Hello listeners and welcome back to the English with Neil podcast.
This is episode number 99.
And today we are going to talk about cause and effect.
Cause and effect is a concept in the area of metaphysics.
Now, we're not going to cover metaphysics in this episode, because metaphysics is a very complicated topic.
Even I, as a native English speaker, when I read articles or read books on metaphysics, a lot of these ideas go way over my head because it's such a complex topic.
In order to fully understand metaphysics, It's probably better if someone explained it to you, like a friend or a teacher.
But just reading this on your own, when I researched it, a lot of these ideas went way over my head.
So we're not going to get into metaphysics in this episode.
But inside the area of metaphysics, there is a concept.
There is an idea of this thing called cause and effect.
Cause means the reason that something happened.
It is the action that someone takes.
Effect is the result of the action.
It is the result of the cause.
So just to break it down very easily, every result has a cause.
And let me give you a couple examples so you can get a better idea.
Okay, this is the effect.
Now what is the cause of that?
The cause is that you built up this skill over a long period of time.
Let me give you another example.
If you speak really good English, If English is not your first language, but you speak really good English.
This is the effect.
The cause is because you've spent time building up your speaking skills.
This is the cause.
So you see, just in these two examples, that cause and effect governs pretty much every aspect of our lives.
If you go to the doctor and you get a checkup.
A checkup is when they check your eyes, check your ears.
They're making sure that your body is running properly.
And if the doctor says, hey, you're in really good health, that is the effect.
Well, what is the cause?
Well, the cause is probably because You're eating healthy foods.
It's probably because you're exercising every day.
It's probably because you are living a healthy lifestyle.
That's why you have great health.
This is the effect.
Okay so, like I said, it governs.
It governs every aspect of our lives.
This is a very popular self-help book.
It's a book about creating better habits.
You can check that out if you'd like.
It's called Atomic Habits and the author is James Clear.
Now what he said in his book, this is like probably one of my favorite things that he said.
He said if you want to achieve good results, don't focus on the outcome.
So, if you want to achieve good results, if you want to have a good effect, don't focus on the effect, rather focus on the cause, focus on building good habits.
Okay so, for example, like you know, it's really easy to look at someone's life, let's say.
Let's say you see someone with a nice car, a nice house, and from the outside everything just looks amazing.
Right, this is the effect.
But what we should be asking is how?
What was the cause?
How did they get that nice car?
How did they get this nice house?
This is the cause.
So the cause is really the most important thing, because if you have a good cause, if you have good habits, automatically the effect will show up.
Okay?
Going back to this house, example if you see someone with a really nice car it's really expensive you might ask hey, how did you get this nice car?
How did you get this really nice house?
The effect.
They'll tell you the cause was because you know I've been working.
You know I've been working at this job, this high stress job.
It, you know, it pays a lot of money, but it's really stressful.
And you know, in order for me to feel better, I bought this nice house and this nice car.
And what have you?
You know the the cause may shock you.
You know it may not be, it may not be a cause that you would like to adopt into your life.
Okay, so every cause isn't isn't great, But every cause does have an effect.
And sometimes, if you see, let's say for example, like a professional athlete, you say wow, this guy's a great football player.
This guy's a great basketball player.
What was the cause of that?
Well, the cause is.
They've been doing this sport ever since they were a little kid.
They sacrificed.
They didn't go out and have fun.
Instead, they practiced.
And they spent time working on their skills.
And as a result...
They are a good athlete, the effect.
So just remember if you're working towards something, focus on the cause and the effect will happen automatically.
All right, my friends.
Thank you for listening to today's episode.
I look forward to speaking with you in the next one.
Take care everyone and talk to you soon.
Peace.
