Shadowing Practice: what to do when you can’t stop pushing yourself - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Can you be ambitious without overdoing it?
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Can you be ambitious without pushing yourself too hard?
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Can ambition exist without anxiety?
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Can you have ambition while also having inner peace?
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These are the questions that I ask myself, and I feel like I'm always at a tug and pull between these two sides.
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My ambitious side that wants to do well and succeed and live to the fullest,
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and the peaceful side, the side that knows I have to take care of myself first, put my health above everything else,
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and not push myself too hard because I shouldn't do anything that sacrifices my overall well -being,
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mental, physical, emotional, spiritual.
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So I feel like the goal is obviously to live in the balance of these two
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because if you are an ambitious person, you do want to do a lot with your life.
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You want to live a full life that you're proud of, and that entails doing a lot sometimes.
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But there's always this balance of life is not just about one thing.
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Life is about living everything, but also first and foremost taking care of yourself first, because when you become depleted,
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everything else in life becomes depleted.
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Today we're going to talk about how to create a life balancing ambition and wellness,
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how to stop that habit of pushing yourself too hard past that healthy limit, and how to actually curate your life so
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that you really know what your priorities are and you have the trust to let everything else go.
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If you're someone who wants to do a lot and do everything well, this is for you.
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Okay, now we're talking.
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Oh my gosh, you guys.
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The two colors.
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It's definitely a different vibe from last year.
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Last year, it was sky and stone, blue and gray.
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And this year, it is butter and poppy, inspired by the colors of wildflowers.
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If you've been following my life this past year, first of all, thank you for still watching because I know I've been posting a lot less.
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Life has been changing a lot for me this past couple years.
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And if you have been following along, you know that I launched an app.
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I've been working on my book and I have just been going through a lot of changes.
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And through those changes this past year, I've noticed my energy shift.
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So it's so funny because if you go back like two or three years ago,
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I was in a place where I was so lost in life.
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I felt like I was ending a chapter.
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I felt like I had very low energy and motivation for anything.
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I didn't feel like making videos.
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I didn't know what was next and I was just lost.
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And then after that point of being lost, I went into an exploration phase.
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And then that eventually led me to decide to commit to build an app.
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And then once I started building my app last year, I became very motivated.
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I was so focused, working really hard, just envisioning and building this app with my team.
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And I was so focused on the app throughout launch and the first six months of launch.
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And then now we are here and I notice my energy is shifting.
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Not only that, but because I have a lot that I want to accomplish, but so little time and not enough energy to go around.
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I still feel like I have to show up creating content because content is the foundation of everything that I do.
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And now that I have this app, there's obviously effort to maintain, upkeep, and create content for the app.
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And then I also wanted to finish my book proposal, but because I was so busy with other things, I kept pushing that deadline back.
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And these past two months, like August, September, I was really like,
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okay, I have to lock down because I have two very important things I want to get done.
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One is the book proposal, which tentative, don't even know if I will finish it in time, but also my workbook launch because we're launching.
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I mean, by the time this video is out, the workbook launched.
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It's like everything at once.
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And the beginning of this year, I already put my podcast on hiatus.
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I have all these ideas.
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There's like content series, products that I want to create,
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everything off to the side because I just don't have the time and the bandwidth for them.
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And I noticed something about my energy the past couple months is that I started feeling a little trapped, a little suffocated, a little bit like,
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oh, why do I put all of these obligations and responsibilities on myself?
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There seems like there's nothing else I can take off my plate.
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Like there are certain things that I really care about and I really want to get done.
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And I just felt so restricted.
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And I think it's when you start feeling that energy in your life where it's restrictive, that's not a good sign.
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And not only that, it's because I was so overwhelmed with my obligations
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that I started to just turn off my brain and go to what's comforting, snacking, watching TV,
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not doing what I really want to be doing or what I think I should be doing and feeling guilty about it, and that negative loop.
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Let's talk about it.
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I'll break this down so it's actionable and helpful for you guys.
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So if you can relate to that feeling of feeling restricted, trapped, suffocated, because you have too much going on,
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at the same time you care about everything, you want everything to go well, this is what you have to do.
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Number one, you have to pay attention to your energy.
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Your energy is your map and your energy does not lie.
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No matter how much you try to lie to yourself, your energy is not going to lie.
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If you are tired and your body is tired, you're going to feel it.
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No matter how much you try to push through it, the signs will be there if you're aware enough to see it.
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So number one is you have to pay attention to your energy as your map.
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And this is yes, for the times where we're like stressed and overworked and burnt out,
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but it's also for the times where you're feeling lost and you don't know what to do.
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Wherever your energy is, you should pay attention to what it's telling you.
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And sometimes you can't take it for face value.
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If you're feeling lazy and unmotivated, don't just assume that you're lazy and unmotivated.
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There's a deeper meaning.
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Are you lazy and unmotivated because you've worked too hard recently and you're tired?
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Or is it because you're feeling bad about yourself
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or there's something else going on in your life that you're trying to avoid?
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Are you lazy and unmotivated because you're running away?
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Or is it a sign of fear?
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You really need to develop that awareness to understand what your energy is, but also read underneath.
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Like what's happening underneath this energy.
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That's really the story that's happening here.
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This is where you have to get really honest with yourself
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because no one on the outside will tell you what's wrong with you.
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Only you will be able to clearly figure that out
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if you get real quiet and if you do a lot of reflection, whether it's meditation or journaling, but that is the first step.
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So notice your energy.
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Notice when you're feeling exhausted.
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Give yourself that break.
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Give yourself grace.
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Be gentle with yourself.
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Give yourself love.
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Treat yourself as the most important person in your life that you love the most because you are.
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A mantra
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that I've been telling myself these past few years as I've been changing is to honor my energy create
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and work when the energy is there.
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But when the energy is not there, allow myself to rest because my energy is telling me something.
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This is why, even though I have so much on my plate, I find that I have energy for just the most random things.
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I felt like starting a sub stack because I wanted to write more this year.
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Nobody told me to add a new platform, right?
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I was trying to subtract everything from my life.
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I was subtracting the podcast.
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My team was downsizing.
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There was a lot that I was trying to get off my plate, but at the same time,
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there was inspiration and energy in a new direction.
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You should honor your energy, listen to it, and follow it, because it is leading you in the right direction,
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even if it doesn't make sense right now.
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The next point, choose your priorities for this season.
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So what to keep and what to release.
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By season, you can build it based on month or quarter.
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I like to do both.
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And I think lately I've been focusing on month.
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I just go month to month.
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Like what is the most important focus for this month?
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And that's what we do in our Artist of Life workbook.
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But because you can't do it all at once, you really have to hone down on your one to two main priorities for the month.
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It's like, if I were to only do this one thing
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or these two things and be proud of myself at the end of this month, what would it be?
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And so know what those things are and then let everything else fall off.
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My home can be messy.
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I don't have to have a workout routine.
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I can move this project to the side.
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I could procrastinate.
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I could say no to this event.
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But the most important thing is this one.
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Obviously, everyone's priorities are going to be different.
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The beauty of this is how good it feels to release everything else.
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And when I say release, sometimes you can't completely offload it.
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Sometimes it's just allowing it to be mediocre, allowing it to be just enough.
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Earlier I mentioned goodbye to the workout routine.
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I feel like… Sometimes if you know I need to keep my body moving for a baseline of health and mental,
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emotional well -being, then just do a mediocre workout.
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Just go on a walk instead of a hard training session.
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There are ways to release without completely ignoring it and not doing it at all.
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When I say release, I mean release your high standard and your high expectation for things.
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Let's say you're a mom too and you have a party to organize.
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It's allow that party to be mediocre or delegate some tasks and get some help for certain things.
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Don't try to do everything yourself.
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Because I think oftentimes the people that struggle with what we're talking about are the people that are high achievers.
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They want to do everything and they want to do everything well, and they want to have control over everything.
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And it's almost like everything that you do is a reflection of your worth.
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And so you're so tied to it and it has to succeed.
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It has to do well.
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It has to be well received by others.
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And the truth is that's optional.
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Like who said, who said that everything you do has to be excellent all the time?
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Because we don't have that bandwidth or that energy, especially the older we get,
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we have limited energy to work with, limited time we don't want to waste it on things unnecessarily.
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So focus on your priorities.
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Know what the most important things you want to hold onto to keep high quality.
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And then everything else, let it be mediocre.
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Let it be just good enough.
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Something that has really inspired me to take more care of myself and slow down, not have to push too hard,
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is understanding my body and my health and I recently had blood work done through Whoop's Advanced Labs.
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So thanks to Whoop for sponsoring this video.
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So Whoop Advanced Labs is their product where you can get your blood work done through Quest
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and you get your blood work results in the Whoop app.
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And a clinician reviews it, gives you insights, and you get to see everything in one place.
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Instead of the PDF that you get from your doctors, everything is in this app.
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You can click on each marker and it gives you an explanation for what this marker means, why it's important, how it's related to other markers.
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There's even a box where you can ask questions and it will explain more of your results to you,
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which I think is so helpful.
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The goal is really to help you understand what's happening in your body and what you can do about it, which is really empowering.
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They have a selection of panels that you can choose from.
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They have heart, performance, metabolic, women's, and men's.
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I chose the women's because I was interested in learning about my fertility and my hormones.
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My cycle became a little irregular this year, so I wanted to just get the details of what's happening.
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The process in the app is super seamless.
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So you pick your panel.
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After you check out, you book your blood work.
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So I booked the next appointment three days later so that I have at least three days to prepare for it.
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Because I think before blood work, You have to make sure you're not over -exercising and fasting and doing certain things.
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So I booked my blood work, did the blood work.
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Wilson came with me because I was nervous.
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I do not like getting my blood drawn.
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And I think I got my results about a week after I did my blood work.
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So it was pretty fast.
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So all of your results are shown in the app.
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There's a clinician that reviewed your results and gave you, like, these are the important insights.
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Here are the recommended next steps that you could take.
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So for example, one of the recommended steps was I should add more beans and legumes to my diet.
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And I'm like, yeah, you're right.
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I don't really think about that.
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So if you're interested in getting your blood work done along with these insights,
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you can get 20 % off WHOOP Advanced Labs using my code Eileen20.
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And you don't need a WHOOP membership to access
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Advanced Labs either.
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So you can just get it on its own.
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Which brings me to my next point, health and wellness first.
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You have to take care of your foundation before you can do anything else.
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So as much as you want to offload things like your sleep or exercise or eating well,
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you really can't because those are the things that fuel your body, give your body the energy it can to do everything else in life.
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So think about your sleep, your exercise, your nutrition, how much time you allow yourself to rest, and also your relationships.
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So these are all the things that nourish us and fuel our energy in our life.
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And it's so important to take care of yourself.
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Everyone's a little bit different.
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So what gives you energy and what feels nourishing to you is different.
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Some people are more introverted and they need more alone time.
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That means alone time is part of your self -care that's necessary for your health and wellness.
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Other people might need more connection.
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They might need to spend more time with their loved ones, more time that's not rigid or on a schedule,
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but just open time to be present with the people that you love and care about.
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So really put your health and wellness first.
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And when I say wellness, it includes everything, like overall holistic wellness, not just physical wellness.
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I know some of you are saying like, this is just an ideal, perfect world.
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We have everything taken care of our health and wellness, and we're successful and we're doing this.
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But how do you realistically prioritize your health and wellness and do everything that you want to do?
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Again, you have to know what is your baseline of good enough?
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What is nourishing enough for me so that I'm not completely neglecting myself?
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Everything is on a spectrum.
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So when you're listening to these tips, ask yourself, how can I apply this to my life,
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even if it's just to make my life 1 % better?
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It's not about perfection.
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It's about the progress we make, the evolution and the growth that we make as people.
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Going back to my blood work results, the biggest thing that I discovered from it was basically this marker that I've never heard about,
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but it's related to checking whether you have immune activity against your thyroid and mine was elevated.
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So although every other thyroid -related marker in the blood work was healthy, like my thyroid is healthy,
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it's producing hormones, it's just doing what it needs to do.
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But there was that one, I think it's an enzyme or something, that was a little bit elevated.
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And when I looked into it, it scared me because it basically is saying a part of your body is attacking your thyroid for some reason,
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even though your thyroid is healthy.
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And if left unchecked or if this evolves into the future, it can become something worse.
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And that scared me because it's something
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that doesn't have like an immediate scientific things you can do to make it stop happening.
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There's no recommended lifestyle change.
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All that was recommended was keep an eye on it and retest for it in the future.
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And with that kind of thing, that's a little up in the air.
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It scares me but at the same time, it gives me a sign that everything happening internal is a reflection of the external.
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Because I tend to push myself and I tend to have this mindset of like, let me do more, let me sleep less,
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let me just stay up a little bit to finish this one task.
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Anyway, it was a sign for me that I need to slow down and take care of my body,
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and I need to not allow myself to get stressed because stress activates all of these symptoms in our body.
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And if left unchecked, it becomes actual illness.
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But before it becomes illness, it's just like everything else is healthy and everything else is working just fine.
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But it's almost like an invisible, very subtle sign.
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It's just a big sign to me that I cannot push myself the same way that I used to push myself.
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I cannot work as intense or sacrifice as much as I used to.
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I cannot do as much as I used to.
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I have to live a life where I feel relaxed and at ease while pursuing my goals.
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And so that's why this concept of, can I be ambitious while giving myself a lot of balance and rest and health?
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I think I can, but I think it requires taking the slow route.
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I think it requires not being in a rush and not being impatient,
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being super patient for the steady, slow route.
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Because I'm really into astrology, I love learning the meanings of the planets and the signs and the symbols.
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So if you look into the meaning of Saturn, Saturn is a planet that is about discipline, commitment, hard work.
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It's not a happy, easy planet.
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It's a planet that is forged through difficulty, and it's a planet that symbolizes when you move through difficulty,
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but you become something so strong, so substantial, that nothing can take you down.
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Nothing will wash you away because you've been built through the fire.
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You've been forged through the fire.
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You've been built just block by block.
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Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, nothing can take you down because you are so strong.
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Anything that reaches that level of sturdiness and strength was not reached there quickly or easily.
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In my chart, I have a lot of Saturn, and Saturn is in Capricorn.
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Saturn is a strong planet in my chart, and I always feel like my dreams are here, but the reality is here.
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And even though I've come so far, I've come a long way in the past 12 -15 years,
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but I still feel like I'm at the beginning.
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I always feel humbled.
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I always feel like, wow, I really thought the results would be here,
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but it's really here and I still have to learn and I still have to build and I'm still growing.
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I have to remind myself I'm on the slow, steady journey.
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I'm only beginning.
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Everything that you've seen up until now is just the beginning.
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I was a seed.
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And then the past 10 years, I'm a little sprout.
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You haven't even seen the tree.
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It's how I feel about myself and my life.
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And so when I think about it that way, it's about the long -term journey.
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It's about the marathon.
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Then the truth is, why do I have to rush?
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I can't rush it.
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And if I do try to rush and push myself, I'm only hurting myself and my own health.
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And I can't do this.
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I can't do this journey and become this invincible, big, strong tree if my health is not good.
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Like if I'm not healthy, how can I grow really big and strong?
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Right?
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It's as simple as that.
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So take care of your health.
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It's okay to slow down.
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You can still have your big ambitions and big dreams, but redefine your timeline of getting there.
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Redefine the meaning of the journey getting there.
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Understand that it's about the little steps of progress.
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Celebrate the little steps of progress instead of wishing you were already at the end.
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That's how I feel about my life.
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Like what's the rush?
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I've come so far and I'm still so young.
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There's still so much that I have to grow.
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And I'm excited and I'm proud of that.
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But the way I'm going to continue to grow from this chapter to the next is going to be very different.
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It's going to be slower, more easeful, more calm than I was the first chapter,
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the previous chapter where I hustled and grind and pushed through so much and burned out so many times.
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So once you can redefine what the journey to success looks like for you, and you realize it doesn't have to be rushed towards,
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it doesn't have to be met to your perfect standards and expectations,
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then you can start to become more flexible and forgiving in your everyday life.
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Because it's not life or death to meet deadlines.
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It's not like nothing truly is that important or that urgent it's only because you make it that important or urgent.
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So it's about learning to step back and really assess what needs your time and energy and what can be let go.
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And with that mindset, you realize that you actually have a lot of time.
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You have a lot of time and you should create more time for yourself
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and more space in between your obligations for flexibility.
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You need some forgiveness in the structures of your everyday life.
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It really cannot be so rigid because we are not machines.
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Some of us have the capacity to operate like a higher efficiency than others.
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Sure, but everyone needs some flexibility.
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Everyone needs that cushion, room to breathe, some extra space in case something delays,
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something goes wrong, something pops up in your life.
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This happens all the time.
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We feel like our plate is so full, but let's say something happens.
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If something happens to Togi and I have to take him to the vet,
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I would drop everything and take him to the vet and be with him.
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That just shows whether the things I thought were important before something happened were actually important.
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So I think that's where we realize, maybe what we feel is important right now, if something truly serious happened,
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you can easily drop those things and postpone them.
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And that's how you realize, okay, maybe it wasn't that important.
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Maybe I didn't have to stress out that much.
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So I am all for living a flexible life.
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Sure, I create a plan.
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I create some sort of structure.
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I try to be consistent in certain things, but I'm also very forgiving in that if my energy is not there,
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I'm like, okay, today is just not that day.
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It's not the day to be productive.
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Today is not the day to work.
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I will go out and go to my favorite cafe, or I will spend time walking in nature.
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I will do the things that fill my cup so that tomorrow, or maybe even later that evening,
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I will feel better and I will have the energy.
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So it's just learning to not force it and be very flexible, very forgiving.
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This year is actually the first year I did not participate in the shooting of the workbook launch.
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Every year for the past 10 years, I either shot it myself or I brought on photographer videographer
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and I was a part of the shoot like I was the one modeling the workbooks being in the videos
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and this is the first year I chose not to do that because Like I said,
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I already felt like I had so much on my plate.
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I didn't want to add that because for me,
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it's very stressful to plan and be in the shoot and to be part of the editing and everything.
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So this is the first year that I tested outsourcing that part to two studios.
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And I actually really liked it.
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I still planned it.
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I was still involved, but I didn't have to be the model.
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I didn't have to be there directing or shooting and it felt really freeing.
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It's just an example of like, wow, I really didn't have to do something that I thought was something I needed to do every single year.
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So as you change, you can change the way you do things.
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The things that you thought needed you to be there maybe didn't really require you in the end.
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Lastly, something really key that I want to share is how the definition of success is changing for me,
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what the journey looks like is changing for me.
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I think a lot of us maybe still have
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that mindset of success looks like a difficult journey and a lot of hard work and a lot of self -sacrifice,
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a lot of grinding, and a lot of anxiety.
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It almost seems like if you want to do something big
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and you want to be the best and you want to succeed, you're going to have to put yourself through the most difficult times,
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which I think parts of it is true, but I also don't think the whole journey is meant to be a struggle.
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I don't think you're meant to suffer the entire way.
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I think there are phases where you have to give your all, but you have to define what your all is.
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Your all is like all your time,
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energy, motivation, yes, but not past the point of hurting yourself and hurting your health and really ruining those boundaries.
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This is one of those beliefs that are really ingrained in people and it's like you only see what you believe.
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So if you believe you have to struggle to succeed, then you're going to see, oh, look at the people who succeeded.
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They had to struggle this much.
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If you believe it the other way, I believe you can still achieve success while living a balanced life, while living a life you love.
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Yes, there are hardships, but the whole journey has depth.
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It's not just like you're killing yourself every day, jam -packing your schedule every day, and you can still be there.
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You can see examples of that too.
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So I don't think there's only one way to get there.
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And I think I have more experience through the people that I've met in life.
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Everyone should be allowed to have their own definition of success.
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And what I believe as artists of life is we are supposed to create our own definitions of success.
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So I'm not going to impart anything but my definition at this point
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because I have learned that my definition of success is that I want to do what I am interested in doing.
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I will always follow my passions and curiosities and inspirations because I can't help it.
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I can't not do that.
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But success is also following that energy that drives you forward while not sacrificing yourself, your health, and your overall well -being.
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Continuing to nourish yourself, continuing to find joy and beauty and meaning and love and connection in life,
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in your everyday life, and having space in my days.
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I don't consider myself successful, no matter how much money I make or how much impact I have, if my days are jam -packed.
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If I am living a jam -packed schedule every single day, no matter anything else, no matter how successful everything looks on the outside,
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that is not success to me.
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Success is openness and freedom.
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The freedom to be creative, the freedom to choose how I want to spend my time.
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Success to me is living a balanced life where I can take care of the different areas of my life
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while working towards a worthy goal.
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Even if you were making hundreds of million dollars, if you don't have your health, I don't consider that successful.
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I don't consider that sacrifice worth it for me personally.
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The other flip side of what I'm sharing is, I love that as I am growing older and meeting more people,
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people who are older, people who are retired,
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I'm seeing more and more examples of people living this open and free life where they have built success,
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but they spend their time pursuing what interests them and they don't really care.
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Obviously they want that thing to do well, but they're not killing themselves to reach their goal.
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They just have a loose goal and they're just moving towards it, but in a very happy and balanced way.
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And yes, it's gonna look slow.
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but they're not in a rush because they already have enough.
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So I think that might be the key phrase is you're not in a rush because you already have enough.
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And I think maybe when you're young and you're trying to build your first little mountain of success, like you're trying to climb your first mountain,
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maybe that's when you have the most anxiety because you're trying so hard to make something of yourself.
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You feel like you have something to prove.
399
Sometimes you just need income.
400
You just need money, right?
401
So I think once you get to that first hump, and once you've at least built a life where you have some stable income,
402
something that you've built, as long as you have enough beyond that, why are you in a rush?
403
Do you feel like you're in competition with others?
404
I don't think you have to be in a rush ever.
405
I think sometimes the slow way is often the way that beats out people who are in a rush as well.
406
This is why you might see two different kinds of really successful people.
407
One kind of person made their success by grinding, and they continue to grind, and they continue to burn themselves out, and they continue to push.
408
And are they really happy?
409
I'm not sure.
410
Are they really healthy?
411
Probably not.
412
And then there are people who are successful,
413
but they have this energy of they're just doing side quests at some point.
414
They're doing things but for fun.
415
And it's not like they absolutely need those things to succeed
416
because they have enough and they're just doing more because they want to.
417
And then the other, the first type of person is the kind
418
that no matter how much success or money that they have,
419
they just continue to build with that same energy of desperation and like, oh, this must happen.
420
And they're so controlling.
421
It's because deep down, they feel like whatever they do is never enough.
422
Whatever success they've made is never enough.
423
So this can also come down to your sense of worth, your sense of safety, your sense of security.
424
Do you actually feel like you are enough as you are?
425
Do you feel like you are enough if you're not productive
426
or you are enough even if you don't reach your goals in time?
427
Ultimately, the point is, there are seasons for different phases in your life,
428
and sometimes you might need to have a season where there's a lot on your plate, and then you need a season that's a bit slower.
429
And you have to be aware to know what season you're in.
430
And also, I think it's important to build the awareness of how to get really good at the things
431
that you can control obviously how to become more effective at doing your tasks and not procrastinating, how to be effective at building consistency,
432
having some sort of routine, and making it so that getting things done is easier and not such a big effort every time.
433
The point I'm getting to is I'm not a big life optimizer, but I think it's important to learn some.
434
It's important to learn how to optimize enough, how to - like personal growth.
435
You don't have to read self -help books forever, but it's important to have enough knowledge so that you feel like, okay, I know enough.
436
I'm optimizing enough.
437
But after that, I'm giving myself some space and some balance.
438
Life is not meant to be optimized forever and ever.
439
Life is meant to be lived.
440
And you should simply be living your life however you want to live it.
441
You should not be letting anyone else or anyone else's opinions or society dictate how you live your life.
442
It doesn't matter what other people deem as success.
443
And you really have to build the awareness to understand
444
which parts of your definition of success you picked up from some place or someone outside of you.
445
I think that's the biggest lesson.
446
And then honestly,
447
the last thing is learning self -forgiveness because oftentimes we are the ones that put the most pressure on ourselves.
448
And it's because something in our past taught us that was the way to operate in this world.
449
But wisdom is being able to take a step back
450
and look at the big picture and realize that all of it is optional.
451
All of it was self -imposed.
452
And whichever part of it you thought was absolutely necessary because maybe it's the norm in society,
453
or maybe someone's depending on you or whatever.
454
Sure, take it all into consideration, but also think about the opposite.
455
If this didn't exist, would I be okay?
456
If this didn't happen, would I be okay?
457
at the end of the day, you're probably going to be okay.
458
So it's okay to let yourself have some slack, relax.
459
Because the people who relate to this are often on one side of the extreme, the lesson is to pull back, to soften.
460
But if you are someone who's on the other side, the lesson is to pull back the other way and build some structure in your life.
461
I think truly the path in life that is the most wise is to find your balance of the middle path,
462
wherever that lies.
463
So only you know, because everybody is different.
464
So learn how to define success for yourself, how to create a life that feels both successful and nourishing at the same time,
465
encompassing everything that you want while making sure that you're protecting your wellness because that's the most important thing.
466
All right, sending you so much love.
467
Thank you for hanging out with me and just listening to my thoughts.
468
Again, our Artist of Life workbook is out now.
469
You can go to our shop to check it out.
470
It's out a bit early, but it's a good time to start reflecting on how this year has already shaped you.
471
Sending you so much love.
472
I'll see you in the next one.
473
Bye!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “what to do when you can’t stop pushing yourself”. This video has 473 sentences and 6134 words to shadow. The speech runs for 36:15. The speaker talks at a natural 169 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 87% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| rush verb | /ɹʌʃ/ | To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully. |
| wellness noun | /ˈwɛl.nɪs/ | The quality or state of being in good health (sometimes emphasizing both health and safety); mental and physical soundness. |
| succeed verb | /səkˈsiːd/ | To follow something in sequence or time. |
| priority noun | /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/ | An item's relative importance. |
| ambitious adjective | /æmˈbɪʃ.əs/ | Having or showing ambition; wanting a lot of power, honor, respect, superiority, or other distinction. |
| marker noun | /ˈmɑː(ɹ)kə(ɹ)/ | A felt-tipped pen, a marker pen. |
| thyroid adjective | /ˈθaɪ.ɹɔɪd/ | Of, relating to, or being the thyroid cartilage. |
| sacrifice noun | /ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/ | Originally, the killing (and often burning) of a human being or an animal as an offering to a deity; later, also the offering of an object to a deity. |
| lazy adjective | /ˈleɪ̯zi(ː)/ | Unwilling to do work or make an effort; disinclined to exertion. |
| grind verb | /ˈɡɹaɪnd/ | To reduce to smaller pieces by crushing with lateral motion. |
| mediocre adjective | /ˌmidiˈoʊkəɹ/ | Not excellent or outstanding, usually disappointingly so. |
| everyday adjective | /ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/ | Appropriate for ordinary use, rather than for special occasions. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| anxiety noun | /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/ | An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event. |
| awareness noun | /əˈwɛɹ.nəs/ | The state or level of consciousness where sense data can be confirmed by an observer. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| slow down verb | To decelerate. | |
| get off verb | To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it. | |
| push through verb | To force (legislation or a plan) to be passed or agreed to or a decision to be reached. | |
| step back verb | /stɛp ˈbæk/ | To stop what one is doing and evaluate the current situation. |
| beat out verb | To sound a rhythm on a percussion instrument such as a drum. | |
| burn out verb | To destroy by fire. | |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Can you be ambitious without overdoing it?
- Are you lazy and unmotivated because you're running away?
- Do you feel like you're in competition with others?
- If this didn't exist, would I be okay?
- If this didn't happen, would I be okay?
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 | you've been following · has been changing · have been following |
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If this didn't exist, would I · If this didn't happen, would I |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've noticed · you've worked · has really inspired |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was just lost · being lost · are shown |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 142 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thyroid /ˈθaɪ.ɹɔɪd/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/, bandwidth /ˈbændwɪdθ/, worthy /ˈwɝ.ði/, breathe /bɹiːð/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: rush /ɹʌʃ/, ambitious /æmˈbɪʃ.əs/, reflection /ɹɪˈflɛkʃən/, obligation /ˌɑ.blɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/, ambition /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/
- Long words — get the stress right: priority /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/, mediocre /ˌmidiˈoʊkəɹ/, anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/
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 rush, wellness, succeed.
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.