent · being wasted · being loved |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | someone who can · someone who has · people who break |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have done · have you come |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 75 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: worthwhile /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/, therapist /ˈθɛɹəpɪst/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: anguish /ˈæŋ.ɡwɪʃ/, circumstantial /səɹ.kəmˈstænʃəl/, shortcut /ˈʃɔːtkʌt/, accomplishment /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/, anticipation /ænˌtɪs.əˈpeɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: circumstantial /səɹ.kəmˈstænʃəl/, objectively /əbˈd͡ʒɛktɪvli/, paranoia /ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/, temperament /ˈtɛm.pɚ.ə.mənt/, alleviate /əˈli.vi.eɪt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like distress, esteem, choosy.
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.