Shadowing Practice: Once You Get Money, Upgrade These 10 Things ASAP - Learn English Speaking with Video
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A lot of you probably weren't expecting this.
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Normally, I tell you what not to buy, but today I'm going rogue and doing the complete opposite.
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So here are 10 things that you should buy as soon as you get some money.
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I've made loads of videos about investing on this channel that are applicable to almost anyone, no matter your starting point.
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So if you haven't started investing, you should definitely watch those and focus on building a solid foundation first before trying any of this stuff.
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But let's say you've already built a free fund portfolio or have some sort of index fund strategy,
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and you've got some spare money that you can afford to lose.
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It might be time to upgrade your investments.
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I actually made a video a few years back on this channel where I put a blindfold on
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and threw a dart at random stock to invest in.
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It landed on Samsung, and believe it or not, that very same investment is now sitting at nearly 500 % return.
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There is, of course, a certain amount of risk that comes with investing in individual stocks, as investments can go up as well as down.
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But if you pick your investments well, then you set yourself up for the highest chance of success.
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But what about alternative investments?
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Well, for those that have been watching me for a while now, you'll know that I'm a massive car fan.
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And when I was younger, I actually used to buy and sell cars for a bit of extra cash.
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I still remember picking up a Ford Fiesta XR2 for £1 ,750, which is around $2 ,350,
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and later selling it for around 2 ,700 pounds.
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The annoying thing is, if I'd held onto it to today,
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I would have made a 1 ,000 % return because the car's value has shot up over the last few years.
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But it's not just classic cars.
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Certain watches, fine wine and art, all have the potential to hold or even increase in value over time.
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And unlike numbers going up and down on the screen, these are real assets that you get to live with and enjoy.
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The average person spends between four and five hours every week cleaning their house.
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That's around 234 hours every year.
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Now imagine you had an extra 29 days to put towards your business or side hustle.
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How much extra money could you make?
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And it's not just cleaning that you could outsource.
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Cooking, gardening, driving, or even walking your dog.
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Now of course hiring other people to do tasks does cost money.
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So the real question is, when is it actually worth it?
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And that comes down to one simple number, your effective hourly rate.
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You simply take how much you earn in a year and divide it by how many hours you work.
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So let's say you earn $80 ,000 a year
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and work around 40 hours a week or around 2 ,000 hours a year after factoring in some time off.
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That would mean your effective hourly rate is $40 per hour.
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My golden rule is the moment you can pay someone less than
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that rate to take a job off your hands you should seriously consider it
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now this is probably the cheapest of all the items on my list
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but the return on investment is massive for the price of a couple of cups of coffee
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you can basically absorb decades of someone's life summarized within a couple of hundred pages back in school
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when i was failing my exams
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and suffering with dyslexia i never thought i'd be sat here talking about books
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but one day a friend of mine gave me this book and it changed my perspective forever.
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It's called Virgin King and it wasn't a bit of schoolboy banter if you get what I mean.
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It's a biography about Richard Branson
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and at the time he was always in the news headlines pulling the most outrageous marketing stunts
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that forced the world to pay attention to his businesses and I was instantly inspired.
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I mean this was a British guy who had severe dyslexia,
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was written off by all his teachers and left school with no qualifications just like me.
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And then against all the odds, he managed to become one of the most successful entrepreneurs to ever live.
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So if you've been waiting for a sign to start that business, side hustle or anything else, let this be it.
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Here are four books I'd recommend based on where you are in your business or investing journey.
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The Millionaire Fastlane exposes traditional financial advice as a trap
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and provides a framework to build your wealth quickly using fast lane thinking.
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The e -myth revisited shows why most small businesses fail and how to build one that runs without you.
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So you end up owning a business and not just another job.
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The little book of common sense investing reveals the simple hands -off way to grow your money that quietly beats the professionals.
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And how to win friends
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and influence people teaches you how to get people eating out the palm of your hand
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and open almost any door because in the end, everything comes down to your relationships.
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That brings me on to...
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Now, a lot of you aren't gonna like this one and it might even be a little bit controversial,
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but your girlfriend or your partner is one of the most important upgrades you'll ever make.
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I know what you're thinking.
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Mark, you're supposed to teach us about money, not give us relationship advice.
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But here's the thing, the partner you choose is actually one of the single biggest factors in how wealthy you'll become.
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To this day, I still remember my ex -girlfriend who I started dating when I was still broke.
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After a few dates, I told her that in order to achieve my goals, we were gonna have to make some real sacrifices.
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And to be honest with you, I thought that conversation was gonna put her off completely.
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I mean, who in their right mind wants to wait around for a
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25 -year -old ginger lad she'd only met a handful of times? but to my surprise, she actually took it very well.
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She backed me every step of the way and even started helping out in my business as things got a bit busier.
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But when I finally got wealthy and achieved my goals, I realized that despite everything, it just wasn't enough.
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So I upgraded my girlfriend to my wife.
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And it was one of the best things I ever did.
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She's had a massive impact on everything I've built and I've definitely made more money as a result.
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And this isn't just my experience, the numbers back it up too.
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On average, married people end up with around 77 % more wealth per person than those who stay single.
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And their net worth climbs by roughly another 16 % for every single year they stay married.
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So the right partner can really make you richer as long as you don't get divorced.
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So choose wisely.
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Here's the problem with the traditional education system.
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It was never built to make you wealthy.
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I mean, think about it.
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They'll happily teach you all about the French Revolution or a bit of trigonometry,
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but not one single thing about how money actually works or how to build something of your own.
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So the question is, how can you upgrade your teachers?
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Well, in my case, it actually happened by mistake when I met this guy called Dave down my local flying club.
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Now, Dave wasn't a teacher in the traditional sense.
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He was actually a businessman.
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And before meeting him, I never even thought starting a business or even a side hustle was an option.
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You see, whether you realize it or not, the people you learn from set the ceiling on everything you'll ever achieve.
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In fact, researchers once tracked nearly 1 ,000 kids for decades,
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and the ones who'd had a mentor went on to earn substantially more money than those who didn't.
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And here's the good news, it's now way easier to find mentors than it's ever been, because you have this.
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Some of the best minds in the world are speaking at events, going on podcasts, and making videos on YouTube completely for free.
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And that's why I started making videos myself so I could become to others what Dave was to me.
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And the biggest piece of advice I ever got from Dave was to learn a high income skill.
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So that's exactly what I did.
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I learned joinery and carpentry and used that skill to start designing, building and selling my own products.
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And for the first time in my life, I was making real money completely outside of a normal job.
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But today, things are a little different because the best high income skills don't have to rely on physical labor.
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Instead, you can learn digital skills like editing videos, copywriting, brand design, building website funnels, or using AI to create automation.
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So for example, let's say you use AI to build high converting websites to help businesses make more sales.
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If you can help them make say an extra $20 ,000 a month, they'll happily pay you two to $3 ,000 a month as a result.
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If you're interested in this and wanna learn more, then I'm actually running a free live training very soon.
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I'll leave a link in the description below.
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i want you to imagine for a moment you've stumbled across a little money -making machine
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that prints out the same amount of money every day
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i know pretty cool right now at first you'd be pretty happy you'd probably take a holiday
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or spend it all on some new clothes
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but eventually you start to wonder if it can print more
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so you take some of the money that it prints out
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and use it to make some upgrades maybe you make it bigger faster
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or more efficient and suddenly it starts to print more money.
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Well, here's the thing.
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That money -making machine is sort of like having a side hustle or business.
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I remember when my son first started his videography business.
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He didn't have much money to start with, so he saved up and eventually bought his first camera.
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It was actually this one here.
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After a while, though, he noticed that his videography skills were actually better than the camera he was using.
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I explained to him that a better camera wasn't actually a cost at all.
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It was an investment into his money -making machine
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so he finally upgraded to this one and instantly clients started to notice the difference,
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which allowed him to make back all of his investment and much more.
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So once you start making money, always consider if there's any tools you can upgrade that could help you grow over the long term.
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Maybe a new microphone, a better laptop, or an AI software that makes you more efficient.
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You'll also be able to write these expenses off, which essentially means decreasing your tax bill, which brings me on to.
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When you start making money for the first time, you never want to be a big fish in a small pond,
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especially when it comes to your accountant.
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In other words, You need an accountant who's used to working with clients far ahead of your current position,
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who face challenges that you haven't even considered yet.
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Okay, Mark, but accountants are really expensive.
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I can't afford that.
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I hear what you're saying.
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So one thing you can do to reduce your bill is to use software that helps you manage your own finances.
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So what software should you use?
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Well, there are lots of different options out there, but one of my favorites is Odoo, as it allows you to manage your accounts for free.
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Odoo is an all -in -one business management software
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that provides you with a range of applications to simplify the day -to -day management of your business, including project management, website creation,
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invoicing, and of course, accounting.
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This is the accounting app, and if it's the first app you're using on Odoo, then it's completely free.
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You can easily use this to create and send invoices.
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It also keeps track of payments, which helps you follow up on late payers,
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and believe me, I've had a lot of experience of people like that.
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It honestly cuts down your admin time as it connects to your bank account and automatically matches payments and transactions.
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It also lets you generate reports by going up to this tab and clicking balance sheet.
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And then you can change it to last quarter.
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And you can do a comparison to the previous period by clicking here.
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Then if you wanna look at your profit and loss statement, you just go back to the reporting tab,
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click here, and you can see a complete breakdown.
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This is so important because it helps you keep your finger on the pulse when it comes to your finances,
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which is the most important part of any side hustle or business.
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As I was gonna talk about them anyway, I reached out to Odoo to see if they wanted to sponsor this portion of the video.
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They're giving you your first app completely free for life, including unlimited hosting and support.
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If you're interested in that, I'll leave a link in the description below.
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Look, I wanted to mention this one, but it is a little bit lame, so I'm gonna keep it really short.
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Due to our jobs nowadays, we spend most of our time sitting down,
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so it's incredibly important to get a comfortable chair that doesn't destroy your back.
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The first thing I did when I started this YouTube channel, even before posting my first video,
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was go out and buy the chair I'm currently sitting in.
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It was pretty expensive, but worth every penny and a definite investment into my ability to do YouTube long -term.
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Believe me, if my back gives out, I'm done for.
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Now, I know what you're thinking.
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Here we go the old fella's gonna tell us to get an early night.
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You're pushing 70 and you'll probably fall asleep in your armchair whilst dribbling into your dinner.
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But here's the thing, I've had enough life experience to see what neglecting sleep can actually do to people.
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That's exactly why you should hear me out.
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Studies show that not getting enough sleep actually reduces your decision -making ability to the same extent as being legally drunk.
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I used to operate like this for months, even years at a time, pushing through no matter what until about three years ago,
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it nearly killed me.
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I got home one night absolutely shattered and I was walking down my own stairs.
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Now, bear in mind, I'd walked down these stairs thousands of times before, but because I was so tired, I wasn't thinking straight.
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So then I slipped.
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My legs went straight up and I came down hard on my upper back, cracking three ribs and puncturing a lung.
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The broken ribs missed my kidney by millimeters.
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This moment changed my mindset completely.
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Don't get me wrong, Working hard is important.
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It's played a massive part in my success throughout my life
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and a few late nights here and there is simply part of the process.
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But listening to your body and getting enough rest is equally as crucial.
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The biggest game changer for me has been this, and no, before you all rush to the comments, I'm not wearing two watches.
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It's a fitness wearable called a WHOOP and it tracks my sleep, my recovery, and how much strain I put my body under each day.
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This isn't sponsored in any way, but WHOOP, If you're listening and wanna sponsor a big time athlete with a body like a Greek god,
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then you know where to find me.
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Every single time I post a video, I get comments like this.
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Why even be a millionaire if you're not gonna spend any of it?
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What's the point of money if you don't enjoy it?
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Just spend your money and live your millionaire life.
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But believe it or not, I do spend money.
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You see, every time you spend money, you go through three emotional phases.
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Now, let's see what happens at each of these stages when you purchase things versus experiences, starting with the anticipation phase.
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Let's say you're making an expensive purchase, maybe a new iPhone or a pair of designer trainers.
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You might be pretty excited to get your hands on it,
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but the thought of waiting days for it to be delivered actually becomes a bit frustrating.
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So we'll say the happiness here is medium, but with an experience, things work a little differently.
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Maybe you've just booked a dream vacation or secured tickets to a concert with your best mates, you're buzzing for it.
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Of course you are.
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Waiting for the experience doesn't wind you up.
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If anything, it's part of the fun.
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So based on that...
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Let's call the happiness level for experience anticipation as high.
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Now it's time for the moment itself.
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This is the point you actually get your hands on
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that new shiny toy or get to live the experience that you've been waiting for.
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You'll either think this is a nice thing, or this is great fun.
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So in both cases, happiness levels are of course gonna be high.
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But here's where the truth really starts to reveal itself, the aftertaste.
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You might be thinking, hang on Mark, if I buy a physical thing, I've still got it long after the experience is over,
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so surely that one wins.
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But that right there is part of the trap.
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You've still got the object.
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What you haven't got is the feeling.
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That buzz you had on day one wore off weeks ago, and now it just sits there, getting older and going out of date.
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So for physical things, the aftertaste is low.
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While products get outdated, experiences get retold, and those memories last a lifetime so the aftertaste for experiences is high.
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I don't use any of the stuff I bought back in the day,
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but I do remember the first time I flew an aeroplane by myself or being trackside at the Monaco Grand Prix,
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or the time I flew radio controlled helicopters for Ridley Scott in the film, Black Hawk Down.
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Even having one of my heroes, Richard Branson, cook me spaghetti bolognese at his house, followed by deep conversation about business and success.
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These experiences shaped me as a person, gave me a fuller life and left me with stories that I can tell my grandkids.
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But I know 99 % of you will need to live through it to fully understand this point.
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So feel free to buy the stuff and make the mistakes yourself.
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And when you look back at this moment, when you're my age, I'm sure we'll be on the same page.
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And if you wanna learn how to increase your earning potential, then I'll leave that video right up there.
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But don't click on it just yet.
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Make sure to subscribe if you wanna grow your wealth, okay?
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I'll see you over there.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Once You Get Money, Upgrade These 10 Things ASAP”. This video has 229 sentences and 3219 words to shadow. The speech runs for 16:47. The speaker talks fast, about 192 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 85% 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
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| upgrade verb | /əpˈɡɹeɪd/ | To improve, usually applied to technology, generally by complete replacement of one or more components. |
| invest verb | /ɪnˈvɛst/ | To spend money, time, or energy on something, especially for some benefit or purpose; used with in. |
| hustle verb | /ˈhʌsəl/ | To push someone roughly; to crowd; to jostle. |
| earn verb | /ɝn/ | To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work. |
| happiness noun | /ˈhæpinɪs/ | The emotion of being happy; joy; elation. |
| wealthy adjective | /ˈwɛl.θi/ | Possessing financial wealth; rich. |
| sponsor noun | /ˈspɒn.səː/ | A person or organization with some sort of responsibility for another person or organization, especially where the responsibility has a religious, legal, or… |
| accountant noun | /əˈkaʊn.tənt/ | One who renders account; one accountable. |
| millionaire noun | /ˌmɪl.i.əˈnɛə(ɹ)/ | Somebody whose wealth is at least one million (10⁶) currency units (usually understood to exclude holders of hyperinflated currencies). |
| reveal verb | /ɹɪˈviːl/ | To uncover; to show and display that which was hidden. |
| efficient adjective | /ɪˈfɪʃənt/ | Making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy. |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| trap noun | /tɹæp/ | A machine or other device designed to catch (and sometimes kill) animals, either by holding them in a container, or by catching hold of part of the body. |
| instantly adverb | /ˈɪnstəntli/ | At once; without delay. |
| stairs noun | /ˈstɛɹz/ | A contiguous set of steps connecting two floors. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. |
| go up verb | To move upwards. |
| print out verb | To print (a computer document). |
| walk down verb | To continually advance (on an opponent) and punch (the opponent) in order to control the fight and dominate the opponent, while shrugging off the opponent's… |
| come down verb | To descend, fall down, collapse. |
| cut down verb | To cut downward. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
| follow up on verb | To take further actions regarding (something). |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- A lot of you probably weren't expecting this.
- How much extra money could you make?
- I know what you're thinking.
- I'll leave a link in the description below.
- What's the point of money if you don't enjoy it?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | have been watching · you've been waiting |
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to buy · used to operate |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've made · haven't started · you've already built |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be sat · was written · was never built |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 94 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, gonna, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: wealthy /ˈwɛl.θi/, athlete /ˈæθ.liːt/, myth /mɪθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/, anticipation /ænˌtɪs.əˈpeɪ.ʃən/, rush /ɹʌʃ/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, sheet /ʃit/
- Long words — get the stress right: millionaire /ˌmɪl.i.əˈnɛə(ɹ)/, anticipation /ænˌtɪs.əˈpeɪ.ʃən/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, controversial /ˌkɑn.tɹəˈvɝ.ʃəl/
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 upgrade, invest, hustle.
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.