# The Power Of Positivity | Easy English Podcast Conversation in Daily Life | Learn English Fast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4efXMKy_4Y

[00:00] Welcome back to the English Leap Podcast, your cozy place to learn easy English through real life conversations.
[00:02] from Speak English with Claus.
[00:05] Hey, hey, English learners.
[00:15] I'm Anna.
[00:17] And I'm Jake.
[00:18] How are you doing today, Anna?
[00:21] I'm good, thank you.
[00:21] A little tired, though.
[00:23] I had a busy weekend.
[00:25] I went out with some friends and we stayed up way too late.
[00:29] What about you?
[00:31] Oh, I know that feeling.
[00:31] My weekend was the opposite.
[00:35] Very quiet.
[00:35] I stayed home, cooked a little, read a book.
[00:38] It felt nice to slow down.
[00:39] That actually sounds amazing.
[00:42] Sometimes those quiet weekends are the best.
[00:45] Yeah, especially Sunday.
[00:47] Do you know that feeling?
[00:50] Sunday afternoon, it's calm, but your brain is already whispering, 'M, tomorrow is Monday.'
[00:56] Yes.
[00:59] Your body's on the sofa, but your mind is already at work in traffic
[01:02] answering emails, right?
[01:05] So, if you're listening on a Sunday, maybe you're feeling cozy, but also a bit nervous about Monday.
[01:10] And if it's already Monday for you, maybe you're on the bus, walking to school, or washing dishes after work, then you are in the new week already.
[01:20] So, the question is, what do we really need for Monday?
[01:23] Hm.
[01:26] Do we need more stress, more pressure, more I'm not good enough?
[01:29] No.
[01:32] We need some positive vibes.
[01:35] We need thoughts that give us energy, not steal it.
[01:35] Exactly.
[01:38] And that's why today we're talking about the power of positivity.
[01:41] The power that feels like the soul of a happier life.
[01:44] And don't worry, this is a B1 level episode.
[01:47] So, if you're intermediate, it's perfect for you.
[01:50] Yes, B1 level.
[01:54] And if you're A2, you can still listen.
[01:56] If some parts feel difficult, it's okay.
[01:58] You can always listen again and you will catch more the second time, right?
[02:01] You can listen while you cook,
[02:03] Clean, walk, or sit with a cup of tea.
[02:07] The idea is simple.
[02:10] Real English, real feelings, real life.
[02:12] So, who is this episode for?
[02:15] It's for you if you feel worried a lot, if your mind is always busy, or if you want to feel a little bit lighter and more hopeful.
[02:23] Yes, it's also for you if you want to practice daily life English talking about feelings, thoughts, stress, happiness in clear, natural English.
[02:34] All right, before we go deeper, a small request.
[02:36] Yeah, if you enjoy learning with us, please like this episode, subscribe to the channel, and maybe share it with one friend who is learning English, too.
[02:47] Every like, every comment, every share really helps more learners find this podcast.
[02:52] And we love reading your comments.
[02:55] In fact, maybe you can already answer a simple question in the comments.
[02:59] Where are you listening from and what are you doing right now?
[03:03] I love those.
[03:03] I'm in Brazil washing
[03:06] Dishes. I'm in Turkey on the bus.
[03:09] I'm in India studying before bed.
[03:12] It feels like one big cozy global classroom.
[03:15] Yes, exactly.
[03:15] So, write your country and what you're doing.
[03:20] Just one short sentence is perfect.
[03:21] And later in this episode, we'll also have a calm word tour.
[03:26] In word tour, we'll take a few useful words and phrases from today.
[03:31] So you don't only hear the words, you really understand them and you can start using them in your own life.
[03:36] All right. So Sundays, Mondays, stress, hope, positivity.
[03:44] Let's talk about how our thoughts can make our days heavier or lighter.
[03:48] Yeah. Let's see how small positive habits can slowly change the way you feel.
[03:53] All right, let's jump in.
[03:56] Yeah. Let's start with something simple but also hard.
[04:01] Simple but hard. I like that.
[04:05] So, first idea for today, your happiness
[04:07] switch is inside you.
[04:10] Right?
[04:10] Not inside your job, not inside your phone, not inside other people, inside you.
[04:19] And I don't say that like, oh, just be happy.
[04:19] It's easy.
[04:21] No, I also have days when my brain is like a little cloud of rain.
[04:26] Same.
[04:26] My brain sometimes wakes up and says, "Good morning.
[04:29] Let's think about everything that is wrong."
[04:34] Yes.
[04:34] You know those mornings you open your eyes and immediately you dwell on all the problems.
[04:39] The bill you have to pay, the email you didn't answer, the mistake you made last week.
[04:46] Dwell on means you sit on a thought for a long time.
[04:49] You stay there.
[04:52] You replay it again and again.
[04:54] Yeah.
[04:54] And when we dwell on negative thoughts, we start to feel more and more weighed down, like we're carrying a heavy backpack on our chest.
[05:03] Actually, that happened to me last month.
[05:03] I woke up one day and everything felt gray.
[05:07] Nothing was wrong, but my
[05:10] Outlook was very negative.
[05:13] Outlook means the way you look at life, right?
[05:16] Exactly. Same room, same job, same coffee, but my outlook was this is all useless.
[05:19] I'm failing.
[05:22] Everyone else is doing better.
[05:27] I know that voice.
[05:28] And I noticed something.
[05:31] I wasn't just listening to that voice.
[05:33] I was feeding it.
[05:36] I opened my phone and started reading bad news, negative comments, scary posts.
[05:40] Right. It's like your mind is already sad and then you give it more sad food.
[05:45] Yes. Sad breakfast for the brain.
[05:49] So, what did you do?
[05:50] At first, nothing.
[05:53] I stayed in bed and just scrolled and I felt worse.
[05:56] Then I remembered something.
[05:58] I can't always change my mood, but I can change my next 5 minutes.
[06:03] I like that.
[06:06] I can't change everything, but I can change my next 5 minutes.
[06:09] So, I decided to shortcircuit the
[06:11] Negative thoughts.
[06:13] Shortcircuit, huh?
[06:14] Yeah. Normally, short circuit is for electricity.
[06:17] Here, it means you interrupt a bad pattern.
[06:19] You stop the usual road of your thoughts.
[06:24] So instead of letting your mind go deeper and deeper into the dark tunnel, you change the direction.
[06:30] Exactly. I put my phone down, got up, opened the window, and played one happy song. Just one.
[06:37] Nice.
[06:38] Then I made a simple breakfast and went for a 10-minute walk. That's it. No big life change, just 10 minutes. But it felt like I pressed a small reset button in my head. So, your life didn't suddenly become perfect, but your energy changed a little.
[06:55] Yeah, my problems were still there, but I didn't feel so heavy. It was like I took off one small stone from my backpack.
[07:03] I love that image. A lot of us wait for big happiness. New job, big house, big love story. But real inner happiness
[07:12] Often starts with a very small thing.
[07:14] Open the window, drink water, listen to music, send a kind message.
[07:21] M it's like your mind is a garden.
[07:22] Yeah.
[07:23] If you don't choose what to plant there, weeds will grow by themselves.
[07:28] Negative news, old memories, other people's drama, those are like wild weeds.
[07:34] But when you choose even one small good seed like gratitude or a kind thought or a short walk, you are starting a different garden.
[07:43] And that doesn't mean you must be positive all the time.
[07:46] That's impossible, right?
[07:47] You are human.
[07:50] You can cry.
[07:50] You can be tired.
[07:52] You can feel sad.
[07:52] But even on a sad day, you still have this tiny switch.
[07:55] What is one small thing I can do now that is a little bit kind to myself?
[08:02] Maybe that one small thing is opening your window and feeling the air, looking at the sky for a minute, making tea and taking three slow breaths, listening to
[08:13] a song that gives you hope, or writing one sentence in your notebook.
[08:16] Today I am grateful for and finish it.
[08:21] See, you don't change your whole life in that moment.
[08:23] You change the direction of your thoughts.
[08:26] And when you repeat that day after day, your brain slowly learns a new habit, a happiness habit.
[08:33] So first idea, your happiness is not only about what happens to you.
[08:36] A big part is how you respond.
[08:39] The little choices you make when your mind wants to stay in the dark.
[08:43] And the good news is you can practice that one tiny seed at a time.
[08:50] Okay, so we talked about how happiness can start inside with small choices and small seeds.
[08:56] Yeah, but what about the opposite?
[08:59] When your brain is just tired from worrying all the time.
[09:03] Let's talk about that next.
[09:05] When worry makes your mind feel heavy and what you can actually do about it.
[09:08] Right?
[09:08] That heavy feeling like your thoughts are
[09:13] Running in circles.
[09:15] I had a season like that.
[09:17] Every night my brain was busy with what if thoughts.
[09:20] What if I lose my job?
[09:22] What if I fail this exam?
[09:25] What if people don't like me?
[09:28] Exactly. I was trying to sleep, but my mind was wide awake.
[09:30] And the funny thing is, most of the things I worried about were things I could not control.
[09:35] Yeah. Same here.
[09:38] My brain loves to worry about the weather, the news, the economy, and strangers on the internet.
[09:43] The full package.
[09:44] One night, I was lying in bed and I realized I feel like I'm trying to control the whole world from my pillow.
[09:52] Oh, that's such a good picture.
[09:54] I was spiraling a little.
[09:56] Spiraling?
[09:58] You mean your thoughts were going down and down, getting worse?
[10:01] Yeah. Like a small worry becomes a big story in your head.
[10:07] H I think a lot of people listening know that feeling.
[10:09] So I tried something simple.
[10:11] I took a notebook and I drew two circles.
[10:15] Yeah.
[10:15] In the first circle I wrote things I can control.
[10:22] In the second things I can't control.
[10:23] Nice.
[10:24] So can control was what I eat tomorrow, how many hours I sleep if I put my phone away, what message I send to my friend, how many minutes I study.
[10:35] and can't control the past, other people's opinions, the world news, my old mistakes, the weather.
[10:43] M when you see it on paper, it becomes clearer, right?
[10:47] Completely.
[10:47] I saw that 90% of my anxiety was in the can't control circle.
[10:53] So, your brain was working hard but not helping you.
[10:57] Exactly.
[10:57] It was like my mind was trying to keep my head above water in a sea that doesn't belong to me.
[11:04] Keep your head above water is that feeling when you're just trying to survive.
[11:07] Not happy, not relaxed, just trying not to drown.
[11:11] Yeah.
[11:11] And I didn't want to live like that every day.
[11:13] So, I made a little rule
[11:15] For myself.
[11:17] What rule?
[11:17] If something is in the can't control circle, I'm allowed to notice it, but I'm not allowed to stay there for an hour.
[11:25] I love that.
[11:26] Instead, I choose one small thing from the can control circle and do it.
[11:29] Send one honest message.
[11:32] Drink water.
[11:35] Go for a walk.
[11:35] Pray.
[11:35] Breathe.
[11:38] Sit in silence for five minutes.
[11:40] It's like moving your brain from a noisy street into a quiet park.
[11:44] Yes.
[11:44] And for me, that quiet park is sometimes just sitting on the floor with my back against the wall, closing my eyes and imagining a peaceful place.
[11:56] Beach, forest, mountains.
[11:58] Usually a beach.
[11:58] I imagine the sound of the waves, the feeling of warm sand, the sun on my face.
[12:05] That's nice.
[12:06] I breathe slowly and tell myself, "Right now, I don't have to fix my whole life."
[12:12] I only have to breathe.
[12:14] So, this second idea is your brain gets
[12:17] tired when it worries about everything you can't control.
[12:19] When you move your attention to one small thing you can control, your mind can finally rest a little.
[12:25] And that rest, that small calm moment is also positivity.
[12:28] It's not loud, but it's very powerful.
[12:34] Okay. So, we have inner happiness as small seeds.
[12:36] And we have less worry when we focus on what we can actually do.
[12:41] Yeah. And now let's talk about something that scares many people. Goals.
[12:47] Yes. Goals can give us hope, but they can also make us stressed.
[12:50] Let's untangle that.
[12:51] So Anna, have you ever felt like your goals were attacking you?
[12:57] Attacking me? Yes. Many times.
[13:00] Like instead of feeling inspired, you feel guilty because you're not there yet.
[13:05] Exactly. A few years ago, I remember one season where I felt very lost with work and money.
[13:11] I was working, but I wasn't happy with my job.
[13:13] I didn't know what I wanted next.
[13:15] And at night, my brain was full of
[13:18] I should earn more.
[13:21] I should be more successful.
[13:23] I should already have everything figured out.
[13:25] Yes.
[13:25] And I was also on social media seeing people my age buying houses, traveling, starting businesses.
[13:32] The classic everyone is doing better than me feeling.
[13:35] Exactly.
[13:35] The grass is greener feeling.
[13:39] The grass isn't always greener is a nice idiom.
[13:43] It means other people's lives look better, but you don't see their problems.
[13:46] Right?
[13:46] But at that time, I forgot that.
[13:49] I only saw the green grass.
[13:51] My own life felt like dry ground.
[13:52] That's really honest.
[13:54] One night, I couldn't sleep again.
[13:55] My heart was beating fast and I asked myself, "Okay, what am I actually afraid of?"
[14:01] Good question.
[14:02] The answer was, "I'm afraid my life will stay like this forever.
[14:08] Same job, same stress, same money problems."
[14:10] M, that's a scary thought.
[14:12] Yeah.
[14:12] And then another question came.
[14:15] If I don't want this, what small change can
[14:19] I make? Not big, not dramatic, just one step.
[14:23] And what did you do?
[14:24] I took a piece of paper and wrote three very simple goals.
[14:26] One for my health, one for my work, and one for my heart.
[14:32] I like this already.
[14:33] Health goal, walk 20 minutes every day after dinner.
[14:36] Work goal, spend 20 minutes a day learning something new for my future job.
[14:41] Heart goal. Send one message a day to someone I care about.
[14:46] That's so beautiful.
[14:48] It was small, but when I looked at the paper, I felt lighter
[14:51] because now your brain had a direction.
[14:54] Yes. Before my mind was just stuck in a rut.
[14:57] Stuck in a rut means doing the same thing again and again, feeling bored and trapped.
[15:03] Exactly. Every day was the same. Worry, scroll, compare, sleep badly.
[15:09] But with these three small goals, my brain had something new to focus on.
[15:14] It's like driving at night in heavy fog. If you don't have headlights, you feel lost.
[15:18] Goals are like turning on your
[15:21] headlights.
[15:22] You still can't see the whole road, but you can see the next few meters.
[15:27] And the next few meters are enough to move forward.
[15:30] Exactly. After some weeks, I noticed small changes.
[15:32] My walks helped my mood.
[15:35] My 20 minute study time helped my confidence.
[15:37] My messages helped my relationships.
[15:41] So your life didn't magically become perfect, but you started to bounce back.
[15:46] Bounce back means recover slowly after something difficult, right?
[15:50] Yeah. Like a ball that hits the ground and comes up again.
[15:53] And I want to say this clearly. You don't need big goals to feel better.
[15:58] You need clear and kind goals.
[16:00] M clear and kind. I love that. Clear so your brain knows what to do. Kind so you don't hurt yourself with pressure.
[16:08] So this third idea is your brain needs hope not just worry.
[16:11] Small realistic goals can be like little lights on your path.
[16:16] And sometimes even with good goals, life still hurts. Things go wrong. People
[16:21] Leave.
[16:21] Plans break.
[16:23] Yeah.
[16:23] And that's where our last idea comes in.
[16:25] What to do with problems and pain when you still want to move forward.
[16:30] So Jake, have you ever had a moment where your heart felt really heavy?
[16:36] Yeah.
[16:36] A few years ago, I went through a breakup that hit me hard.
[16:42] It wasn't a big drama outside.
[16:42] No big fight, but inside it felt like someone switched off the color in my life.
[16:49] I'm sorry.
[16:51] Thank you.
[16:51] For some weeks, I didn't want to do anything.
[16:53] I just wanted to lie in bed, listen to sad songs, and brood over everything.
[16:58] Brood means you think about the same sad thing again and again and you stay inside that sadness.
[17:06] Exactly.
[17:06] I replayed every conversation in my mind.
[17:09] What if I said this?
[17:09] What if I did that?
[17:13] Our brain loves that game.
[17:15] But after a while, I noticed something.
[17:17] The more I stayed in bed, the heavier I felt.
[17:19] It was like wearing wet clothes
[17:22] all day.
[17:23] That's such a clear picture.
[17:25] One day, a friend called me and said,
[17:27] Look, you can be sad.
[17:27] Of course, but you also have to move.
[17:29] You don't have to run, just walk.
[17:33] Good friend.
[17:34] He invited me to meet him for coffee and a walk.
[17:36] I didn't want to go, but I went.
[17:39] And that walk didn't fix my heart, but it helped me breathe.
[17:44] And I learned something from that time.
[17:46] When you have heartache or a big problem, you can't just think your way out.
[17:50] You have to live your way through it.
[17:53] Live your way through it, not just think your way through it.
[17:57] Yeah. small actions, normal routine.
[17:57] Go back to simple things.
[18:00] Shower, eat, move, talk to one safe person.
[18:06] So, if you're going through a painful season right now, maybe a breakup, a loss, a big disappointment.
[18:10] It's okay to feel sad.
[18:13] It's okay to cry,
[18:15] but try not to live inside the pain 24 hours a day.
[18:19] You can imagine the pain like a heavy
[18:22] backpack.
[18:24] You do have to carry it for some time, but you don't have to sit on the floor and stop your life.
[18:28] You can walk slowly with it, and with time it becomes a little lighter.
[18:33] And about problems in general, not just heartache, there's one simple practice I like.
[18:38] Tell us.
[18:39] When something is really confusing, I take a piece of paper and I write the problem is, and I finish that sentence in one simple line.
[18:48] Right. Not 20 lines, just one clear sentence.
[18:51] Exactly. For example, the problem is I feel alone in this city or the problem is I don't know how to pay this bill.
[19:01] And then what?
[19:02] Then I write three small things I can try. Not big magic, just three ideas.
[19:10] for feeling alone, join one online English group this week. Send a message to one old friend and ask, "Can we talk this weekend?" go to one public place, a park, a cafe with a book or podcast, so
[19:24] I'm not alone at home all day.
[19:26] That's really good.
[19:27] And I tell myself, I don't need to solve everything today.
[19:30] I just need to try one of these this week.
[19:34] So, you move from I have a problem to I'm working through this problem.
[19:39] Yes, work through is a nice phrase.
[19:42] It means you slowly process something difficult step by step instead of hiding from it.
[19:47] And that's also positivity, not fake smiles, but quiet courage.
[19:52] I love that quiet courage.
[19:55] So this last idea is problems and pain don't mean your life is over.
[19:58] They mean you are human.
[20:00] You can feel them and still move forward slowly.
[20:05] And many times the next move is actually yours.
[20:09] Yeah.
[20:09] The ball is in your court.
[20:11] That idiom means it's your turn to act.
[20:14] Life gave you a situation and now you decide your next small step.
[20:18] Not a perfect step, just a small kind step.
[20:22] So today we talked about inner happiness, worry, goals, and pain.
[20:27] we use some useful words and phrases
[20:29] along the way.
[20:30] >> Yeah. In a moment we can slow down and
[20:32] do a little word tour so you can really
[20:34] feel confident using them.
[20:36] >> But first, just take a breath and notice
[20:39] how you feel right now. Okay, let's do a
[20:42] little word tour now. We'll take some
[20:44] phrases from today and make them clear
[20:46] and easy. The first word is dwell or
[20:49] dwell on something.
[20:51] >> Dwell on means you keep thinking about
[20:54] the same thing again and again. Usually
[20:57] something negative. You stay inside that
[21:00] thought for a long time.
[21:02] >> For example, I try not to dwell on my
[21:05] mistakes all night.
[21:06] >> Or she dwelt on one bad comment and
[21:09] forgot all the good ones. Our next word
[21:12] is spiral or spiraling.
[21:15] >> When your thoughts are spiraling, it
[21:17] means one small worry becomes bigger and
[21:20] bigger in your mind. Your thoughts go
[21:23] down like a spiral and you feel worse.
[21:26] >> For example, I saw one scary news story
[21:29] and then my mind started spiraling.
[21:32] >> Or when I'm tired, my thinking can
[21:34] spiral very fast into negative stories.
[21:38] >> Our next phrase is stuck in a rut. If
[21:41] you are stuck in a rut, it means your
[21:43] life feels the same every day and you
[21:46] feel bored or trapped. You don't see a
[21:49] new way forward.
[21:50] >> For example, he felt stuck in a rut at
[21:53] his job doing the same tasks for years.
[21:56] >> Or, I knew I was stuck in a rut when
[21:59] every day felt exactly the same.
[22:02] >> Our next phrase is keep your head above
[22:04] water.
[22:05] >> This means you're just managing to
[22:07] survive a difficult time. You're not
[22:10] relaxed, but you're still going. You're
[22:12] not drowning, but it's hard.
[22:14] >> For example, with work and family, she's
[22:17] just trying to keep her head above
[22:19] water.
[22:20] >> Or when money is tight, many people only
[22:22] think about keeping their head above
[22:24] water.
[22:25] >> Our next phrase is bounce back.
[22:28] >> Bounce back means you recover after
[22:30] something bad or difficult. You feel
[22:32] weak for a while, then slowly become
[22:35] strong again. For example, it took time
[22:38] but he bounced back after losing his
[22:40] job.
[22:41] >> Or you can bounce back from mistakes in
[22:43] English if you keep practicing.
[22:45] >> Our next one is an idiom. The grass
[22:48] isn't always greener.
[22:50] >> We say the grass isn't always greener to
[22:53] mean other people's lives look better,
[22:56] but you don't see their problems. What
[22:58] you see from outside is not the full
[23:01] truth. For example, she wanted her
[23:04] friend's life, but later she realized
[23:06] the grass wasn't always greener.
[23:08] >> Or social media can make you forget that
[23:11] the grass isn't always greener on the
[23:13] other side.
[23:14] >> Our next word is brood.
[23:17] >> To brood means to sit and think about
[23:19] something sad or negative for a long
[23:22] time. You stay inside the sad feeling.
[23:25] >> For example, after the breakup, he just
[23:28] stayed in his room and brooded. or it's
[23:31] okay to feel sad, but if you brood all
[23:33] day, you feel even worse.
[23:36] >> Our next phrase is work through.
[23:38] >> Work through means to slowly deal with a
[23:41] difficult feeling or problem step by
[23:43] step. You don't run away from it. You
[23:46] take time and process it.
[23:48] >> For example, she needed time to work
[23:50] through her fear of speaking in English.
[23:53] >> Or it can take months to work through
[23:55] heartache, but small actions help. And
[23:58] our last one is the idiom the ball is in
[24:01] your court.
[24:02] >> This means now you must decide or take
[24:05] action. It's your turn. Other people did
[24:08] their part. Now it's your move.
[24:11] >> For example, I sent him the offer. Now
[24:13] the ball is in his court.
[24:15] >> Or you know the problem and the options.
[24:18] Now the ball is in your court.
[24:21] >> So those were some of the words and
[24:23] phrases from today. If you want, you can
[24:26] listen again and try to catch them in
[24:28] the main conversation.
[24:30] >> Yeah. And maybe choose one or two that
[24:32] you really like and try to use them this
[24:34] week in your own sentences.
[24:36] >> So, I guess that's our reminder for
[24:38] today. Your thoughts are powerful and
[24:41] small positive habits really matter.
[24:44] >> Yeah, even one tiny thing counts. One
[24:48] short walk, one calm breath, one kind
[24:51] thought about yourself. That's already a
[24:54] positive step.
[24:55] >> If you like, tell us in the comments. My
[24:58] small positive habit will be and write
[25:00] just one thing you want to try.
[25:03] >> And if this episode helped you feel a
[25:05] little lighter or a little less alone,
[25:07] you can like, subscribe, and come back
[25:09] next time.
[25:10] >> Take care of yourself. Be gentle with
[25:13] your mind.
[25:14] >> And remember, you don't have to be
[25:16] perfect. You just have to keep moving
[25:18] slowly in a kinder direction.
[25:21] >> Right. This is Anna
[25:23] >> and this is Jake
[25:24] >> and you've been listening to the English
[25:26] Leap podcast. Bye.
[25:31] [music] Your progress doesn't end here.
[25:33] To continue advancing your English
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