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Begin With Why – Movie Technique A

Hello and welcome to this month’s movie lesson.

This is actually not a movie this month. It’s actually a short speech by a guy named Joe Rogan. I’m using a video but there’s really no video. It’s just a picture of Joe Rogan and the important part is the audio, because this is from Joe Rogan’s radio show. So I will use the same technique, however. I will pause after most sentences and explain the vocabulary.

Let’s begin.

When you’re alone with your thoughts…

“When you’re alone with your thoughts…” to be alone with your thoughts means that you’re alone and you are aware of your thoughts. You’re noticing your own thinking. You’re noticing your own thoughts.

… You get an idea of what your thoughts actually are.

“You get an idea of what your thoughts actually are…” so when you’re alone and you notice your thinking, you will actually learn what your thoughts are.

Because mostly we’re busy, we’re distracted, right, we’re looking at the outside world and we don’t realize sometimes what we’re thinking. We have a lot of thoughts in our head, but we don’t completely realize them. But if you’re alone and quiet, you will notice more your true thoughts, your habitual thoughts, the things you think constantly.

If you live your life just acting constantly on the momentum of other people’s expectations…

“If you live your life just acting constantly on the momentum of other people’s expectations…” So he’s saying if you live your life acting on the momentum… momentum is energy or movement in a direction, in a certain direction. It means moving in a certain direction.

And other people’s expectations… it means, what other people want for you. What they expect you to do. What they want you to do.

So he’s saying when you’re alone you might notice that maybe you actually want to do other things in your life. Maybe you are doing things in your life because other people want you to do them, not because you want to. So you might realize that that’s what he’s communicating.

…. Of you wanting to be liked by these other people. You can run into a trap…

He’s saying you can run into a trap in your life. A trap is something that catches you so you can’t move. So he’s saying in your life you can get trapped, you can get stuck if you worry about what other people think too much.

… and you set up a life that you didn’t really want.

If you do that, you set up a life that you didn’t really want. You set up a life that you didn’t really want. Right, so you create a life that you didn’t really want because you’re listening to other people too much.

You’re fucked.

You’re fucked, which is a great casual way to say… if you say you’re fucked it has to be said in that exact way, you’re fucked, I’m fucked. It means that you are in a very terrible situation. You’re in an awful, terrible situation.

You’re trapped in this situation where you have a mortgage…

“You’re trapped in this situation where you have a mortgage…” so he’s giving an example where you can be trapped.

A mortgage is a house payment. So, if you buy an expensive house, you get a bank loan, a loan from the bank and then you have to pay the bank every month usually, that’s a mortgage. The loan is called a mortgage. And that can make you stuck.

Maybe if you want to be free and live a simple life and you prefer to just travel around the world, but maybe you can’t because you feel like you have to pay your house loan. So he’s giving an example that for some people, having a mortgage is a way to get stuck.

… you’ve got credit card bills, you’ve got student loans you have to pay, you have a bunch of shit going on that you have to continue to feed.

“You have credit card bills, you got student loans. You have a bunch of shit going on…” a bunch of things, a bunch of stuff, a bunch of situations going on; means happening, going on/happening that you have to feed, that you have to continue to put energy into, continue to work for.

So he’s saying that all these things can trap you, getting a mortgage, having students loans, especially in the United States, student loans are a big problem. Credit card bills, all of these things can make you stuck and you have to keep working hard to feed them, to pay them.

And all that and especially if you have a family and you have to feed them…

“And especially if you have a family and you have to feed them…” So if you have a wife and children or a husband and children that’s another way that you can get stuck.

He’s not saying that children and a family’s bad, he’s just saying that some people do it maybe too early or some people do it because of pressure from the outside, not because they’re really choosing it and want to do it, but because they feel they must do it because other people expect them to, want them to.

… oh my goodness…

“Oh my goodness…” that’s a very polite, nice way to say oh my God! It just shows shock. It just means you’re shocked. Oh my God, oh wow, oh… oh my goodness, a very polite way to say it.

… you’re fully locked in, you can’t take any chances whatsoever.

“You’re fully locked in, you can’t take any chances whatsoever.” You’re fully locked in, to be locked in means to be trapped. Imagine you’re in a room and they lock the door, you can’t get out, you’re trapped.

And oftentimes, people make the mistake of getting stuck.

“Oftentimes, people make the mistake of getting stuck,” of getting trapped in their life because of worrying about what other people think or what other people want you to do.

And it is just a tactical mistake just like it would be a mistake if you got stuck in a video game.

So he says, it is just a tactical mistake just like if you made a mistake and got stuck in a video game. He’s saying life is kind of a game. Imagine that your life is like a video game and if you make a tactical mistake…

Tactical, um, tactical mistake it means, it’s kind of like a method mistake. You just made a mistake with your planning or you made a mistake with your action plan or your method of doing something. Tactical is similar to strategy, this word tactical.

So he’s saying that… Basically what he’s saying is, don’t get too upset if you make a mistake in your life and you get stuck. It’s just like if you’re playing a video game and you get to one part, you make a mistake, you get stuck, you get trapped or you get killed in the video game. It’s no big deal because you can back up and you can do it again and make a smarter decision.

Just like it would be a mistake if you followed a map incorrectly and you got stuck in the woods.

Just like it would be a mistake if you followed a map incorrectly and you got stuck, you got lost in the woods, in the forest. So he’s just comparing it, that if you make a mistake in your life you get trapped it’s just like getting lost, it’s just like losing in a video game.

Your life is certainly some sort of a journey.

Your life is some sort of a journey. It’s kind of a journey. It’s a little bit like a journey, a trip.

It’s certainly some sort of a journey. And we have to all be aware that when we’re making journey’s we’re not always going to make the right steps…

“And we have to be aware that when we make journeys when we make a trip we’re not always going to make the right steps.” You’re not always going to make every decision correctly. You’re not always going to make the best decision. You will make mistakes he says, that’s part of life, making mistakes.

… and sometimes you have to back up and try again…

Sometimes in life you have to back up and try again. So if you make a mistake, you realize it was a mistake so you have to stop your life a little bit. Back up means go back… and then make a different decision, do something differently.

… if you’re in a position where you can’t back up and try again, you’ve trapped yourself.

So he’s saying, if you’re in a position where you cannot back up and try again, then you are trapped, you have trapped yourself. So he’s saying that’s the big danger in life is to get stuck where you can’t make a different decision. So he’s saying be very careful about these decisions.

And the system will set out honey pots…

“And the system will set out honey pots…” the system he’s talking about, society right? Culture, society, our economic system will set out honey pots.

A honey pot is a trap that looks good. So you can imagine it’s like a way to catch an animal, like a bear if you’re hunting for a bear, you could get a big pot like a bowl of honey, supposedly bears like honey, and you put it out and then you wait for the bear to come.

The bear thinks it looks good. It looks like good food. It looks like it’s yummy. So the bear comes and then the hunter shoots the bear. So it’s a trap. So a honey pot is anything that looks good, but actually is going to catch you, is going to trap you.

So he’s saying in life, the system, the economic system especially, sets out honey pots to trap us. Things that look good but actually they trap us.

… for people to get trapped in. The system will set out the ideas of retirement…

For example, the system will set out the ideas of retirement. Retirement is when you work all your life and then finally you stop working when you’re 65 or 70. It keeps getting older, right?

So he’s saying this is a kind of honey pot, they tell us in the media oh, just wait when you retire it’ll be so great. So people work their whole lives, sometimes people work in jobs they hate their whole lives waiting for retirement. That’s a trap he’s saying.

… the ideas of the golden years providing you benefits…

Other honey pot examples, the idea of the golden years. It’s a similar idea. The idea of the golden years, golden years, that’s the years at the end of your life. Typically, in your 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond. And the idea is, the golden years that’s like this great time in your life you’re retired, you don’t have to work and you can just enjoy life.

So again, it’s a trap because it’s a way to trick, he’s saying it’s a way to trap younger people. Tell them work hard now and do things you hate, because eventually you’ll get a reward when you’re older.

The other honey pot he mentions, the other trap is the idea of benefits. Now, when we talk about this, especially in America, what he’s talking about are like health insurance, vacation time, sick time at your job, these are all called benefits. We call these benefits.

… providing you a healthy work environment. Why? Well, because they want people to work for them.

“Providing you a healthy work environment. Why? Because they want people to work for them.” So he’s saying why, why do companies give all of these little treats, these little good things? He says well it’s obvious, they want people to work for them. They want employees and they want their employees to stay.

They don’t want people to realize their own dreams.

“They don’t want people to realize their own dreams..” They don’t want you to live your dreams.. They want you to work for them.

Escape, that’s a fucking pain in the ass…

“They don’t want you to escape. That’s a fucking pain in the ass.” He’s saying… a pain in the ass is an annoying problem. It’s an annoying problem, a frustrating problem.

So he’s saying if, for a company for example, just imagine a big company, if a lot of their employees leave to create their own businesses or to follow their dreams, that’s a pain in the ass, it’s an annoying problem for the company because then they have to go find other employees.

And if those guys follow their dreams then they have to constantly find other employees. They might have to pay people more and make the working environment much, much better. So it’s a pain in the ass, it’s an annoying problem for the companies.

It’s easier for them just to give benefits, health insurance and to do these other little small things to trap people. That’s why they want to trap people working for them.

… hire more people and train them…

So he’s saying it’s a pain in the ass, it’s annoying because then they have to hire more people, they have to train the new people, constantly doing this a lot.

… they want to set it up so that you stick around.

They want to set it up, they want to create a situation so that you stick around. To stick around means to stay, not leave, to stick around. So the companies want you to stay, they want you to stick around. They don’t want you to leave.

Stick around in some sort of an unsatisfying world…

Stick around, stay, in some sort of an unsatisfying world, a world, a life that’s not good for you.

…it’s up to you to see that video game problem.

“It’s up to you to see that video game problem.” He’s using the video game example. He says it’s your responsibility, you must see this possible problem and find a better solution for yourself.

To see that issue as it comes up on the map…

“To see that issue as it comes up on the map.” Now he’s using the map, the journey example.

… oh no, I think this is a right turn…

“No, I think this is a right turn.” So again, he’s imagining you’re following the map and then you have to figure out, do I go left? Do I go right? So in your life you have to look at your life like a journey and figure out oh, maybe I don’t want to do this I should do this instead.

… to see all the problems that could potentially lay in front of you and calculate your future.

So he’s saying in life you have to look ahead and see the possible problems that might be in the future. And then you have to calculate your future. It means plan your future. Figure out your future. Understand your future.

And then also look around at all the people that didn’t do it.

He says also, this will help you, look around at all the people that didn’t do it, all the other people who just did the same thing and see what result they got, see if they are happy.

The misery that they’re in…

Look at the misery they are in. Misery means super unhappiness. So he’s saying look around at life, look at the decisions other people make, that you know, and look how many are so unhappy.

… learn that you don’t want to be like them.

“Learn that you don’t want to be like them.”

And then look at the people that have kind of tooken chances and navigated their way.

“And then look at the people who have kind of tooken chances and navigated their way.” He makes a grammar mistake here. See, native speakers make grammar mistakes too. He should have said, look at the people who have taken chances.

A chance is a risk. So he’s saying, look at the people who have taken chances who… to take a chance means to risk, it means to try something that might fail, might succeed, you’re not so sure.

So he’s saying in life, look at the people who have taken chances, who have tried something different, tried to live their dreams and see their results, see how they are usually more satisfied and more happy.

What do they do differently than you?

What did they do differently? So learn from them.

What objectivity do they have that maybe you lack?

“What objectivity do they have that maybe you lack?” Objectivity means like rational thinking. It means not emotional thinking. We’re often controlled by our fears, right?

We get all these messages from the media, from family, from society to make us afraid to do something different, and that’s emotion. Objectivity means to see things without emotion, to seek the facts clearly.

So what objectivity do maybe you lack? To lack means to not have. So he’s saying, look at other people and then understand yourself. See your own problems.. See your own fears.

What insight into their own mistakes are they willing to delve into that you’re not?

So he’s saying again, learning from these other people what insight do they have? What understanding do they have about their own mistakes that they are willing to delve into, to look into deeply? To look at deeply, to learn about deeply.

So he’s saying these people who are more happy, more successful. Usually they will look at themselves more. They will look at their own weaknesses. They will look at their own mistakes. They will be honest about their own fears.

And the people who are miserable, who are very unhappy, they’re afraid to look at themselves. They’re afraid to look at their own mistakes and their own weaknesses.

If you step back and you go you know, I just don’t, I just don’t want to look at myself that closely…

He says, you step back. Most people, they step back but they’re afraid to look at themselves closely. They don’t want to look at the truth about themselves and their own fears and worries.

… but the person who’s able to look at themselves the closest is going to get the more rational results.

He’s saying the person who will look at themselves the closest, to be the most honest about themselves, they will get the most rational results. Again, rational means clear thinking without emotion.

Well put… y’know.

The other guy says, “Well put”. That means well said. It means you said that very well. Well put.

… because you’re your own architect, you know what I mean.

He says you know, because you are your own architect you know what I mean. An architect is someone who plans a building. So he’s giving it as an example. You plan your own life. You build your own life, not other people, you. You are responsible to build your own life.

And that’s the whole thing, I’m gonna play it now without talking, I’m just going to go back, rewind, and play the whole thing again and I’ll just be quiet so you can hear it without me interrupting.

When you’re alone with your thoughts, you get an idea of what your thoughts actually are. If you live your life just acting constantly on the momentum of other people’s expectations, of you wanting to be liked by these other people, you can run into a trap and you set up a life that you didn’t really want.

You’re fucked. You’re trapped in this situation where you have a mortgage, you’ve got credit card bills, you’ve got student loans you have to pay, you have a bunch of shit going on that you have to continue to feed. And all that, and especially if you have a family and you have to feed them. Oh my goodness, then you’re fully locked in, you can’t take any chances whatsoever.

And oftentimes, people make the mistake of getting stuck. And it is just a tactical mistake. Just like it would be a mistake if you got stuck in a video game. Just like it would be a mistake if you followed a map incorrectly and you got stuck in the woods.

Your life is certainly some sort of a journey. It’s certainly some sort of a journey and we have to all be aware that when we’re making journeys, we’re not always going to make the right steps. And sometimes you have to back up and try again. And if you’re in a position where you can’t back up and try again, you’ve trapped yourself.

And the system will set out honey pots for people to get trapped in. The system will set out the ideas of retirement, the ideas of the golden years, providing you benefits, providing you a healthy work environment.

Why? Well, because they want people to work for them. They don’t want people to realize their own dreams and escape. That’s a fucking pain in the ass. You gotta hire more people and train them. They want to set it up so that you stick around. Stick around in some sort of an unsatisfying world.

It’s up to you to see that video game problem. To see that issue as it comes up on the map, oh no, I think this is a right turn. To see all the problems that could potentially lay in front of you and calculate your future.

And then also look around at all the people that didn’t do it. Look at the misery that they’re in. And learn that you don’t want to be like them. And then look at the people that have kind of tooken chances and navigated their way.

What do they do differently than you?

What objectivity do they have that maybe you lack?

What insight into their own mistakes are they willing to delve into that you’re not, that you step back and you go you know, I just don’t, I just don’t want to look at myself that closely. But the person who’s able to look at themselves the closest is going to get the more rational results.

Well put, you know, because you’re your own architect, you know what I mean?

All right, and that is the end.