Welcome to the InFluency podcast. I'm Hadar, and today we are going to practice together, reading an excerpt from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Atomic Habits is one of those books that completely influenced the way I perceive habits, I think about habits and how I implement building habits into my work.
It has been instrumental in how I design my programs and how I live my life.
Because at the end of the day, habits is one of those things that, you know, you need to build, especially around things that you want to develop or achieve.
But you don't actually do it.
You don't necessarily do the work needed because you haven't built the habits.
So in the book, he really tackles all those aspects.
And the part that I chose to read together, and by the way, it means that I'm going to read it to you.
I'm going to explain key words and important vocabulary, teach you the pronunciation of commonly mispronounced words and talk about intonation patterns.
So think of it like a guided reading, like a guided audio book, but also this is a good opportunity to use it as a shadowing practice, where you can just play a line of me reading the book, pause, repeat, or just echo me.
So however you want to use this episode, I think you're going to have a lot of fun.
Alright, so let's dive in and listen to today's episode.
Hey, you're listening to the InFluency podcast. I'm Hadar, your host, a pronunciation expert, fluency coach and a proud non -native speaker.
With over 16 years of experience teaching, I am here to share with you all my secrets on how to show up in English clearly, with confidence and freedom.
On this podcast, I'll provide step -by -step strategies, lessons, stories, and practical tips to keep you inspired and motivated on your English journey.
Are you ready? Let's do it.
All right, let's get started with atomic habits.
If you haven't read it or listened to it just yet, I highly recommend this book.
It really talks about how small decisions and changes in incremental changes in your life can lead to massive results.
The particular excerpt that we're going to read in this book is about how to improve by 1 % every single day.
1 % improvement. And I love this theory.
I think it's so powerful.
And in the part that we're going to read, he talks about it, why it's important.
And he like sells you the idea of why it's important to make small changes consistently, rather than thinking that you need to make big, huge, incredible changes.
Okay. So let's get started with Atomic Habits by James Clear.
It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis.
So, overestimate is to think that something is more important or valuable than it really is and to underestimate is to think that something is less important or valuable than it really is.
Overestimate, long O as in go, overestimate and underestimate.
So we overestimate, that's a verb, and we underestimate.
Okay? Also, I want to talk about the word, importance, the pronunciation.
Listen to what happens to the T here.
Im -po -rt -ance. It's like a healthy, and we don't really pronounce the A.
Im -po -rt -ance. I have some videos about the healthy.
If you want to dive deep into that, then I'm going to post links in the description below.
Let's move on. Too often.
We convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action.
Massive is big. So too often we convince ourselves, listen to the pronunciation of these two words.
Convince, no O, convince.
And when I connect it convince ourselves ourselves that massive success, big success, huge success requires big action, huge action, a lot of work, right?
So to see success, the success that we want, we We think that we need to put in a lot of work and a lot of effort.
Whether it is losing weight, building a business, writing a book, winning a championship, or achieving any other goal, we put pressure on ourselves to make some earth shattering improvements that everyone will talk about.
Earth shattering is shocking.
Earth, earth, earth.
So we don't really hear the EA.
It's like an er sound, er moving to a th.
I know these are your two favorite sounds.
I know. Earth, transitioning to shattering.
We have a flap T there.
Shattering, as in cat is the vowel.
Earth -shattering. Earth -shattering improvement that everyone will talk about.
Okay? Meanwhile, improving by 1%, isn't particularly notable.
sometimes it isn't even noticeable, but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run.
Okay? So, notable is something important, worth paying attention to, something you notice.
Notable. Notice. Notable.
It's notable. Your improvement is notable.
Particularly. Let's talk about the pronunciation of word. And you can even drop the first R.
It's okay, particularly.
In the long run, by the way, is after a long period of time, or eventually.
So, you can replace that word with eventually, but it can be far more meaningful, eventually.
Right? That's how I can change the phrase and still keep the same meaning.
The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding.
Astounding is very impressive or shocking.
The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding.
Here's how the math works out.
Works out. Works out.
I know that as you're listening, you're probably not repeating every single word that I say, but sometimes I'll just highlight certain phrases that are common and are good for you to know.
So, if you can, just repeat those phrases out loud.
And if you want to shadow me fully, then just pause the video and repeat.
Here's how the math works out.
Works out. If you can get 1 % better each day for one year, you'll end up 37 times better by the time you're done.
Conversely, if you get 1 % worse each day for one year, you'll decline nearly down to zero.
So, conversely is the opposite.
That's a fancy word to say, on the contrary, or however.
So, conversely, let's practice it conversely, conversely.
However, on the contrary, conversely, if you get 1 % worse each day for one year, you'll decline nearly down to zero.
So, you'll kinda like drop, you'll regress almost to zero.
So, what starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more.
So a setback is something that happens that causes a delay, like an obstacle, but like it sets you back, you are no longer in motion, no longer in progress.
And accumulates adds up.
What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more.
Alright, let's read that part again.
This time I'm not going to stop.
And if you want to shadow me, this is a good opportunity.
You can either shadow me while I'm reading, like an echo, or you can pause and repeat.
It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis.
Too often we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action.
Whether it's losing weight, building a business, writing a book, winning a championship or achieving any other goal, we put pressure on ourselves to make some earth -shattering improvement that everyone will talk about.
Meanwhile, improving by 1 % isn't particularly notable.
Sometimes it isn't even noticeable, but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run.
The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding.
Here's how the math works out.
If you can get 1 % better each day for one year, you'll end up 37 times better by the time you're done.
Conversely, if you get 1 % worse each day for one year, you'll decline nearly down to zero.
What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more.
Let's continue with the next part.
Habits are the compound interest of self -improvement.
Compound interest, and that's when it relates to finance, is when you save money and earn interest on your savings and also earn interest on the interest itself.
So he talks about it in the context of habits.
Habits are the compound interest of self -improvement.
The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects on your habits multiply as you repeat them.
So, multiply is to increase in big numbers.
Multiply by two. Times two.
Multiply by 10. Times 10.
Multi -plies. Mol, dark L, t, schwa, plies, multiplies.
Compound interest, let's say that together, come pound.
Com -pound. Compound interest. Compound interest. And then we have the word effects.
The beginning is a schwa.
Effect. And by the way, the verb to affect that is spelled with an A is pretty much pronounced the same, effect.
They seem to make a little difference on any given day, and yet, the impact they deliver over the months and years can be enormous, any given day is at any point in time, and enormous is big or very, very large, enormous.
enormous, any given day.
It's only when looking back two, five or perhaps ten years later that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones becomes strikingly apparent.
Strikingly is a way that is easily noticed.
Strike... it's so clear, okay.
It's apparent right away.
Strikingly apparent.
And the parent is visible or understood.
Okay? So, do you understand that?
The cost of bad ones become very, very noticeable.
It's really clear to see it.
I want to talk about some key words here in terms of pronunciation.
So, we have looking back.
That's a phrasal verb.
Looking back, to look back.
So when you have a phrasal verb, you want to put the stress on the second part.
In this case, the word back.
Looking back, looking back.
And then we also have the word good, lacks an ə, not good.
Good. Good habits. Habits, as in cat.
Good habits. Let's practice saying it.
Let's subscribe to the idea of building good habits.
Good habits. Good habits.
Good habits. This can be a difficult concept to appreciate in daily life.
Concept is an idea.
This can be a difficult idea to appreciate in daily life.
This can be a difficult concept to appreciate in daily life.
We often dismiss small changes because they don't seem to matter very much in the moment.
Dismiss is to decide that something is not important.
No, that's not for me.
So, we often dismiss.
If you save a little money now, you're still not a millionaire.
If you go to the gym three days in a row, you're still out of shape.
Out of shape is not physically healthy or unfit.
If you study Mandarin for an hour tonight, you still haven't learned the language.
Can you relate to this, my friends?
We make a few changes, but the results never seem to come quickly, and so we slide back into our previous routines.
Slide back is return or go back.
I want to take a minute here and just emphasize something.
I want to reiterate what James Clear is saying here, because it's so important.
We think that, and if we're talking about fluency and building your language skills, we think that we need like a lot of time to do it and we have to do it for two, three hours every single day, or we need to move somewhere or we need to go on a retreat for two, three months or two, three weeks to be able to really get to the next level.
Now, these things help, but don't underestimate the importance of doing something small every single day.
This is why I always say, 10 minutes a day.
That's all you need to start seeing progress.
This is why I developed my sprints where it's like a 10 minute, very, very deliberate drill to improve pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, but it's only 10 minutes a day and it's like an easy thing to do and it's fun and it doesn't feel like a lot, but it does, like the impact accumulates and you feel the difference.
And I know that from the experience of my students, I've been running sprints for years now.
And we see that. So, I'm saying that because I think it's so important for you to know that even 10 minutes a day of practicing intentionally your English is going to lead to really significant results.
You'll be like, oh, I haven't even noticed that my English has improved so much. All right.
So, let's read that part that we just read again on one reading, no stops.
Let's do it. Habits are the compound interest of self -improvement.
The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them.
They seem to make little difference on any given day, and yet the impact they deliver over the months and years can be enormous.
It is only when looking back two, five, or perhaps ten years later that the value of habits and the cost of bad ones becomes strikingly apparent.
This can be a difficult concept to appreciate in daily life.
We often dismiss small changes because they don't seem to matter very much in the moment.
If you save a little money now, you're still not a millionaire.
If you go to the gym three days in a row, you're still out of shape.
If you study Mandarin for an hour tonight, you still haven't learned the language.
We make a few changes, but the results never seem to come quickly, and so we slide back into our previous routines.
Let's go into a new section.
Unfortunately, the slow pace of transformation also makes it easy to let a bad habit slide.
Slow pace, slow speed.
And, let something slide is not to do anything about something or someone when you should try to change or correct it.
Let it slide. Just let it be, right?
Let it slide. So unfortunately, unfortunately, unfortunately the slow pace of transformation, transformation also makes it easy to let a bad habit slide.
If you eat an unhealthy meal today, the scale doesn't move much. If you work late tonight and ignore your family, they will forgive you.
Scaled is an instrument to weigh yourself.
Scaled. If you procrastinate and put your project off until tomorrow, there will usually be time to finish it later.
To put something off is to postpone doing something, and to procrastinate is to do something last minute.
To wait until the last minute to do something.
If you procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate, and put your project off, put off, that's a phrasal verb, stress on the off, till tomorrow, there will usually be time to finish it later.
A single decision is easy to dismiss.
But when we repeat 1 % errors day after day by replicating poor decisions, Duplicating tiny mistakes and rationalising little excuses are small choices compound into toxic results.
Ooh, this is so good.
Replicating. Make an exact copy of something to replicate, to replicate.
Duplicating is copy something or make something twice.
So it's the same concept, but he's using different words to enhance the message and to make it more interesting.
Rationalizing, to rationalize is trying to explain or justify, right, make it rational, rationalizing.
It's the accumulation of many missteps, a one percent decline here and there that eventually leads to a problem.
Accumulation is an increase over a period of time.
It adds up over time.
Misstep is a small mistake.
it's a misstep, but one misstep after another, after another, that leads to a problem my friends.
The impact created by a change in your habits is similar to the effect of shifting the route of an airplane by just a few degrees.
I love that metaphor by the way.
So, route can be pronounced as route or as route, route, Out -route.
Shifting, moving slightly.
To shift. To shift. Okay?
Imagine you are flying from Los Angeles to New York City.
If a pilot leaving from LAX adjusts the heading just 3 .5 degrees South, you will land in Washington DC instead of New York.
3 .5 degrees. It's not a lot, but the result is significant.
Such a small change is barely noticeable at takeoff.
The nose of the airplane moves just a few feet, but when magnified across the entire United States, you end up hundreds of miles apart.
Barely is hardly or almost not.
And magnified is suspended or stretched.
Magnified. Like a magnifying glass when you look at something to see the object bigger in a bigger way.
Similarly, similarly, similarly, a slight change in your daily habits can guide your life to a very different destination.
Making a choice that is 1 % better or 1 % worse, worse, no worse, seems insignificant in the moment.
But over the span of moments that make up a lifetime, make up, make up, make up a lifetime, these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be.
I'm gonna say it again, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime, these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be.
Chills. Insignificant is not important.
insignificant, insignificant, and over the span of is over a period of time.
Determine is decide.
You need to decide, you need to determine if this is what you want for yourself.
And I need you to determine it now.
Success is the product of daily habits, not once -in -a -lifetime transformations.
Once -in -a -lifetime.
All right. Let's now read this whole part together.
No breaks. Just echo me or pause and repeat, and then you can do a conventional shadowing practice.
Unfortunately, the slow pace of transformation also makes it easy to let a bad habit slide.
If you eat an unhealthy meal today, the scale doesn't move much. If you work late tonight and ignore your family, they will forgive you.
If you procrastinate and put your project off until tomorrow, there will usually be time to finish it later.
A single decision is easy to dismiss.
But when we repeat 1 % errors day after day, by replicating poor decisions, duplicating tiny mistakes and rationalizing little excuses, our small choices compound into toxic results.
It's the accumulation of many missteps, a 1 % decline here and there, that eventually leads to a problem.
The impact created by a change in your habits is similar to the effect of shifting the route of an airplane by just a few degrees.
Imagine you're flying from Los Angeles to New York City.
If a pilot leaving from LAX adjusts the heading just 3 .5 degrees south, you will land in Washington DC instead of New York.
Such a small change is barely noticeable at takeoff.
The nose of the airplane moves just a few feet, and when magnified across the entire United States, you end up hundreds of miles apart.
Similarly, a slight change in your daily habits can guide your life to a very different destination.
Making a choice that is 1 % better or 1 % worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime, these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be.
Success is the product of daily habits, not once in a lifetime transformations.
All right, we did it.
You know, watching this video and practicing along with me and getting to the end is proof that you are building healthy practice habits to improve your English.
And I am here to support you with that.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
I had a great time.
I love this book. I need to read it again, I think.
I haven't read it in awhile.
And if you haven't, I'm going to put a link in the description below so you can read it yourself.
I'm also going to put a link to get a trial version of Audible.
If you don't have Audible, then it's a platform where you can download audio books and when you sign up for the free trial, you get one credit.
And with that one credit, you can buy any book, any audio book, so you can read Atomic Habit.
You can get Atomic Habits read by James Clear himself.
So you can try it out.
I'm going to post the link to the trial and the book.
And for my other videos where we can read out loud together.
Remember that you don't have to do much to feel a difference in the long run.
It only takes 10 minutes a day.
That's an easy commitment for you to make.
And if you want the resources and the help, I got you.
I'm going to put all the links that will show you how I can help you with staying consistent, practicing effectively, and reaching your goals in English.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the week.
And I will see you next week in the next video.
Bye.
