Luyện nói tiếng Anh bằng Shadowing qua video: Why you NEED Hobbies and How to Find Them

Hey Balancers, welcome to another episode of the Balancere podcast.

We are in for a treat today.

We're talking about something that is very, very close to my heart and something that might even be a little bit controversial,

might challenge you in some of the ways you've been thinking about your hobbies and your spare time.

So I'm excited for today's chat.

But just before we dive in, I do want to ask you guys for a little favor.

I want you guys to make sure you hit that like and subscribe button.

And it really helps us reach more people who would love to hear conversations like the one we're going to have today.

And it means the absolute world to me.

You know what I just realized and something I'm getting so excited for, I'm getting married soon.

So I'm getting married in June in Bali.

I'm so excited.

I realized I haven't spoken much about it on the show at all, but I have not been stressed out at all.

I'm kind of like waiting for, you know, when's that going to kick in?

Not that I'm expecting it, but I feel like rides are always so stressed out, but I'm just like very chill, very go with the flow.

So I've really been enjoying the experience of like planning stuff, choosing things.

I am using a planner.

Maybe that's why I'm not as stressed out, but really excited for that.

And yeah, if you follow me on my personal, I guess you'll see all the fun photos on the day.

I'll try to post some stuff on the podcast page as well, but that is coming up, which is super exciting.

I thought I'd just share that.

I always forget to like share a bit of my personal life on here.

I just get straight into the content because I'm so passionate about the topic sometimes.

But that's a little life update from me.

Okay, but the reason why we're all actually here today is we're going to talk about hobbies.

Why they actually make you more productive.

Why you actually need them and how you can find them if you feel like you don't have any.

I want to start off with a realization I had a few years ago.

So I think a lot of us put

so much pressure on our job or our business to be the thing that satisfies us or fulfills us.

I think especially if you're like doing your own business or you've gone into a career and really chosen it, like you've studied it and then you've gone into it.

Right.

There was an active selection process in that.

There's almost like a feeling of you want to like it

and you want it to be it because you've put so much time and effort into it.

but I think irrespective whether you're like actively doing something you enjoy whether you're just falling into a job

because it just happened the way it happened I think we

do put pressure sometimes on our job being the thing

that fulfills us and I want to be the one to crack

that in half and say that is not the case

because I don't think any job in the world could possibly satisfy

or fulfill the the range of interests or skills that you have

and that's why I think hobbies are the perfect complement to whatever it is you're doing as a nine-to-five

or a business or a side hustle whatever it is you're doing

that takes up most your time in the work kind of

category you need hobbies to balance it out for the things

that you don't get to do in your job

and this is exactly where the podcast was born

so I was working as a finance lawyer I was in a firm in Sydney

and one thing I was really feeling was like I was lacking personal and meaningful kind of conversations with people.

It was very much like just me and my client work.

Like, yes, I'd work collaboratively with others, but it was very much like a one man job.

You just like do your own thing.

And there wasn't really that like genuine level.

I was in banking.

So it was super transactional.

Like I just felt like it was lacking that authenticity.

And I was really just craving having meaningful connections with people.

I'm the kind of person that if I was ever at a party growing up, I would I'd be that person with a drink, like those red cups in the corner, having a full on DNM,

deep and meaningful, for those of you who don't know what that means.

I was having a full blown DNM with someone in the corner all night long, right?

That was me, I'd just be that person

that would dive deep into conversations it's always something i've really enjoyed doing

and so i noticed quite early on like

that was something i really actively felt like i was missing i was lacking

and so when i noticed

that about myself i was like how do i how do

i explore this how do i bring this how do i

do this more like how can i create space for this

and the podcast seemed like a perfect place to do

that to have really deep conversations to explore interesting authentic kind of conversations

that I wasn't getting in my job

and then I think where this journey took me was realizing

that we're not meant to have one skill to have one

interest to be in one vertical not only in this moment

but for your whole life right you're multi-talented by nature of

being a human I had um a beautiful woman her name

is Sheen Garib I had her on the podcast few weeks ago

if you haven't had a chance to check out

that interview check it out because she has had like every career

or job you could think of she's chopped and changed quite a lot

and one of the things she loves talking about is how multi-talented we are as humans

and how to explore all this and chop and change

and have the confidence to do that which was a really enlightening chat

so save that one for later if you haven't already

but needless to say we're not meant to have one skill

you're not meant to have one skill you can perfect one

and then start embracing other things you're you're good at right

you're not meant to just be good at one thing you

don't have to be good at one thing you can do as much

or as little as you would like

but I want to talk about one probably unspoken aspect of all of this

and this is something that I felt and

that was almost like I had to be hush hush about my personal interests

because I felt like by talking about them at work it would almost make me look like less productive

or less interested in my job you know

if I had all this time to be doing stuff outside not

that I was really expected to work on weekends I don't know it's like weird now

that I reflect on it

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but I just almost felt like no one else was talking about their interests

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and so if I was like sticking my head out

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and saying oh this is all the stuff I'm doing it

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kind of made me look less interested in my job

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which is strange to me now but I can wholeheartedly say

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that was something I really struggled with I was hush hush

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I wouldn't post much on my personal I would kind of hope people wouldn't find out

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and I remember one of the uh

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partners of a completely different team I mean my boss kind

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of knew my partner at the time knew about the podcast

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and you know it was like whatever

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but someone else in another team found out

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and asked me to send a firm wide email like sharing the podcast

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and I was like oh wow like do you think people would be interested

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and then I really grappled with like oh I don't know like I don't want people to think I'm

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that person that's like half in work half not

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but where I have come to is like completely full circle I now am

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so like interested in what people are interested in outside of work

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because really we're all they're doing the same thing what makes us different are our interests

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and those things only add value to who you are as a person they create your character

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and I actually think

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if you can get to a place where you have your job you identify the things

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that are lacking or the skills you're not able to use in

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that job instead of putting pressure on your job for trying to be

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that one thing that ticks all the boxes

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and you have these other outlets

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that you can actually leverage off to utilize those skills

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or have like space for them it makes you better

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and more satisfied in the job you're doing it doesn't take away from it

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and once I had this shift it was

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so powerful I started to really honor the things I was doing

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because I knew it didn't make me less productive at my

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job I did my job I am very like proud of my quality of work

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and the level of care and diligence I have in my role

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and None of that changed just because I had a podcast on the side.

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You know, this isn't a five day a week thing for me.

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It's a weekend task.

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It's a one man job.

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I do everything myself.

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You know, I've obviously become better at it as time has gone on

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in terms of my productivity within the way I've optimized things

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but it had nothing to do with my job like my free time is my free time

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so I think once you realize that having hobbies can actually add

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so much value to what you do because it holds space

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and creates opportunities for you to do things

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that you're lacking in your role this changed everything

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and this is really the flavor of today's chat

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and why having hobbies make you more productive

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because I think the counter is you end up getting a lot of resentment

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because your work isn't fulfilling you the way you want

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and let's be honest like a lot of hobbies are not

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that fruitful financially you know they're more for your soul they're more fulfilling to you

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and your interests you know that doesn't mean they can't be fruitful

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but really they should be there to give you space

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and freedom to first and foremost just explore skills or interests

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that you can't do in your job it takes the pressure off your job

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and it really actually makes you better

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because you're just there to embrace those skills

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and then you're able to have avenues and outlets for other skills

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and collectively on the whole that gives a much better life experience

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so that's kind of how I came to a point where I realized okay my hobbies

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or my interests are part of who I am

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and they actually make me more productive because of this dynamic with an outlet

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or the space they hold for skills I don't get to use in my job

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so you might be listening and thinking okay I get

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that I understand that makes perfect sense to me

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but how do I find what those things are

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so of course like always I'm going to give you some practical steps

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or a reflection that you can undertake to I guess try

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and work this out step one is really thinking about what those hobbies could be right

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so you might have an idea maybe you've tried some stuff maybe you have no idea

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and you're like I really need some guidance in this

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so there's a few ways you could think about this the

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first way is like me was thinking about what am I

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lacking in my role what do I feel I don't get to do what's a skill

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or an interest of mine

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or something I really wish I could do in this job

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you know that's a good indicator like an aspect you wish you could have in your role

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or maybe you wish you could be more hands-on on people side

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or admin side or whatever it is right like get curious about what

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that gap is what you feel like you're missing and

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that may identify an interest or a skill or something

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that you want to be embracing right

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that could be one way another way is reflecting on your

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childhood what things did you used to love doing as a

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child you know before you had to worry about making money

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and having responsibilities like what things did you naturally gravitate to

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or even like what are you just interested in today what kind of content do you like consuming

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and what are the topic areas or interests that are associated with that content.

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For me, for example, I love homewares.

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I love going to little homeware stores.

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I love watching homewares being put together and like styling a house, which is how I got on the path of going to ceramics.

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That's now a hobby that I've been doing for a few months now.

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I've learned how to do it because I love spending my money on buying ceramics.

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And if I could learn how to do it and make pieces for my house, I'm getting two things there.

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I'm getting the fulfillment and joy from the time spent doing something which is like a skill I never get to use,

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like hands-on, crafty arts, don't get to do that while I'm being a lawyer at all.

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So I get that.

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And then I also get a piece to take home.

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So it's been this nice synergy

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between finding what I enjoy and something I'm not getting in my current job and something I am interested in, which is now converted into a hobby.

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Also, there's an element of experimentation, right?

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Like how could I have possibly known I would have liked podcasting if I never tried it?

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So I don't think it's that useful to be like, would I like doing painting?

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Probably not, you know, because of X, Y, Z.

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Like how much is it gonna cost you to just go do a Saturday class

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or get some paint sent to your house

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and try it for a few weeks

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and just see how you feel you know like it's difficult

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to say you're not gonna like something without trying it unless you've done something remotely similar before

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so there is an element of trial and error

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and just putting yourself out there and experimenting

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so those are my tips for finding what that thing is

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but some of you might be sitting here like okay Erica

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great like I've got a full-time job I've got a few

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things I want to try where do I find the time to do them

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and I'm glad you asked because step two is all about balance

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which is you know my bread and butter

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and this means you need to go back to your priority

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list you need to go back to your balance assessment

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and work out what your priorities are and

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if having an outlet for different skills if having an outlet

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that helps you enjoy your job more be more productive in what you're doing

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or just give you a little bit more of a well-rounded experience of how you're spending your time

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if that's something that's important to you

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that you feel would really add value then it needs to be a priority

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and what we know about our approach to balance is once it's a priority you make time for it

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because your time is scheduled around your priorities so for those of you

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that are maybe newer to this

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that haven't heard the terms of like balance areas as garden beds

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or priority lists or anything like

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that i'm going to link in the show notes a free

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20 minute workshop i did on youtube i did it on stage last year and it will basically take you through

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and paint a picture of what your life balance looks like right now

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and then how to actually time block

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that how to make time for everything how to plan your schedule it's 20 minutes

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and it will honestly change your life so check out the link

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that will show you how to start planning your time

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so you can fit in all these things

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and maybe fit in something that's now a new priority for you as well

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and you guys never know what journey your hobbies will take

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you on maybe it's going to be something you enjoy for a little bit

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and you know you get a few pieces for home like

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me maybe I won't do it forever maybe it'll be like a podcast something

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that you end up enjoying

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and you know I couldn't have told you all the places

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the podcast has taken me I've been able to do it

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from all around the world I've been able to speak on

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stage I've been able to interview incredible people uh you know you never know where these hobbies will take you

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so there's an element of trial

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and error there's an element of getting to know yourself a little bit more

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but don't get stuck in

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that oh I just have no idea what I'm gonna do

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like there are many ways you can find what those things are

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and you have to just be a little bit open

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and flexible to the fact that it might be a bit of trial

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and error but once you find something you really enjoy

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and it adds that value to your life

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and changes the way you view a job

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when you no longer resent it or you start enjoying it more

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or you just have a little bit more of a well-rounded experience of your life

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and the way you're enjoying it is so invaluable in my eyes

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so i hope you guys have loved this episode this is your sign to prioritize your hobbies find them

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or you know prioritize them if you've already identified what they are

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because they are such a beautiful value add

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and also like a little reminder to just be curious about

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what other people's interests are outside of work too like we

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don't need to perpetuate this culture where we're at work

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and we just work you know I think corporate can be a bit like

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that sometimes and as I said you can feel like you want to be a hush-hush about your interests

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but talk to people get curious ask what their hobbies are

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it really just paints a beautiful well-rounded picture of who they are helps you get to know them

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and who knows maybe someone else's interests

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or hobbies will inspire you for something you want to try to

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so that's today's episode guys if anyone's come to mind in this 15

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or so minutes that we've been together share this episode with them knowledge is great

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when we hear it but it's even better when we share it

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if you haven't already give us the thumbs up

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and subscribe to our channel it really helps us reach listeners who struggle with things just like me

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and you and would benefit from hearing today's chat

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and it keeps you in the loop with any new content

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we've got coming out too that's it from me guys I

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hope you enjoyed today's chat I will see you all on Monday for another interview and until then stay balanced

Phương Pháp Shadowing Là Gì?

Shadowing là kỹ thuật học ngôn ngữ có cơ sở khoa học, ban đầu được phát triển cho chương trình đào tạo phiên dịch viên chuyên nghiệp và được phổ biến rộng rãi bởi nhà đa ngôn ngữ học Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Nguyên lý cốt lõi đơn giản nhưng cực kỳ hiệu quả: bạn nghe tiếng Anh của người bản xứ và lặp lại to ngay lập tức — như một "cái bóng" (shadow) đuổi theo người nói với độ trễ chỉ 1–2 giây. Khác với luyện ngữ pháp hay học từ vựng bị động, Shadowing buộc não bộ và cơ miệng phải đồng thời xử lý và tái tạo ngôn ngữ thực tế. Các nghiên cứu khoa học xác nhận phương pháp này cải thiện đáng kể phát âm, ngữ điệu, nhịp điệu, nối âm, kỹ năng nghe và độ lưu loát khi nói — đặc biệt hiệu quả cho người luyện IELTS Speaking và muốn giao tiếp tiếng Anh tự nhiên như người bản ngữ.

Luyện nói tiếng Anh bằng Shadowing qua video: Why you NEED Hobbies and How to Find Them

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