Shadowing Practice: This 19th Century Cure For Brain Rot Will Make You Unstoppable - Learn English Speaking with Video
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We tend to think about brain rot as something that's new, a new phenomenon which has occurred because of social media and the internet,
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and the endless content, information, distraction that is out there, pulling at our thoughts, pulling at our mind,
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taking us away from our ability to mentally function in our life, in regards to our work, in regards to our own education,
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and also even seeping into our ability to focus and be present in our own personal relationships.
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Except it's not really a new phenomenon.
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Brain rot has always existed because humans have always had a brain.
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We've always had a brain that can easily be distracted.
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We've always had a brain where
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if we don't pay enough close attention to organizing our thoughts
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and coming up with the right strategies and habits to make sure that we can focus,
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we do have discipline, we have an ability to streamline our thoughts in a positive direction.
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If we don't give that a close amount of attention, our brain can easily get distracted.
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We can easily lose focus.
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That has always existed.
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It's not something that's only just occurred because of social media.
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And while social media definitely capitalizes on our brain's desire to be distracted
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and how easily we can be distracted and succumb to emotional extremes,
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extremes which pull us out of our ability to stay present and focus and be disciplined.
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Of course, social media plays into that and capitalizes off that, but it's not the root cause of the issue.
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Because at the end of the day, brain rot is just a mental cognition failure on three fronts.
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It's one, an inability to streamline, synthesize, and organize our thoughts.
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It's two, a lack of focus on the present moment.
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And three, a lack of understanding as to how our thoughts and ideas actually work.
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And so in today's video, I want to look back at who I think is probably the greatest mental cognition of all time,
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which is the 19th century businessman, John D.
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Rockefeller.
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Because after reading his biography written by the great biography writer, Ron Chernow, I am absolutely convinced that he had the greatest strategies
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and the greatest ability to use his mind and keep his mind sharp and fresh and focused on the present moment,
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despite the fact that he had
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so much going on in his life as someone who was operating at the highest levels and had politicians,
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had businessmen, had the country to deal with, yet he was able to focus, have clear thoughts, and avoid the many distractions that many of us,
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including me, succumb to, especially today, due to social media.
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And so what I'm going to do today is take the three main habits that I learned from his biography,
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Titan, in how he seemed to approach his mental cognition
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and how we can implement those three habits in our own lives to increase our own mental cognition in the 21st century.
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Which leads me into principle number one, which is to implement a synthesis buffer period.
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Now, in the Ron Chernow book, Titan, it details how John D.
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Rockefeller was famous for every time he consumed a piece of information
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or every time he had a meeting or every time he visited a workplace or a site,
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he would then allow himself five to ten minutes to sit in silence and synthesize the information that he just consumed.
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Now, the reason he did this was that he believed your brain operated in three stages.
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It consumed information.
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It needed time to buffer over that information, to allow that information to ruminate in your head.
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And then it naturally discerns between what information isn't necessary
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and what you're able to do with the rest and how you're able to use that information for your own best advantage.
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and then he would move on to the next task of the day.
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And I think in today's world with social media, that is incredibly important because
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when we think about why we have the best thoughts we ever have during the day in the shower,
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it's often because that's the only moment during the day that we're actually not distracted,
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consuming information or producing some kind of information or producing some kind of work.
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That's our only time for synthesis, our only buffer period throughout the day.
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But think about how much information you're consuming.
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Think about how much of our day is reading emails, checking social media, talking to somebody, having a meeting, then working,
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and never really sitting in silence.
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I think in today's world, more than ever, even more than John D.
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Rockefeller needed to do, We need to implement more time for synthesis, more time to allow the thoughts to ruminate in our head,
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clarify those thoughts, organize those thoughts, and then move forward.
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I think this is a huge cure for brain rot
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because all brain rot is is residue from the distraction that you just had.
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It's residue from the information you just had.
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It's when you go on TikTok and then you have this song that's a TikTok trend playing on there.
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Then you go to start work and you're humming that song.
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You're clearly not focused on the task at hand.
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You're clearly not in the present moment.
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Your brain is cluttered.
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Your thoughts aren't organized because you didn't give yourself a synthesis period.
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And so I think the way that we need to implement this today is that anytime you consume any piece of content,
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anytime you scroll on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, whatever it is, I'm not one of those people advocating to not use social media ever.
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I use social media.
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I see the harm.
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I also see the benefit.
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But what I think is the best strategy we can all implement
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if we do choose to use social media is then to give ourselves a five to ten minute buffer period.
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Even if you didn't consume any piece of information that is important, even if it was just in the morning with your morning coffee,
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you were scrolling Instagram, you got a bit of world news, you saw a few trends, you saw some AI penguin videos or something.
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Even after that, allowing yourself five to ten minutes of silence, not checking your phone, not checking emails,
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staring at the sky, staring at a blank wall, looking at your carpet, whatever it is, sitting in silence just like this.
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Imagine me here not doing anything, just thinking.
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That allows your brain to synthesize those thoughts.
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If none of those thoughts were important, none of that information was important, that's okay.
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Your brain will then discard it and you'll be able to move on and go into your work,
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go into your day with a clear mind, with no residue.
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Because that 5 to 10 minute period is what allows your brain to decide what was important information and what wasn't.
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If none of it was important but you gave yourself 5 to 10 minutes,
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then it throws it all out and you move forward with a clear mind.
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I think it is a brilliant strategy.
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And then on top of that, you then need to incorporate that strategy into every time you have a meeting,
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every time you produce a bit of work, every time you read a book.
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Giving yourself 5 to 10 minutes after that task to then synthesize that information, you'll also be able to retain more information,
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to learn more effectively, to learn faster.
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When I started implementing this, where every time I read a book, I then sat for five to ten minutes.
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I didn't continue writing the notes I was writing while reading the book.
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I just sat in silence.
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And my brain naturally just thought about the information I had.
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I thought about it for a bit.
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I ruminated with it for a bit.
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And then eventually I was able to discern between what I wanted to keep, what I didn't, what I thought about the information I just had.
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And I ended up remembering more of that book.
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I ended up remembering more of that information for weeks, months, years ahead because I actually spent time thinking about it.
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And this is a really easy process.
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You don't naturally need to think about the information.
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Your brain will just naturally do it.
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Your brain is its own organizer.
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The human brain was designed specifically to organize thoughts, to sort it between what's useful, what's not, what to do with what piece of information.
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It's fine.
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That's just baseline level competence.
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But because we're so distracted by social media, people aren't operating on a baseline level.
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You don't need to be a genius.
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You don't need to be super talented.
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You don't need to have a natural ability to be more clear thinking, to be more intelligent, to be more focused,
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to be more disciplined, to be smarter.
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You actually don't even need that.
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All you need is for your brain to just have the time to do its job at a baseline human level,
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not a talented level, a average level.
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And that will make you talented in today's world because most people aren't operating at an average level.
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And I think John D.
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Rockefeller understood this.
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I think he gave himself this five to ten minute synthesis period because he understood that most people don't even do that.
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Most people don't even bother to allow their brain to just have the time to do what it needs to do.
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And that will give you a huge advantage for not much effort.
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You don't need to actively think about the information you just consumed.
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Your brain will just do that for you.
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Your brain will always give you thoughts.
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Ideas will randomly pop into your head.
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Try and control the thoughts and ideas that come into your head.
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You can't.
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It's just going to happen.
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So just let your brain do what it does and you will notice a huge benefit for it
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And I think in today's world with social media and brain rot
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that five to ten minute synthesis period is So crucial and it sounds so banal so simple.
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So just like what is this piece of information?
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This isn't valuable, but it is If you implement this, you will notice a world of difference.
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Which leads me in to habit number two, which is always ask yourself what you can do right now.
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And John D.
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Rockefeller understood this to such a great level that during the 1837 market crash,
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while everyone else was consumed with the information over what stocks are crashing, what's happening, oh my god,
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this is terrible, they were extremely emotionally charged for obvious reasons.
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I'm sure if I was in that position, I would also be incredibly scared, anxious, emotionally charged.
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But John D.
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Rockefeller wasn't because he thought to himself, what can I do about it?
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The market has crashed.
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What can I change?
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Can I rewrite history?
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Of course not.
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So what can I actively do?
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One thing, I can pay attention to what's going on
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and I can actively try and discern between what piece of information is going to be useful for me,
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what will allow me to act upon this and benefit myself and what's not.
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everything's going wrong, but what can I actually do?
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What do I have within my control to gain the best advantage out of this current situation
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while everyone else is in emotional distress?
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And what did John D.
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Rockefeller do?
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Through some level of genius, he was able to come out even more rich after the market crash than he was before the market crash.
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His net worth increased while everyone else's decreased because he actively separated from that emotion and only asked himself one thing,
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which is what can I actually do?
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And this is in regards to social media constantly filling you up with information
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and news and content that can emotionally charge you.
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You know, I might see a video online of someone saying that Dostoevsky is not a good writer.
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That's going to make me angry.
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That's going to make me emotional.
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If I put my phone down that very moment and went into work,
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I would just be thinking about this idiot who said Dostoevsky's not a good writer.
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That's a very unique example for me.
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That's my kind of rage bait, I would say.
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Now, if I actively thought about what can I actually do with that information, what can I do about it right now, it's nothing.
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I can't change that person's mind.
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I don't know who that person is.
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It actually doesn't matter.
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And think about how many pieces of content we're getting on social media to do with information
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that emotionally charges us that we can do nothing about.
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This is like 90% of the global news.
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Of course, it's important to stay informed and keep up with what's going on in the world.
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But it's also important to understand when you can
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and can't do something about it and not allow it to emotionally affect you throughout the day.
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Because even if you care deeply about something
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and you see a bit of news online about how something might have happened there
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and that's made you upset or angry or happy, whatever it is, if you allow that emotion to carry through into your work,
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you're now also going to suffer.
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You're now also going to pay for the bad actions of somebody else
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that you don't even know that you can be upset about.
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But if you allow that to stay in your mind and emotionally charge you, it will affect your ability to work
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and ultimately affect your ability to make the change in the world that you want to make.
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And this is a similar concept to something that Tolkien even talked about, which is that too often we confuse information for wisdom and prudence.
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Too often we think that being informed is just knowing a lot about what's going on in the world.
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But we also need to, more than that, focus on what can we do about it?
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How can we implement it?
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How does this actually, why does this matter?
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How does this take an effect?
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How can I use this information to create a better life for myself, to feel more fulfilled, to serve humanity in a better way,
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to do a better job?
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Whatever it is, that's prudence.
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Prudence isn't knowing everything, but it's knowing what to do within the situation.
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That's what you always need to focus on.
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In this age of social media, your brain can be so cluttered,
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you can deal with so much brain rot because you're actively not focused on just what you can do.
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Now, easier said than done to detach yourself emotionally from certain things is extremely difficult, but it's so important.
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And if you're going to engage with social media, you need to learn this skill of being able to take in information
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and just discard it and move on and start your work without being emotionally cluttered by it,
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because that will distract you and your work will suffer as a result due to things completely out of your control.
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You shouldn't allow that to happen.
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That doesn't need to happen.
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We need to all get better at always asking ourselves, what can I do about it?
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If the answer is nothing, move on instantly.
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Which leads me in to habit number three, which is to build a disciplined meditative daily habit.
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Something that John D.
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Rockefeller did was he kept this red ledger where he actually recorded every single cent
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that went in and out of his account, every single cent of a transaction that his business was making.
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Now, this was an extremely crazy, extreme habit to have, keeping track of every single cent.
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I don't think there'd be a businessman alive today who even does that or comes anywhere near doing that.
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This is extreme.
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But what it did was it grounded him firmly in reality.
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It allowed him to understand the precise, real situation he was in.
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How much did I make today?
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How much did I lose?
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What did this deal do for the company?
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What didn't it do?
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How much capital do I have to work with?
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It grounded him.
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It centered him.
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It allowed him to be clear in the directions and the steps he needed to take moving forward
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in order to build and fix and do whatever it was he wanted to do.
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Now, with social media, with the whole world, with everything that's going on online right now,
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it can be easy to be pulled out of the reality of your situation.
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It can be easy to be destabilized, decentralized, and not really be very much in the moment, be very present.
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So you need to come up with a physical meditative habit that you can do that just centers you, that just grounds you.
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Meditation is good for some people.
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For some people, it's not.
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I prefer something with a little bit of movement, not just sitting there meditating, but actually an order, a task that centers my brain,
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like what John D.
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Rockefeller did.
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You know, you have your meditative period where you're synthesizing the information.
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That's habit number one.
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But you need a sort of physical movement, whether that's a walk, whatever it is, you need to come up with a process for you.
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For me, oddly enough, it's wearing suits.
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When I put this suit on, it's a slower process than if I just put on shorts and a t-shirt.
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That's super easy.
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Putting on a suit, you've got to put on your trousers, put on your button shirt, button it up, tuck it into your trousers,
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do up your tie, put on the jacket.
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It's a layering, meditative process.
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It takes a little bit of time.
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But what that does is it centers me in the moment.
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It grounds me in the moment.
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I'm then going to produce better work because of it, because I'm centered and focused.
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Now, I actually have a little thing to admit here, which is that about a week ago,
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I recorded a video where I sat down and I didn't, I wasn't as focused in my suit preparation as usual.
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My brain was a little bit scattered and the video, I wasn't really happy with it.
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I didn't think I communicated very effectively.
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I didn't think I came across as a professional in what I'm trying to do here.
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I just felt as though I was like an amateur.
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I was just speaking off the cuff.
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Lots of ums, ah, there was going to have to be lots of edits throughout the video because I stumbled over words.
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I just wasn't happy with it.
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And the video never went out because I just was that upset with it.
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And so after that, I made sure to take even more caution when putting on my suit, when doing this meditative process,
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to actually zone in, to actually focus, to actually center myself in the moment.
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And hopefully I'm communicating better because of it.
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Fingers crossed.
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Let me know in the comments if I am.
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And so this isn't that you come up with a process and every time you do it, it meditates you, it centers you.
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You also need to be focused on it.
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You also need to make sure that while you're doing this process, it's not just habit and muscle memory.
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It's a habit that you actively focus for.
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And it's super quick.
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You know, putting on a suit takes, what, 90 seconds to two minutes.
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And then I do my hair or something.
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You know, it's three minutes long.
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But that three minutes centers you and it grounds you.
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I'm sure for John D.
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Rockefeller, this grounded him throughout the day because every time there's a transaction,
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it took him 10 seconds to just – because he kept the ledger already.
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He knew all the dollars there in his account.
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He was then told, you know, 50,000 went here.
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He could just minus 50,000 from the amount and write in the exact amount.
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It was a 10-second process.
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But he was doing this every, I don't know, 15, 20 minutes,
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however much, however often he had money flowing through his accounts and transactions going through.
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I imagine it was often.
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So he's meditating himself and centering himself over and over again.
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And he was focused on it in the moment.
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And I think it makes a huge difference, especially in today's world where we can be so distracted.
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I think we all need small little physical habits that can help us ground ourselves.
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I'm not saying you need to keep track of every cent that's in your account.
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I'm not saying you need to wear suits wherever you go.
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I'm saying you need to come up with a physical habit that grounds you, that works for you, that suits you in your life,
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that you can find value in.
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With that said, I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
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I hope you guys found value in it.
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Once again, thank you for all the support on this channel.
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And until next time, take care.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “This 19th Century Cure For Brain Rot Will Make You Unstoppable”. This video has 290 sentences and 3576 words to shadow. The speech runs for 20:12. The speaker talks at a natural 177 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| habit noun | /ˈhæb.ɪt/ | An action performed on a regular basis. |
| consume verb | /kənˈsum/ | To use up. |
| implement verb | /ˈɪmpləmənt/ | To bring about; to put into practice; to carry out. |
| emotionally adverb | /ɪˈməʊʃənəli/ | In an emotional manner; displaying emotion. |
| distract verb | /dɪˈstɹækt/ | To divert the attention of. |
| actively adverb | /ˈæktɪvli/ | In an active manner. |
| synthesis noun | /ˈsɪnθəsɪs/ | The formation of something complex or coherent by combining simpler things. |
| silence noun | /ˈsaɪ̯ləns/ | The absence of any sound. |
| organize verb | /ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/ | To arrange in working order. |
| naturally adverb | /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/ | In a natural manner. |
| discipline noun | /ˈdɪsəplɪn/ | A controlled behaviour; self-control. |
| buffer noun | /ˈbʌfəɹ/ | A solution used to stabilize the pH (acidity) of a liquid, such as by resisting a change in pH when an acid or alkali is added. |
| talented adjective | /ˈtæləntɪd/ | Endowed with one or more talents. |
| transaction noun | /tɹænˈzækʃən/ | The act of conducting or carrying out (business, negotiations, plans). |
| regards noun | /ɹɪˈɡɑɹdz/ | A greeting to pass on to another person. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. | |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| move forward verb | To cause to make progress. | |
| come across verb | To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| do up verb | To fasten (a piece of clothing, etc.); to tighten (a nut etc.) | |
| go out verb | To leave, especially a building. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- It's residue from the information you just had.
- How can we implement it?
- How much did I make today?
- How much did I lose?
- How much capital do I have to work with?
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 | be distracted · can be distracted · be disciplined |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | phenomenon which has · someone who was · one, which is |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has occurred · has always existed · We've always had |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 72 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, you're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: synthesis /ˈsɪnθəsɪs/, bother /ˈbɑðɚ/, synthesize /ˈsɪnθəsaɪz/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: emotionally /ɪˈməʊʃənəli/, transaction /tɹænˈzækʃən/, distraction /dɪsˈtɹæk.ʃən/, emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, sharp /ʃɑɹp/
- Long words — get the stress right: emotionally /ɪˈməʊʃənəli/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, biography /baɪˈɑɡɹəfi/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/
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, consume, implement.
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.