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Assertiveness - VIP Mini Story

Hi this is AJ, welcome to the mini story for this month’s lesson. I have another story about a dog. Yeah! So I hope you like dogs. Here we go.

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Hiva the dog lived a hectic life in New York City. He’s a special dog. He lives in New York City and has his own apartment. Hiva the dog lived a hectic life in New York City. Hiva, H-i-v-a, that’s his name. Hiva the dog lived a hectic life in New York City.

What kind of life did Hiva the dog live?

He lived a hectic life.

So was it a slow-paced life or was it a fast-paced life?

It was fast, very fast. He lived a hectic life in New York City; very fast-paced, constantly changing, very busy.

Did he live a hectic life or a relaxed and calm life?

He lived a hectic life in New York City.

And who lived a hectic life in New York City?

Hiva.

Was Hiva a person?

No, he was a dog, a very special dog, who had an apartment in New York and he had a job too. I’ll tell you about that in a minute. Hiva the job lived a hectic life in New York City.

So, ‘hectic’, as you can see, means very busy, very fast and somewhat chaotic. Those ideas together, that’s hectic, hectic, a hectic life. So a hectic life is not a relaxed life. It’s not a slow life. It’s not a calm life.

So did Hiva the dog live a very clam life or a very hectic life?

A hectic life.

And where did he live a hectic life?

In New York City.

Is New York City a calm city or a hectic city?

Very hectric.

New York is famous for being very fast-paced, very energetic, very busy. It’s a hectic kind of city and Hiva the dog lived a hectic life there. And on top of that, in addition, Hiva had a type-A personality.

What kind of personality did he have?

A type-A personality.

What is that? What’s a type-A personality? Is that a relaxed personality?

No, it’s not. It’s not. It’s the opposite.

A type-A personality is a personality. It’s a type of person who is very focused and very busy and they’re very focused on working and achieving goals. They don’t like to relax so much. They like to be constantly working and trying to get better. They’re constantly focused on success. Success, success, very success focused. They’re highly motivated, super motivated.

So that kind of person, if someone is like that all the time and they do this in all areas of their life, we call them type-A, a type-A personality. I don’t remember where that comes from. Some psychologist probably created that name, type-A, but I don’t remember where it comes from. But, anyway, we say type-A.

If you say he is type-A then everyone knows that means lots of energy, super motivated, focused on success, doesn’t relax much, work a lot, all of those things go together, typeA personality.

So did Hiva have a type-A personality, Hiva the dog?

Yes, he did. He had a type-A personality. Super motivated, super energetic, always trying to work and become more successful. Plus, he lived a hectic busy life in New York City. He was a workaholic.

You probably know this word, but if it’s new a ‘workaholic’ means someone who is addicted to work. They can’t stop working. They’re working constantly.

Who was a workaholic?

Hiva.

And what was Hiva?

Hiva was a workaholic.

Did he work all the time?

Yes, he did. He worked all the time. He was a workaholic.

Was he addicted to work?

Yes, he was addicted to work. He was a workaholic. He always wanted to work, work, work and work some more. He had a type-A personality and he was a workaholic.

Those two go together usually. And he was an aggressive go-getter. Hiva was an aggressive go-getter.

A ‘go-getter’ is someone who is highly motivated and has a lot of initiative. ‘Initiative’ basically means self-motivation. It means you don’t wait for someone else to tell you what to do. You see a problem and you solve it yourself. You don’t need someone else to tell you to do it, you make decision. It’s kind of a decisiveness and the ability to do things without someone telling you to do it. That’s a go-getter.

That kind of person is a go-getter. A go-getter makes decisions, solves problems.

They’re very self-motivated. They don’t need someone else to motivate themselves, they motivate themselves. They don’t need someone else to motivate them, they motive themselves. That’s the correct way to say it.

So Hiva was a go-getter. He liked to make decisions. He constantly was solving problems and he was a workaholic, working all the time. Somehow he had a girlfriend and Hiva’s girlfriend, Laura, was totally the opposite. Now, Laura was a dog also, by the way, so Laura the dog. Laura the dog was totally the opposite of Hiva.

Was Laura a go-getter? Did she like to get out there and solve problems and take initiative?

No, Laura was not a go-getter.

Was Laura a workaholic? Was she addicted to work?

No, she didn’t like to work. Laura was not a workaholic.

Did she live a hectic, busy, chaotic life?

No, Laura did not live a hectic, busy, chaotic life.

What was Laura like?

Well, number one, she was mellow. Laura was mellow, mellow. Good word mellow.

‘Mellow’ means very relaxed, very relaxed.

Was Hiva mellow?

No, Hiva was a workaholic, a go-getter. He had a type-A personality. Hiva definitely was not mellow.

So who was mellow?

Laura. Laura the dog was very mellow, relaxed all the time, very mellow.

What did Laura love to do? What did she love to do?

She loved to chill out at home. She loved to just chill out at home.

To ‘chill out’, to use it as a verb, to chill out means to relax. So she loved to relax at home. She loved to chill out at home.

Why?

Because she was a mellow doggie. Laura was a mellow dog and she loved to chill out at home.

What else did she live to do?

Well, she loved to hang out with friends.

To ‘hang out’ with someone or to hang out with people means to relax with. It just means to spend time with. It has the idea of kind of a relaxed way. So if you go to a coffee shop and sit and chat and you’re relaxed that’s hanging out. You’re hanging out with your friend at the coffee shop. So Laura loved to just hang out with her friends. They didn’t do any exciting activities. They just relaxed together and chatted.

So she lived to do two things. What two things?

Number one, she liked to chill out at home and, number two, she liked to hang out with her friends.

Because she was what kind of dog?

She was a mellow dog. Laura was a very mellow, relaxed doggie.

Well, you can imagine that Hiva and Laura constantly argued. They were totally different. Hiva was always wired and stressed and that made Laura feel anxious.

Hiva was always what?

He was always wired.

To be ‘wired’ is the same as to be amped up. We learned that in a previous mini story.

So to be wired means to have a lot of energy and it has kind of the idea of too much energy. So if you drink 10 cups of coffee you will be wired, right? You’ll have too much energy really. Think of a wire that has too much electricity, too much energy going through it, too much electricity. That’s where it comes from.

So Hiva was always wired. He always had too much energy and this made Laura feel anxious. ‘Anxious’ means stressed and nervous and worried, all of those kind of together.

So how was Hiva usually?

Wired. Hiva was usually wired.

Was Laura usually wired?

No, no, Laura was usually mellow, except when she was with Hiva.

When she was with Hiva she felt how?

Anxious. When she was Hiva, Laura felt anxious.

Hiva was always what?

Wired. Hiva was always wired, meaning he had too much energy.

And Laura always felt how with him?

Anxious, nervous, worried. She always felt anxious with him.

Well, this was a big problem in their relationship and finally they decided to take a vacation to Bali. It was very tranquil in Bali.

‘Tranquil’ means again very peaceful. Bali is a very tranquil place in some places.

It was very tranquil in Bali, but when they returned to New York Hiva quickly became wired again. So he relaxed in Bali, on Bali. It’s an island, we can say on.

He relaxed on Bali or in Bali, but when he returned to New York he became wired again.

Next, he tried yoga, but after a few hours he became wired again. He would go to yoga and feel more peaceful, but after the class he would quickly feel wired again.

Finally, they decided to move to Thailand and in Thailand Hiva finally learned how to chill out and relax.

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And that is the end of our mini story this month. I hope you enjoyed it. Just listen to it every single day, pause and answer the questions. See you next time, bye-bye.