Shadowing Practice: [Podcast 17] How can you stop feeling unmotivated, burn out ? | RADIO WITH ANNE - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hi everyone, I'm Ayn.
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Hi everyone, I'm Ayn.
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How are you today?
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I hope that you will have a good day.
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In every video, I will bring the best things in life for you.
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Sometimes you just get tired.
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I think I just want to do nothing and just read.
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When everything feels exhausting and you have no energy or motivation to do anything,
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I know some of you want to hear tips on how to be productive.
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When you're feeling unmotivated, but the truth is,
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when you're in this low state,
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the best thing you can do is the opposite of being productive.
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You have to slow down,
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be tender on yourself, and allow yourself to heal.
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Don't even try to get your life together,
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just allow yourself to be.
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If you're feeling this way,
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it's likely you have high expectations for yourself,
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and you're frustrated because you haven't been able to show up the way you wanted.
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Or maybe others have high expectations of you,
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whether it's your parents or the people around you,
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or maybe you've been pushing yourself too hard.
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and just burning yourself out.
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Sometimes we might feel this way
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because we had expectations for what the world should be
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or what our life should look like and when that all fell short.
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We lost our sense of control and didn't know how to handle it.
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Honestly, even the pandemic caused many of us to feel hungover, unmotivated and exhausted.
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In terms of energy, we've been operating too much,
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focusing on productivity, achievement, external success.
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And now, our body and energy are telling us we need to surrender our feminine to go inward,
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Slow down, heal and love ourselves.
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Surrender is a key word.
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We have to release our feelings of control,
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release our expectations on ourselves,
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and expect ourselves as we are right now.
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It's both hard and easy at the same time.
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It can be so hard to surrender,
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but on the other hand,
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it's so easy because all of you have to do is let go.
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There's no action needed.
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Just an action.
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So what should you do when you feel like doing nothing?
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First of all, let yourself rest.
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Remove any and all pressure to be or do anything.
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Just exist.
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Stop putting any expectations on yourself,
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understanding that you probably feel burnt out or depleted,
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so just let your body and mind rest and recuperate.
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I think it's so ironic.
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When you're unwell, all you have to do is rest because your body is fighting hard for you,
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your immune system is doing the hard work and your body literally already knows what to do.
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Just sit back and allow your body to balance and heal itself.
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Secondly, give yourself love.
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Be kind and gentle with yourself no matter what.
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Practice unconditional love, meaning give yourself love regardless of anything.
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Love is accepted, so accept yourself exactly as you are right now.
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Don't force anything and practice self-forgiveness if you've been hard on yourself.
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Wherever you are right now is okay.
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Also, try shifting your focus.
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Don't underestimate the power of changing your perspective.
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We often feel low because we've been focusing on the wrong or difficult things.
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When you focus on what is hard,
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you feel like giving up because it's such a struggle.
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But when you focus on what is easy,
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it makes it easier to get through the tough time.
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So instead of focusing on what's going wrong in your life,
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focus on what is still going right.
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Do this as a channeling exercise actively.
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Choose where you turn your attention to because it makes a huge difference in how we feel.
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If you feel like you need more help,
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talk to someone in your life that you trust.
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The next piece of advice I have for you when you're feeling low is stop consuming content that makes you feel worse.
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This includes any content that makes you feel bad about yourself,
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content that makes you compare yourself to others,
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and even positive or inspirational content.
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Because sometimes, it reminds you of what you're unable to do right now.
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Sometimes, it can be hard to have a positive mindset about something, and that's okay.
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Accept yourself as you are if you want a system refreshed.
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You can also go into nature.
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Being in nature heals you on a spiritual level.
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You are reminded of the stillness and ease in nature and that you are just a small part of this bigger world.
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You can revive your sense of peace.
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It doesn't even have to be a major trip,
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just take a work outside to go a nearby park,
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maybe go to the beach or the mountains or even your local nursery.
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Because I feel like the energy of the plants and flowers can be so healing.
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Next, understand that life happens in cycles.
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Just like the cycle of the day,
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our moon, or our four seasons,
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life also happens in cycles.
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That means that life never stays the same and is always going through cycles or seasons.
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Have you ever heard of the saying that still shall pass.
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Whatever you're going through, know that it will pass.
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You might be going through a tough time right now,
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but it won't stay like this forever.
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Your situation and your feelings will change.
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Just stay patient and preserved through this season.
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Learn to to increase the cycles and seasons of your life,
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both the high and the low,
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because without the lows, there wouldn't be highs and vice versa.
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It's the depth and the variety that allow you to feel the difference.
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If you only knew day,
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but never knew night, you would take the sun for granted.
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You wouldn't appreciate it as much.
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It's because you know night that you can appreciate the day and vice versa.
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Same of our emotions, it's because you've experienced the lows that you can deeply appreciate the highs.
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Once you've given yourself rest and you're ready to take some action,
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start with baby steps.
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Again, release any expectations or pressure you might have for yourself.
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Break down your tasks into the smallest,
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easiest chunks you can if you want to start exercising to nurture your health and boost your mood.
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Instead of setting a goal like I want to work out for an hour every day,
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set tiny goals like put on my workout,
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close today, put on my shoes,
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open a workout app or step outside to work for five minutes.
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Do as much as you feel you can and congratulate yourself for those small actions.
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We tend to want to be ambitious and set these big goals for ourselves.
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But when we don't meet them,
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We feel like we failed.
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And then we feel even worse about yourself.
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The better approach is to start small and give yourself grace.
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A small effort is to do an effort.
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By doing this, you take the pressure off and you're building your stamina to be able to do more.
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Lastly and importantly, find credit to you in every little thing.
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Get specific about all the small things in life you're grateful for,
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open up your journal or a word DA,
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and start writing a list of sentences that begin with I'm grateful or I'm blessed.
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I actually did this exercise last night and ended up writing over 900 words in a list that went on and on.
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It's funny how once you start focusing on credit too,
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more and more things pop up.
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I wrote things like I'm blessed to have experienced music festivals and concerts pre-pandemic.
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I'm blessed to have a big family with a lot of cousins.
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I'm blessed to have a great relationship with my brother I'm blessed to have healed from emotional baggage in my past
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I'm blessed to be alive and healthy during a pandemic I hope these ideas were helpful to you
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It's a gentle reminder that if you feel like doing nothing,
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it's okay to do nothing It's okay to be gentle with yourself.
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It's okay to give yourself space to breathe and to heal.
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We all need it from time to time.
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It's part of our cycle.
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Like I said, there's both masculine and feminine energies.
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Our world operates mostly on the masculine and we're expected to do and achieve and add value to the world.
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But we can't ignore the feminine attitude that wants us to go inward,
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to allow, to be.
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I am learning more and more the beauty of simple existing with the least efforts.
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Not trying to achieve or do more,
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but to do less and allow life to flow more naturally.
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I think people worry that if you don't do anything,
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your life won't move forward.
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But that's not true.
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Just as your body knows how to heal itself,
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when you do nothing, your life will be guided toward
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and change will happen because change is always happening even if you're not trying to.
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All you have to do is follow your intuition and if you don't know what it's telling you, get quiet.
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Maybe it's telling you, you need a brag before I tell you what to do next.
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Thank you so much for listening to me.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
This podcast episode serves as an excellent opportunity for English learners to enhance their speaking skills through the shadowing technique. The speaker, Ayn, discusses the theme of motivation and self-care, which is relatable and engaging. By listening and repeating Ayn's words, you not only improve your English pronunciation but also learn to express complex emotions in a clearer way. Shadowing allows you to immerse yourself in the language, helping you grasp the rhythm, intonation, and flow of spoken English. Practicing with this video can significantly boost your confidence in verbal communication, making it easier to articulate your thoughts when you're feeling overwhelmed or unmotivated.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In this discussion, several key grammatical structures and expressions stand out:
- "You have to slow down, be tender on yourself" - This phrase emphasizes the importance of self-compassion and includes the use of the modal verb "have to," showing obligation.
- "Allow yourself to heal" - The use of the imperative form here encourages action and personal empowerment. It's a direct way of giving advice.
- "When you're feeling unmotivated" - This structure illustrates the present continuous tense, which is commonly used to describe ongoing feelings, perfect for learners to adopt in their conversations.
- "Let go" - This phrasal verb is crucial in expressing the idea of releasing control, making it a practical addition to an English learner’s vocabulary.
By practicing these phrases through shadow speech, you will not only improve your English pronunciation but also learn to convey your thoughts more effectively.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While shadowing this video, English learners should be aware of a few tricky pronunciation elements:
- "Unmotivated" - Pay attention to the stress on the second syllable. This word can be challenging due to its length and structure.
- "Surrender" - This has a silent first syllable, and the stress is on the second syllable, which can easily trip up non-native speakers.
- "Expectations" - The multiple syllables and the placement of stress make this word a common pronunciation challenge. We'll go over the stressed syllable during shadowing to ensure clarity and accuracy.
These nuances make a significant difference in your overall comprehension and expression in English, enabling you to communicate your thoughts more clearly. Utilizing a shadowing site focused on these aspects will help you master pronunciation and intonation over time.
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.
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