Shadowing Practice: The habit you don't realize is making you miserable - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Now, there is one habit that millions of people do every single day, and chances are this is something that you do as well,

and this is slowly destroying your focus, your ability to concentrate, your mental health.

And the scary thing about this one habit is most people, they think it is normal, but it's not normal.

And in fact, we thrive without it.

So why are we even doing it?

Well, let me explain.

I'm going to first give you some context so that everything makes sense.

Part number one, that familiar feeling.

Have you ever had that day, that one day where you just feel off, right?

You feel just drained.

You feel tired.

You feel like there's something off.

Your brain feels foggy.

You can't focus.

And even simple tasks feel way heavier than they should.

And for a second, you thought that you were the only one going through that.

But then you talk to other people, you talk to friends, and you find out that actually a lot of people go through that.

A lot of people have those same symptoms of, you know, whatever that might be.

Now, I want to do a study just out of curiosity.

Comment weird in the comments below if you have felt that feeling before.

The feeling of just, you know, being in a rut, the feeling of not having everything figured out

and feeling almost like a little bit confused about your life, feeling down, feeling drained.

So I'm curious to see how many of you actually experience that from time to time, you know, whether that's once a week,

whether that's every day or a couple of times a week.

Now, if you watch my videos, you are going to love the content and the videos that are coming next.

So subscribe to the channel and let's go to part number two, isolation.

Now, the habit that you don't realize is making you miserable, is harming your mental health and ruining your focus, is isolation.

And this is not just in the sense of being alone.

Let me explain.

So this has everything to do with your environment.

Basically, if you're in a big environment, right?

If you're in an open environment, if you're outside in nature, then your mind is going to be producing big thoughts.

But if you're in a small environment all the time,

you're just in your room and you don't leave your room and you're just home all the time,

then your brain is going to start producing negative thoughts and small thoughts that have no capacity for growth.

Basically, your environment and dictates your thoughts.

So the actual number one habit is not just staying in your room, that's part of it, but it's also just isolation in general.

And a lot of the times when you do stay in your room all the time,

when you stay in your house all the time, you are isolated.

So I have noticed with myself firsthand the days that I stay home.

So I had a few days where I was sick last week.

This was like two days and I didn't leave the house.

Like I barely left the house and I just felt like my mental health, you know, I just felt so unclear.

I had all this brain fog and my mental health wasn't in the right place.

And at first I didn't really make the connection.

And I'm like, maybe I'm just feeling off or I'm feeling like this because I don't know something else happened.

But then I made the connection and it became very, very clear.

The only reason I was feeling the way that I was, which was, you know, lack of focus,

lack of clarity was just because I needed a environment switch.

I needed to just change environment and go outside and do something else.

And as soon as I realized that everything changed for me because then I started to go outside again and,

you know, get out of my old routine and start a new routine.

And I started to feel lively again.

I started to feel like my best version.

Just one small switch, one small thing that I did.

And all of a sudden I started to feel this influx of energy.

And I started to feel like I was vibrating at a very high frequency.

Now, the truth is being isolated is messing with you.

It is physically, mentally, and emotionally messing with you.

Literally one day or two days is enough for you to actually start to feel these things.

And the problem is once it starts, it's too late.

So pretty much isolating yourself, being home alone all day and not going outside, not going out into nature and going,

exercising, moving your body and freeing up your mind.

It makes you feel bad.

And because you feel bad, you're going to want to do the same things again.

You're going to want to stay home because you feel bad.

And then that's going to make you feel even worse.

And then the cycle just continues and repeats itself.

Like you should be spending a lot of time outside your house, right?

Even if you have work and even if you're doing home office, remote work, it doesn't matter.

You can just go to a cafe, take out your laptop and work over there.

Just change up environment.

There are so many things you can do that will literally shape your mental space.

Because if you really think about it, all the success that you want is just waiting for you to be in the right state.

The right emotional state, the right mental state and physical state.

To be the person who deserves that success.

If you're not the person who is aligned with your goals, with your visions, with everything you want to achieve,

then you're not going to get there.

And one very big thing is it starts with environment because your environment shapes the person you become.

And then the person you become attracts the life that aligns with that.

Now, part number three, the good day protocol.

So this is a protocol.

If you follow this protocol, which is a list of habits and steps, then every day will be a good day.

Your average day will be way better and even the bad days won't be as bad.

So number one is get outside first thing in the morning, right?

For your circadian rhythm, you wanna get sunlight into your eyes right after you wake up.

And just the feeling of being outside first thing in the morning is unparalleled.

There is nothing like it.

Now, number two is call a friend, text somebody, or have a real life conversation.

Because the moment you stop talking to people, you start talking to yourself.

You're literally deflecting your own ideas and thoughts back to yourself.

And then you just have this feedback loop and it never gets quieter.

So instead, you're going to want to deflect your energy somewhere else.

You're going to want to talk to somebody, exchange your ideas, and just talk about your goals to a close friend, talk about what you're feeling,

and just talking to people, sharing your ideas, bouncing your life goals, and just saying what you want to say and expressing yourself to somebody else.

That is really powerful.

Number three is exercise once per day.

So exercising outdoors is obviously the best case scenario, but you can also exercise indoors.

Also, a big thing about, you know, staying home is if you stay home, chances are you are not going to exercise.

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You're going to be stationary.

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You're going to be sedentary all day.

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Now, that is very bad for your mental health.

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It's very bad for your focus, for your general health as well.

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So one thing you can implement at home is stretching, you know, movement, making sure that you're moving your body.

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You can stretch on a pull -up bar.

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You can stretch on a yoga mat you can stretch anywhere and for however long that you want.

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But stretching is just, it releases tension in your mind.

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And the fourth and final thing that is going to change everything is having you moments more often, right?

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The moment where you don't have your phone, you don't have music, you don't have external stimulus and you're just by yourself with your thoughts.

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That is so important because you're just giving yourself the space to think,

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the space to be the best version of yourself and the space to be creative.

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Because if you constantly have, you know, things that you have to do and you always have your phone and you always have like,

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you're always watching a video, always doing something.

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You never give yourself the real chance to reset.

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So give yourself that moment of freedom and allow yourself to just start from scratch.

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So I had a phase in my life where I was pretty isolated for a long time, right?

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And what I did there is I started to surround myself with the right people.

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And ever since then, my life started to change.

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I started to do all of the good habits,

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surround myself with the right people and with the right knowledge and the right media and the right content as well.

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Everything that goes into shaping your environment and shaping the person that you are,

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you have to really monitor your inputs because your inputs create the life that you live.

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Now, if you want to surround yourself with highly ambitious people, then click the link in the description below and check out our school community.

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Take care and you got this.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “The habit you don't realize is making you miserable”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: feeling, environment, mental, outside. This video has 124 sentences and 1640 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:02. The speaker talks fast, about 233 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 89% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
habit noun	/ˈhæb.ɪt/	An action performed on a regular basis.
stretch verb	/stɹɛt͡ʃ/	To lengthen by pulling.
isolate verb	/ˈaɪ.sə.leɪt/	To set apart or cut off from others.
protocol noun	/ˈpɹoʊtəˌkɑl/	An amendment to an official treaty.
isolation noun	/ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃən/	The state of being isolated, detached, or separated; the state of being away from other people.
surround verb	/səˈɹaʊnd/	To encircle something or simultaneously extend in all directions.
routine noun	/ɹuˈtin/	A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure.
input noun	/ˈɪnpʊt/	The act or process of putting in; infusion.
drain noun	/dɹiːn/	A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume; a plughole (UK)
align verb	/əˈlaɪn/	To form a line; to fall into line.
confused adjective	/kənˈfjuːzd/	unable to think clearly or understand
harm noun	/hɑːm/	Physical injury; hurt; damage.
curious adjective	/ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs/	Tending to ask questions, or to want to explore or investigate; inquisitive; (with a negative connotation) nosy, prying.
remote adjective	/ɹəˈməʊt̞/	At a distance; disconnected.
sudden adjective	/ˈsʌd.ən/	Occurring quickly with little or no warning or expectation; instantly.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
go through verb		To travel from one end of something to the other.
check out verb		To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
find out verb		To discover, as by asking or investigating.
get out of verb		To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.
pull up verb	/ˌpʊl ˈʌp/	To lift upwards or vertically.
take out verb		To remove.
wake up verb	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	To stop sleeping; to awake.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

You feel like there's something off.
Basically, if you're in a big environment, right?
You're going to be stationary.
You're going to be sedentary all day.

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	are isolated · being isolated · is aligned
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	was, which was · person who deserves · person who is
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	Have you ever had · have felt · have noticed
Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group	my best · the best

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 39 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: rhythm /ˈɹɪð.əm/, thrive /θɹajv/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: isolation /ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃən/, tension /ˈtɛnʃən/, emotionally /ɪˈməʊʃənəli/, ambitious /æmˈbɪʃ.əs/, stationary /ˈsteɪʃəˌnɛɹi/
Long words — get the stress right: isolation /ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃən/, miserable /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/, emotionally /ɪˈməʊʃənəli/, curiosity /ˌkjʊɹ.iˈɑ.sə.ti/, stationary /ˈsteɪʃəˌnɛɹi/

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 habit, stretch, isolate.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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

Shadowing Practice: The habit you don't realize is making you miserable - Learn English Speaking with Video

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