Excitement Main Text

Hi, this is AJ, welcome to our next lesson. This one is called "Excitement." We're

going to talk about excitement and I'm going to read a little section from a book called

The 4-Hour Work Week, which is a fantastic book. I love this book.

In fact, I'm going to do a few lessons based on sections of this book because I really,

really love it. I think it's just an incredible book that really has a very creative way of

looking at life and work and enjoying yourself.

The theme of the book, really, is enjoying your life. I mean that is really what the book

is all about and Tim Ferriss is the writer of the book. Again, the book's title is The 4-

Hour Work Week written by Tim Ferriss. Absolutely excellent book, I highly

recommend it. Now the section we're going to talk about today is about excitement.

So let me read what Tim has to say about excitement and then l'll talk more about it.

So here we go.

"What do you want? Well, first let's ask a better question. Most people will never

know what they want. I don't know what I want. If you ask me what I want to do in the

next five months for language learning, on the other hand, I do know. It's a matter of

specificity. What do you want is too imprecise to produce a meaningful and actionable

answer. Forget about it.

What are your goals is similarly fated for confusion and guesswork. To rephrase the

question we need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Let's assume we

have 10 goals and we achieve them. What is the desired outcome that makes all the

effort worthwhile? The most common response is what I also would have suggested

five years ago, happiness. I no longer believe this is a good answer. I no longer

believe that happiness is the reason we achieve goals.

Happiness can be bought with a bottle of wine and the idea of happiness has become

ambiguous through overuse. There is a more precise alternative that reflects what I

believe is the actual objective for achieving goals. Bear with me. What is the opposite

of happiness? Sadness? No. Just as love and hate are two sides of the same coin,

so are happiness and sadness. Crying out of happiness is a perfect illustration of this

idea.

Excitement Vocabulary Text

Hello, this is AJ, welcome to the vocabulary lesson for "Excitement." Let's start.

Our first word is specificity, specificity, a little difficult to pronounce, specificity. In fact,

many native speakers have trouble pronouncing this word, especially if you say it fast

in a sentence, specificity, specificity, specificity. Sometimes have trouble

pronouncing it, too, but I'm doing it correctly now, specificity.

Specificity is the noun. Specificity means, um...specific-ness is what it really means,

right? It means being specific, being detailed, being very exact. It's kind of the

opposite of generality. Generality is the situation of being very general. So, for

example, you say “I want a lot more money." That statement is a generality, right? It's

not detailed. But if you say “I want $2,496", well that statement has specificity. It has

detail. It has specific-ness, so that's specificity.

Our next word is imprecise. Imprecise is an adjective. And, in fact, it's the opposite of

specific and it's the opposite of precise. Precise is very similar to specific, it means

you'd be very exact, very detailed. So, again, “I want $2,496.20." That's precise,

that's detailed.

The opposite is imprecise, meaning not detailed, not precise. Imprecise means "I'd

like some more money," right? That's not detailed. It's very general, it's imprecise.

So Tim Ferris is saying that the question "what do I want", it's an imprecise question.

It's not a specific question, it's too general. It's too imprecise.

Our next word is fated, to be fated. He says the question "what are your goals", that

question is fated for confusion, it's fated to cause confusion. To be fated for means to

be destined for. It means something that absolutely will happen in the future or soon.

So to be fated for confusion, it means it absolutely will create confusion in the near

future or in the far future. So that question, that general question, what are your goals

or what are my goals or what do I want, it's fated to cause confusion. It absolutely will

cause confusion.

Next is the word worthwhile. So he's saying "What is the purpose of goals? Why are

goals worthwhile?" Worthwhile means beneficial. So why are goals beneficial? Why

are goals useful, helpful, good to do, good to have, worthwhile? So worthwhile, again,

beneficial, helpful, useful, worthwhile, so worthwhile, why are goals useful? Why are

goals worthwhile? Why are they worthwhile?

Automatic English For The People

Excitement POV Text

Hi, this is AJ, welcome to the point of view mini-stories for "Excitement." Let's get

started.

Since last year Brad has needed money for school. He has been very poor since last

year. He lost all his money last year, so since last year he has needed money for

school. Of course, he has had a worthwhile purpose for needing money. He's had a

worthwhile reason for needing money, during this whole time from last year up until

recently.

So Brad has needed money for school since last year and since last year he has had a

worthwhile purpose. And during this time he has thought about money every day. He

has tried to find a way to get more money, but he has failed. Since last year, up until

recently, he has failed to get more money, so he has not been able to go to school.

Well one day he got a great idea, he got a gun and he went to a convenience store.

He went into the store, he pointed the gun at the clerk and he said "Give me some

money!" And the clerk said “Now that's a very imprecise request, how about some

specificity? Don't be ambiguous. Tell me exactly how much you want."

Well Brad was surprised and he was silent for a while. And then finally he said "I don't

know. Ah, bear with me while I think." Well then Brad was silent again. He stood with

the gun, thinking for a long, long time, thinking about the clerk's question, the clerk's

request.

He thought for seventeen and a half hours and then, finally, after seventeen and a half

hours Brad asked for $7,298, precisely. And because Brad's request was precise the

clerk gave it to him. The clerk gave him exactly $7,298. Brad ran home. Then he ran

to school with the money. He paid for school and he started to study again. Of

course, Brad was very, very happy. What a happy story.

Okay, next, same story, this time from a future point of view. This time using a future

timeframe, let's go to the future, shall we?

In the future there will be a student named Brad and Brad is going to need money for

school. He'll be a poor student and he won't have money for school. Brad's going to

think about this problem a lot. Now, of course, he'll have a worthwhile purpose. It's a

worthwhile purpose to need money for school.

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Automatic English For The People

Excitement Mini-Story Text

Hi, this is AJ, welcome to the mini-story for "Excitement."

* * * **

There was a guy named Brad. Brad was a student. Brad was a poor student, he

needed money for school.

What was Brad?

A student, Brad was a student.

What did he need?

He needed money, Brad needed money.

What did he need money for?

For school, Brad needed money for school.

What kind of student was Brad?

Well, he was a poor student. Brad was a poor student and he needed money for

school.

Was he a rich student?

No, of course not, he was not a rich student. He was a poor student. Brad was a poor

student who needed money for school.

So he needed money and he had a worthwhile purpose.

Was his purpose worthwhile? Was it good, beneficial, useful?

Well, yes, it was, it was worthwhile. It was a good, beneficial, purpose.

What was his purpose? Why did he need money?

Automatic English For The People

The Art of Power Vocabulary Text

Hello, this is AJ. Welcome to the vocabulary lesson for "The Art of Power." Let's get

started right away, here we go.

Our first word is subconscious. We've talked about this word already several times, so

I'll review it quickly. Subconscious means the deep part of your mind. It's the deep

emotions, the deep thoughts. They're not at the top of your mind, you're not thinking

about them. You don't realize that they are there, they're deep down.

And then, of course, the other kind of mind or consciousness is your conscious mind.

Your conscious mind is what you are thinking about right now. You know what you're

thinking about. You can kind of see it or hear it in your brain. But the subconscious is

deeper. You don't see it or hear it immediately, it's not obvious. So that's

subconscious.

Our next word is dormant, dormant. So Thich Nhat Hanh said that often these seeds

of anger or the seeds of violence or the seeds of sadness and depression, often they

are dormant. Dormant means sleeping. Quite simply it means sleeping, so, again,

dormant. If the seeds are dormant it means they're sleeping. They're not growing,

they're not active. They're not awake they are sleeping, so dormant means sleeping.

You hear this word with volcanoes sometimes. They'll say it's a dormant volcano.

Volcano is a big mountain, right? It explodes sometimes. Well if it's a dormant

volcano it's a sleeping volcano. It's not exploding, there's nothing happening, it's

asleep. Okay, so dormant, again, dormant means sleeping or asleep.

Our next word is formation, formation. He says that when these negative emotions,

these negative seeds are fed or watered, when you give them energy they become

mental formations. So a formation is just a thing, an organized thing. So, in other

words, they become real things. They become alive, they become awake, they

become real things.

So before you had this seed of anger, but you weren't angry. It's down there, it's

asleep, nothing is happening. But then maybe you watched the news or you're around

a lot of angry people and then suddenly that seed starts growing. And now anger

becomes real, it becomes a mental formation, it becomes a real idea. It becomes a

real feeling in your brain, in your mind. So, again, formation is something that is real

and organized, something that exists in reality.

The Art of Power Main Text

Hello, this is AJ, welcome to our next lesson. This lesson is called "The Art of Power"

and it comes from a book. The topic comes from a book with the same name. The

book is called The Art of Power by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist Monk, he is a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk and really

one of my favorite writers, one of my favorite people, one of my favorite teachers. And

I've been reading Thich Nhat Hanh's books and listening to his audio teachings for

many, many years and he's a very special guy.

Thich Nhat Hanh, again, he's Vietnamese, a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk, and during

the Vietnam War he created an organization and he created a movement for peace.

So I believe he was in South Vietnam during the War and he did not support either

side. He was not supporting the Communist North. He was not supporting the United

States-backed South. He was just trying to end the War. He was trying to get peace

in Vietnam and the Buddhist Monks that were in his group were doing the same. They

were just trying to help people and trying to stop the War, stop the killing.

Well, unfortunately, as happens in the world, because he would not join either side

both sides didn't like him. So the Americans and the South Vietnamese, they thought

he was bad because he was trying to stop the fighting and the North Vietnamese

Communists, they didn't like him either because he was trying to stop the killing and

the fighting.

And, so, Thich Nhat Hanh, he had to leave Vietnam. His life was in danger from both

sides. And, eventually, he had to leave Vietnam and he could not return. I think he

just recently returned a couple years ago. The Vietnamese Government allowed him

to come back because I guess he's still quite popular in Vietnam.

But, anyway, he moved to France and he started to teach and write books and tapes.

And he created a monastery in France where he teaches people about peace and

about making your life better and about helping other people. And while he is a

Buddhist, many of his students are Christians or Muslim or Jewish or not religious or

Hindus, it doesn't matter. He's not like a strict Buddhist like you must be a Buddhist,

he just wants to teach the principles of peace and understanding and love.

So he's a wonderful person and he's got many great books, this book is called The Art

of Power. And, of course, the power he's talking about is the power to be good, the

power to control your own life and to have a good life and to help other people. So it's

Hello, this is AJ. Welcome to the POV stories for "The Art of Power." Let's start.

Since 2002 Sally has craved chocolate. She has wanted it every day, every hour of

her life since 2002. She has become, unfortunately, super fat because she has craved

chocolate so much. So Sally, since 2002, has become super fat because she has

craved chocolate every day and every hour.

Now, of course, during this time she has wanted to lose weight. She has wanted to

lose weight all this time. Every day she has thought about it. Every day she has

thought, oh, I want to lose weight. In fact, every day she has tried to suppress her

craving for chocolate. She has tried to push down the craving. She has tired to

pretend that she didn't crave chocolate.

But, of course, this suppression has failed. It has always failed. In fact, one day it

failed in a huge way, it was a super big failure one day. Because one day she saw a

candy bar in the store and the candy bar triggered her craving and she bought 4,000

chocolate candy bars. She ate all of them in one day.

So on that day she stopped trying to suppress her craving. Instead she decided to

study yoga. And she went to a yoga studio and she studied yoga. By studying yoga

she learned discipline and diligence. And because she learned diligence her

chocolate cravings lessened. They got weaker and weaker, until one day they

became totally dormant, totally asleep, totally quiet. Her chocolate cravings became

dormant.

And after that she ate only wholesome, healthy food. And because she ate only

wholesome food she became thinner and thinner. In fact, she became a thin,

gorgeous and sexy cow. And so all the male cows wanted her, they her because she

was thin, gorgeous and sexy.

Okay, that's the end of our first POV story. Next we go into the future. You already

know this, so let's do it! Let's start.

In the future there will be a cow and her name will be Sarah. Sarah is going to crave

chocolate. She's going to crave chocolate every minute, every hour of every day. Of

course, she'll become super fat. Sarah the cow will be a super fat cow because she's

going to crave chocolate.

The Art of Power Mini-Story Text

Hello, welcome to the mini-story for "The Art of Power." Let's begin.

* * * * *

Sally was a cow. And Sally the cow craved chocolate. She desired chocolate.

She had to have chocolate all the time. She always wanted chocolate. She

craved it.

Who craved chocolate?

Sally, Sally the cow craved chocolate.

What was Sally?

She was a cow. Sally was a cow.

How did she feel about chocolate?

She craved it. Sally craved chocolate. She wanted it so much. She thought about

chocolate all the time. I must have chocolate!

So she craved vanilla, right? No, wrong, she did not crave vanilla she craved

chocolate. She thought about chocolate all the time.

So do you think Sally was thin or fat?

Well exactly, of course, she was fat. She was obese, very, very fat. Sally was an

obese cow.

Why was she an obese cow?

Because she craved chocolate every day and she ate chocolate every day.

Why was she fat?

Because she craved chocolate and ate chocolate every single day, all the time.