Shadowing Practice: Why Clarity Doesn’t Come From Thinking Harder - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Is there anything in your life that you feel kind of lost about right now?
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Is there anything in your life that you feel kind of lost about right now?
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Like you're lacking some form of clarity and you hate the state because all you want to do is to kind of move forward and have a sense of understanding of what to do,
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where to go, what decision to take and just knowing, you know?
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But guess what?
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There is one important thing you have to do when this happens.
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When your mind is confused, when you're lost, the last thing you should be doing is actually to think more, think harder, push through.
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Come on, you know, let's have a resolution.
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Listen, I did that for the entire 2025 and I kind of ruined my entire year because of that.
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Because what that made me was to get more stuck.
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Let's say you have something unresolved.
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So your natural instinct is to basically think harder and think more about it because your brain kind of thinks like, well, if I just think more, then the answer will come to me, right?
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But that's like the biggest mind F ever because what it does instead,
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it makes you step into overthinking and overthinking is basically you just looping in the hamster wheel and not getting anywhere.
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What that hamster wheel does to you is that it drains you off energy and it actually drains you from any potential clarity because you're just getting more and more tired.
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You're getting more and more confused.
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Your thoughts are becoming more and more deluded.
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Like you think whatever you're doing is super productive.
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So that's why you keep doing it more.
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Like, no, no, I just need to think more.
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I need to think more.
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But you're just making it worse.
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Thinking shuts down as soon as overwhelm starts and overwhelm happens when you start thinking more.
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Do you see the logic?
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There is one important thing I want you to understand because I have finally understood it.
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I've been stuck for a long period of time.
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You know, ladies, I've shared with you how I'm currently in this kind of life transition stage.
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And so I'm in this in-between phase where basically I've left my old identity behind and now I'm stepping into something unknown and I'm not in my new beginning yet.
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I'm still in the middle trying to figure things out.
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And so that leads to a lot of like thinking and thinking and thinking, because you're just trying to find some form of clarity of where you're heading.
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The problem is that I still don't have any more clarity, even though I've been thinking now for three entire years.
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Yes.
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So this video is from experience because I have finally understood this one crucial thing that you have to know.
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And before I share it, I want you to know that I have a weekly email that I send out called Anna's Aha Moments because I love having these like epiphany moments and I want to share them with you because I hate gatekeeping.
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So go to annabay.email.com.
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if you want to subscribe to this free email that I send out every single week.
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And also if you like more long form conversations, then I invite you to come and join my YouTube memberships page because there I get to really talk freely and just well, uncover a lot of interesting subjects.
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So come and join me there.
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I want you to know if there's one thing you have to memorize after this video, video is that clarity does not come from you forcing a resolution.
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Okay?
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I know the brain hates the unknown.
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I know being in some form of nothingness is super stressful and you just want to get yourself out of that state of mind and have some form of clarity.
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And at this point, you're almost like ready to rush it as long as you can get yourself out of that state.
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Right?
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But please don't do that.
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Okay?
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Don't do that.
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That's what I did.
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That got me just more and more stuck.
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And what happens is that you're going to just start overthinking, rumination, you name it, and this is not going to be productive.
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Okay?
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We went through that.
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Now this is the part that I know you're not going to like, but I have to tell you because this is the truth.
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What you do when you feel like you have mental chaos, lack of clarity and simply cognitive overload.
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Well, ladies, that's when you take a step back.
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Yep.
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Now I know some of you are going to be like, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not for me.
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Like I know I need to find a solution.
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No, you don't.
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You do not go and find a solution when your head or your brain is overactive.
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Okay.
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When your brain is overactive, there's not going to be a solution.
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So what you do is that you take a step back, you pause and you step into this nothingness.
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Okay.
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When I say step back, by the way, I'm literally saying that you should put yourself in some form of mental stillness.
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It can also be environmental stillness, but you have to step into some form of calm.
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Your mind needs to calm the F down.
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I'm serious.
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Yes, you're going to think that this is not productive whatsoever.
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Now, usually I do not give this advice because I do believe in taking action and being proactive.
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That's how we move forward in life.
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But there are exceptions and this is a big time exception.
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What you need to do is to take a time out, become a little bit passive because that's actually going to be more productive in this case.
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So what do you do?
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Well, you stop pushing, you stop trying, you stop thinking, you stop, you know what?
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You completely just disconnect from it all because you have to just enter this empty space, go and do something else,
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go and think about something else, change your environment, just do something that interrupts this whole like pattern that you're in, you know, this loop that's just looping right now at this stage.
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The last thing, please promise me that the last thing you're going to do in that moment is to pick up your phone and be like, okay, I'm just going to take five minutes to just chill a little bit and scroll on social media.
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No, that's actually the worst thing to do because what happens in that moment is that you actually start overstimulating your system even further.
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And that is exactly what you have to break.
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The mind computer is overheating.
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So you need to kind of calm it down and make it still.
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I mean, I'm sure you've had this happen to you where you feel like, oh my goodness, I feel so refreshed, you know, because you went on holiday,
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you completely shut yourself off from work and thinking, or like those moments when you're all of a sudden just gained this massive clarity and you're like, oh, I know now what to do.
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And that is because you switched off your thinking.
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You stopped thinking about it.
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I have this super weird thing.
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And please let me know in the comments if you have something similar.
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Every time I go to have a shower, I like to actually lay down in my bathtub while having a shower.
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And every time I stare into the white bathtub and I stare at my feet,
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I feel like I'm entering this really strange mental portal where all the answers where all the answers are like penetrating my head and just giving me all these
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epiphanies after epiphanies.
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And I'm like, what is going on?
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Is God talking to me right now?
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Or what is this?
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Because all of a sudden I'm having all these answers that I have been forcing to come the entire day.
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But here in this little pathetic bathtub, I'm seeing everything so clearly.
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I know, weird, but that's because that bathtub actually acts as a form of nothingness.
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And that's exactly where you need to step in right now.
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Whether it is an actual bathtub or you just go for a little walk in the forest, or you do another activity like meditation or whatever, whatever,
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anything that you know you can turn to that helps you calm down, think about nothing and step into a form of nothingness.
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Cause that's where you need to be right now.
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And I bet you, you're going to find more clarity once you do this little exercise.
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Now, look, these advice are just based on my own toxic mindset that I've been working with so many years.
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And I have just found ways of how to finally be able to move forward.
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And I want to share everything that I learned with you.
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Context & Background
In the video titled "Why Clarity Doesn’t Come From Thinking Harder," the speaker reflects on personal experiences of feeling lost and the frustration that comes with seeking clarity. The discussion emphasizes that overthinking and forcing solutions often lead to confusion rather than clarity. Instead, the speaker suggests that embracing uncertainty can ultimately be more constructive. This insight is not only useful for personal growth but can also serve as an example of popular conversational patterns in English, especially useful for learners striving to improve their speaking skills.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- "Am I feeling lost right now?" - This phrase expresses confusion and can initiate meaningful conversations.
- "I hate the state of uncertainty." - Use this when discussing feelings about not knowing what to do next.
- "Thinking harder isn't the answer." - A great way to communicate frustration about overthinking.
- "Clarity doesn’t come from forcing a solution." - This phrase is useful when discussing decision-making processes and emphasizes a more relaxed approach.
- "I'm still figuring things out." - This is an honest way to describe ongoing personal transitions or confusion.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To enhance your English speaking skills using the shadowing technique, particularly with the context of this video, follow these steps:
- Select a segment: Choose a 1-2 minute segment from the video that resonates with you.
- Listen carefully: Play the segment and pay close attention to the speaker's tone and emphatic expressions. This is essential for understanding the nuances in English speaking.
- Practice shadowing: While listening, try to repeat what the speaker says simultaneously. This practice imitates the natural flow of speech, enhancing pronunciation and intonation in real-time.
- Pause and analyze: Stop the video after every few sentences to analyze any phrases or vocabulary you are unfamiliar with. Aim to incorporate these phrases into your own speaking.
- Record yourself: Utilize the shadow speech technique by recording your own voice as you practice the segment. Listening back will help you identify areas for improvement.
This method not only boosts your English speaking practice but also familiarizes you with conversational structures and emotional expression, which are crucial for fluency. By understanding the speaker's mindset from the video, you can more effectively communicate your thoughts and feelings in your English conversations.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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