Shadowing Practice: OUTWORK Everyone By Being Bored. - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
B2
If you want to become successful, you need to be bored.
153 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
If you want to become successful, you need to be bored.
2
Boredom isn't wasted time.
3
It's how you unlock the clarity that builds wealth.
4
I make million-dollar decisions every day, and my best decisions didn't happen when I was focused and engaged.
5
They happened in moments when I was bored.
6
So these are the six principles of boredom that can change your life and unlock true wealth-making potential.
7
Starting with the one most people avoid, boredom strengthens self-trust.
8
I realized that the confidence to raise money,
9
lead a large team, grow my business actually came from hearing my own internal voice in those quiet moments,
10
not from the external world validating me or giving me information.
11
You see, most people fear boredom because they're scared of hearing their own thoughts.
12
Silence feels uncomfortable, but that discomfort is where growth happens.
13
When you avoid it, you never learn what you actually think, what you actually want, or who you actually are.
14
If you can't hear yourself, you'll spend your life following instead of leading.
15
You'll make decisions based off of what everyone else thinks instead of what you know is right.
16
Self-trust doesn't come from external validation.
17
It comes from listening to yourself enough times to know that you can trust you.
18
Boredom is where that trust is built.
19
The best way to practice this is to avoid pulling out your phone at every moment of silence.
20
I don't care if you're in the waiting room at a doctor's appointment or if you're at a networking event.
21
Don't use your phone as a distraction to your own thoughts and a distraction to the environment that you're in.
22
Just be there, be present, and figure out what you need to do in
23
that moment to fight off your urge to be entertained and instead be present.
24
That's how you build self-trust.
25
One quiet moment at a time.
26
Now principle number two is something that most people get backwards.
27
Stillness creates strategic thinking.
28
Have you ever noticed how inspired you feel when you're taking a shower or driving somewhere?
29
Every single day, my best ideas show up during my 20-minute commute to work
30
when I intentionally leave the music off and let my brain wander.
31
And this isn't just me.
32
Bill Gates is famous for taking Think Weeks, where there's an entire week of intentional boredom.
33
And he literally does nothing but read and think.
34
There's no meetings, there's no calls, there's no follow-ups.
35
Just thinking.
36
This works because according to a 2019 study in Nature Communications,
37
idle mind wandering improves creativity and big picture planning because it activates the regions of the brain linked to strategic thought.
38
That's why if you never create mental space, you'll always react and you'll never architect your life or your business.
39
Your brain needs blank space to process, to connect dots, and to see patterns that you'd otherwise just miss.
40
So find time in things that you do every single day where you intentionally consume nothing.
41
There's no headphones, no podcasts, no music, just thinking.
42
Create intentional boredom and watch your strategic thinking sharpen.
43
Principle number three might be the most important one for long-term success.
44
The brain needs recovery time to build discipline.
45
I used to feel so busy all the time and really started to notice that I just wasn't getting anything done.
46
I was making tiny progress on stupid little things instead of making massive movements towards my goals.
47
And what I realized was I just thought I could squeeze everything into the day.
48
I would schedule my day to have meetings at 7.30 in the morning and squeeze in 30-minute and sometimes even 15-minute increments,
49
meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting to make all these decisions and push these things forward.
50
Sure, lots of small things were getting done, but none of the big things were getting done.
51
And I felt frazzled.
52
I felt disconnected because it was just a bunch of stuff happening.
53
And when you start to feel this way, you have to recognize you're not giving yourself the space to make the work that needs to get done a priority.
54
And the science supports this.
55
Neuroscientists at Stanford found that overstimulation reduces the brain's ability to regulate impulses and even make long-term decisions.
56
So in other words, Constant noise makes you impulsive and short-sighted because a tired brain will always default to shortcuts,
57
scrolling, procrastination, and avoid the big tasks.
58
It takes the path of least resistance because it doesn't have the energy to do anything else.
59
You can't do the deep work.
60
So from now on, instead of stacking your day with all sorts of small little things, how can you block time for the most important work
61
that you have to do that are tied to your long-term goals today?
62
Don't put off your long-term goal action-taking for the future.
63
Long-term goals get accomplished when you force yourself to do the work that you are avoiding doing now.
64
This could look like new partnerships for your business, starting a podcast, maybe you want to write a book.
65
Do that work first because it's connected to where you're trying to go.
66
And your time after that will always fill in with the minutiae of the work that you have to do today.
67
But don't do the work that you have to do today before prioritizing the work
68
that is going to get you to where you want to go in the future.
69
Now we're on to number four.
70
Boredom makes things simpler.
71
Some of the most famous writers from J.K.
72
Rowling to Stephen King rely on boring environments to finish big projects.
73
They're not distracted by noise.
74
They're immersed in their work.
75
And I try to emulate that in my environment.
76
After my first meeting each day, I block a quiet hour or two where there aren't any calls, there aren't any talking, there aren't any follow-ups.
77
It's my time to create a mental reset to work on the most important problems
78
that I have to solve instead of just jumping into the never-ending list of other people's priorities.
79
Fordham doesn't block thinking or productivity.
80
It makes space for it.
81
Because think about it.
82
If every moment is stimulated, your brain never has the space to simplify all of the complexity.
83
You stay in reaction mode instead of solution mode.
84
And stillness allows your brain to soar through noise and to find the signal.
85
It's defragmenting a hard drive.
86
You're reorganizing information so that you can access it faster and more clearly.
87
I was reminded of the stillness just last week when I went to Disney World.
88
I was on Space Mountain, which used to be my favorite ride, But halfway through it, I started to get very nauseous
89
and I was actually worried that I was gonna throw up or pass out.
90
And in this moment where there is madness and chaos around me, I had this very present time thought to just be still.
91
Instead of really leaning into this experience, I just thought through how do I stay still for my own preservation and survival in this moment.
92
And it made me think of how many times we enter the day, or we step into our office and the work environment
93
or our families and our friends
94
and we just let the environment tossle us instead of us having the discipline to create those small moments
95
that allow you to reset and take complete control of your intention in the situation that you're in.
96
So maybe your life doesn't look as chaotic as a space mountain ride
97
but how can you take this principle into everyday moments
98
that do create little situations of chaos to completely reset so that you're in control.
99
That brings us to principle number five.
100
Morning boredom sets your mental operating system.
101
Many of the world-leading CEOs, like Tim Cook and Oprah,
102
start their mornings in silence or with reading because it primes their brain for leading instead of reacting.
103
My first 45 minutes of every single day are also like that.
104
Reading, no phone, no distractions, no notifications.
105
The intentional boredom sets the tone for calm thinking instead of frantic reacting.
106
On the days where I don't do this
107
and instead of taking my sweet time in the morning to think
108
and read and I make the accidental move to open up Instagram or TikTok or emails or text messages first thing,
109
I feel like I'm off because now I'm online shopping
110
or looking at what other people are doing instead of focusing on what I need to do
111
and what's going to make my day productive.
112
And this little switch allows me to start off my day in a way that I'm proud of.
113
I'm really proud that I do something to enrich myself before I meet the demands of my environment.
114
The needs will be met in my environment, but I'm willing to wait until 8am instead of 5am to start answering everybody else's demands.
115
What do I need and how do I enrich myself?
116
That is my first target.
117
And Harvard Business School actually found
118
that leaders who spend 30 minutes each morning in reflection or reading perform better with decision-heavy environments.
119
And it makes sense.
120
If your first input is chaos, your brain spends the entire day recovering from it.
121
So start your day with at least 30 minutes of quiet time.
122
No phone, maybe a great book, and train your brain to think before it reacts.
123
Lastly, number six, Sunday stillness.
124
Every Sunday, take an hour to look at your goals, your upcoming schedule, and your priorities for the week.
125
This is not glamorous.
126
It is quiet and it's boring, but it's the reason that you will make real progress towards the things that you actually want to accomplish.
127
I do this every single Sunday.
128
There is a specific hold on my calendar that says, what are my priorities for this week?
129
And on this hold in my calendar, I have an agenda of all of the things
130
that I told myself at the beginning of the year I was going to accomplish.
131
So it aligns my future goals with where I am planning my time for this week.
132
And when I look at my week, I actually make time and create space for me to start achieving those goals.
133
This goes back to point number five.
134
When you know what your goals are
135
and you align where your time is being spent at the beginning of the week proactively to make progress on those goals,
136
you will actually be proud of yourself at the end of the year.
137
You'll be proud of who you've become because work always fills the time that you give it.
138
So you might as well give it as little amount of time for what you need to get done today
139
and maximize for the work that you need to get done in order to set yourself up for the future.
140
A study in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Progress showed that weekly planning boosts goal achievement by 40%.
141
That's not a small number.
142
That is the difference between you hitting your targets
143
and you missing up on them or worse yet entirely giving up on them.
144
Boredom is where you check in with yourself and it's where you ask.
145
Am I acting like the person I want to become or am I just defaulting to who I've always been?
146
Without this pause you drift, but the Sunday stillness forces you to close the gap between who you say you are
147
and How you actually spend your time.
148
So do a weekly reset every Sunday.
149
Ask yourself, is this week moving me closer to I want to be?
150
And if it's not, change where you're spending your time.
151
Now that you know that boredom gives you clarity and better decision-making making, there's still one thing that kills clarity faster than anything, fear.
152
Watch this next video so I can show you the five principles
153
that will completely delete your fear of failure and unlock your full potential.
Download App
AI scoring for every sentence you speak
TRENDING
Popular
Why practice speaking with this video?
In the quest to improve English pronunciation, engaging with content that emphasizes clarity and strategic thought like the video "OUTWORK Everyone By Being Bored" can be invaluable. This video highlights the role of boredom in fostering crucial skills such as self-trust and strategic thinking. By practicing speaking with this material, you’ll not only enhance your pronunciation but also integrate the unique expressions and ideas presented by the speaker. The context—a discussion on how boredom can lead to better decision-making—provides an excellent backdrop for learners to emulate. As you shadow the speaker, you’re likely to improve your speaking fluency and develop a more polished accent. Utilizing a shadowspeak technique allows you to internalize these ideas while simultaneously practicing your spoken English.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
The speaker effectively uses several key structures that English learners can benefit from. Here are some noteworthy expressions:
- Boredom isn't wasted time. - A powerful statement that emphasizes a perspective shift.
- It's how you unlock... - This construction illustrates a cause-and-effect relationship that is frequently used in English.
- Find time in things that you do... - Here, the speaker encourages intentionality, using the present tense to instill action. This structure is common and can be utilized in various contexts.
- Create intentional boredom... - This phrase emphasizes the importance of deliberate action, making it a useful expression for learners to adopt in their vocabulary.
By practicing these structures in the context of your own conversations, you will enhance your ability to express complex ideas clearly.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While shadowing the speaker, English learners may encounter some tricky words and patterns in pronunciation:
- Boredom: Focus on the vowel sounds and the rhythm of this word to pronounce it correctly.
- Stillness: Pay attention to the two-syllable split and ensure you pronounce both clearly.
- Strategic: This term can be challenging; emphasize the second syllable and practice the 'str' blend.
Using a shadowing app specifically designed to improve pronunciation can help you navigate these traps effectively. By recording yourself and comparing your pronunciation with the original speaker, you can refine your skills further. Regular practice through a comprehensive shadowing site will enable you to listen, repeat, and ultimately master these challenging terms.
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.
☕ Buy us a coffee
ShadowingEnglish remains 100% free thanks to your support. Server and AI costs are high — your coffee keeps us going! 🙏