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Hidden Curriculum VIP – Mini Story

Hello this is A.J. Welcome to the mini story for this month. Let’s get started.

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Okay, there was a woman named Carol.

What was her name?

Carol.

What was she?

A woman. She was a woman named Carol.

Now, she had always been a certain kind of girl.

What kind of girl had Carol always been in the past?

A good girl. Carol had always been a good girl, most of her life. In the past, she had always been a good girl.

Had she been a bad girl?

No, she hadn’t been a bad girl.

Had she been an adventurous girl?

No, she had not been an adventurous girl.

What kind of girl had she been?

A good girl.

For example, in school she always got straight As. When she was younger in school she always got straight A’s and, of course, “straight A’s” means all A’s.

Her grades for all classes, they were always A’s, A’s, A’s, A’s. No Bs. No Cs. No Ds. No Fs. She got nothing but A’s, straight A’s.

So what were her grades like in school?

Straight A’s. She got straight A’s.

Did she bet any B’s when she was in school, when she was younger?

Never. She never got any B’s. She always got straight A’s from when she was very small as a kindergarten student through elementary school through middle school through high school through university.

What kind of grades did she always get?

Straight A’s. Straight A’s. Straight A’s always.

What kind of grades?

Straight A’s.

And who always got straight A’s?

Carol. Carol always got straight A’s.

Why did she always get straight A’s?

Because she was always such a good girl. She always followed the rules; always worked hard to please her teachers and her parents.

And, later, when she got a job, she was always a good employee who followed all the rules.

So what kind of employee was she?

Well, she was a good employee.

Did she always follow policies at her companies where she had worked?

Yes, she always followed the rules. She always followed the company policies.

So did she break the rules or did she follow the rules at work?

She followed them. She always followed the rules. She followed all of the policies. She read the policy manuals. Anytime she got a new job, she always read the complete policy manuals and she always followed all of the rules.

So, what kind of an employee had Carol always been in the past?

Good. She’d always been a good employee.

Now had she been a remarkable, amazing employee?

No. No. She had never been remarkable or amazing in her life, ever, not as an employee, not as a student, not in any part of her life. She had never been remarkable or amazing or interesting. No, she was a good student, a good girl and a good employee.

She always followed what?

The rules. She always followed the rules.

She always tried to please who?

Her teachers and her bosses. She always tried to please her teachers and her bosses.

Well, one day last week something terrible happened to Carol.

When did something terrible happen to Carol?

One day last week.

Who did something terrible happen to?

Carol.

And what terrible thing happened to her?

Well, she was laid off. She was laid off from her job.

Now, “laid off” is a soft way to say fired. It really means she lost her job. She was fired from her job, but some companies will say to “lay off” or the past is “laid off”. It’s basically the same thing.

So what happened to her?

She was laid off.

Laid off from what?

Laid off from her job.

And who was laid off from her job?

Carol.

How did she feel about being laid off from her job?

Oh, she felt horrible. She felt terrible. It was he first time she had ever failed.

Was she calm about being laid off?

No, she was not calm, she cried and she cried. She was so upset.

See, her boss talked to her and her boss said “Carol, you are good, but you’re unremarkable. You’re kind of mediocre. So I’m sorry, but we have to let you go.

We have to cut costs.”

So did her boss tell her she was terrible?

No, no. He didn’t say that. She wasn’t terrible. She was just good. Not great, not amazing, not remarkable, not interesting, just good.

So he said she was good, but what?

Good, but unremarkable.

“Remarkable” means amazing, different, interesting and incredible and, of course, “unremarkable” means not interesting, not incredible.

So was Carol unremarkable or was she remarkable?

She was unremarkable, just not very interesting, not very great; nothing special.

So who was unremarkable?

Carol. Carol was unremarkable.

Was she terrible?

No, she wasn’t terrible. She was good, kind of mediocre, kind of average, but mostly unremarkable. Sometimes she was good, sometimes she was above average, but unremarkable; not special.

And so her boss said “We have to…” what?

We have to let you go.

This is another soft way to say we have to fire you, but it sounds softer. So to let someone go from a job means to fire them. Now it has to be in this situation – to let someone go. In other situations it might have a different meaning, but in a job situation you say we have to let you go. It means we have to fire you. We have to, you know, end your job.

So what did her boss say to her? We have to what?

We have to let you go.

And that means what?

We have to fire you. I’m sorry. We have to let you go. I’m sorry. We have to fire you.

So who got let go?

Carol. Carol got let go. Carol got fired.

Did Carol get hired or did she get let go?

Well, she got let go. She got fired, not hired.

And how did she feel about being let go?

Oh, horrible, upset, terrible, she cried. She cried. She couldn’t believe she was failing for the first time in her life. She’d always been such a good girl.

So she cried and she cried and she cried for days and days and weeks and weeks. She cried for months and she beat herself up constantly.

What does that mean? Did she hit herself?

No, she did not hit herself.

To “beat yourself up” means to criticize yourself all the time; to say bad things to yourself about yourself.

So how did she beat herself up?

Well, she constantly said things like “Oh, I’m so stupid. Oh, I’m a failure. Oh, I’m not a good girl anymore. Oh, something’s wrong with me. I can’t believe I was fired.” So did she support herself? Did she say good things to herself or did she beat herself up?

Well, she beat herself up. She criticized herself. She said bad things to herself about herself.

What’s that called?

It’s called beating yourself up. She beat herself up.

So who beat herself up?

Carol beat herself up.

And why did she beat herself up? Why did she criticize herself constantly?

Well, because she was upset about being fired. She felt like a failure.

She felt like a failure, so what did she do to herself every day?

She beat herself up. She constantly beat herself up. She said things like “I’m a failure.

I’m stupid. Something’s wrong with me.” So for months and months she beat herself up and for months and months she felt sorry for herself. She felt a lot of self pity.

Now self pity or to feel sorry for yourself – same meaning – they mean that you just feel bad for yourself. You pity yourself. You say poor me, poor me. You see yourself as a victim. You see yourself as weak. That’s self pity and we also say to feel sorry for yourself.

So did she feel sorry for herself?

Oh, yeah, she felt very sorry for herself. She constantly said “Oh, poor me. This is terrible. My life is terrible now.”

So, did she feel sorry for herself or did she feel strong and good?

She felt sorry for herself.

Did she feel like a victim?

Yeah, she felt like a victim. She felt like her life was terrible; that she was a victim of bad luck.

So what did she feel a lot of?

Self pity. She felt a lot of self pity. She felt sorry for herself and she beat herself up a lot.

Well, this continued for 27 months, 27 months. She beat herself up every day. She felt sorry for herself. She felt like a victim. She felt weak and powerless. Until, finally, one day she went to the bookstore and she saw a book.

What was the name of the book?

The name of the book was ‘Linchpin’. L-i-n-c-h-p-i-n, ‘Linchpin’ by Seth Godin. Well, it looked interesting, so she bought it.

So which book did she buy?

‘Linchpin’ by Seth Godin.

Seth is his first name, S-e-t-h. His last name is Godin, G-o-d-i-n; real writer, real book and a very good book, in fact.

So she bought what?

She bought a book.

And the name of the book was what?

‘Linchpin’.

And who was the author? Who was the writer?

Seth Godin was the writer.

What was this book about?

Well, it was about how to be remarkable and irreplaceable at work, perfect for her.

Now “irreplaceable” means you cannot be replaced. It means you’re so special, so important that they cannot replace you with another person and, of course, “remarkable” you already know.

So what was this book about? How to be what?

How to be irreplaceable and remarkable.

Where?

At work; at your job. In your career; in your business. So she read all of the book and she was very excited.

Now, did the book tell her to continue following the rules?

No, it didn’t. She was shocked. The book encouraged her and advised her to break the rules frequently. It told her not to just be a good girl, but instead to be different, special and remarkable; to actually break the rules whenever necessary to do a great, remarkable job.

So did she learn to break the rules or did she learn to continue following the rules?

Well, she leaned to break the rules.

So to be remarkable, do you need to break the rules or follow the rules?

You gotta’ break the rules. You must break the rules. If you follow the rules all the time you will never be remarkable. You’ll never be special. You’ll never be great. You’ll just be mediocre; mediocre, maybe above average, nothing special. Well, this was incredible news for her, a totally new way of thinking; totally new beliefs.

She decided she wanted to be what?

She decided she wanted to be irreplaceable and remarkable and not just at work, but in all parts of her life. She said “I’m not gonna’ be a good girl anymore. I’m gonna’ be remarkable. I’m gonna’ be amazing and I’m gonna’ have a remarkable, amazing life.” So the first thing she decided to do was what? Break what?

Break the rules.

Who decided to start breaking the rules?

Carol did. Carol decided to start breaking the rules.

Did she decide to break the rules or did she decide to follow the rules?

To break the rules.

And why did she decide to break the rules?

So she could be excellent. So she could be remarkable. So she could be irreplaceable.

So she could be special and amazing.

Well, the first thing she needed to do was get a new job. Instead of following the normal rules of just mailing in resumes, she tried new, different, creative things.

She sent videos of herself talking about herself and what a great worker she was.

She called managers directly on the phone and told them what a great worker she was and how they should hire her. She took initiative.

Now “to take initiative” means to take strong action. It means you don’t wait. You’re not passive. Now in another lesson you’ll learn “proactive.” Well, to take initiative is the same basic meaning. It means you start the action. You don’t wait for someone else to tell you what to do. You decide what needs to be done and you just do it yourself. You don’t wait. You don’t ask permission. You just do it.

Well, she took initiative. She took initiative and aggressively hunted for jobs and she didn’t do what all the other job seekers were doing. She didn’t just mail in resumes and applications. She was much more aggressive about calling manages directly.

She skipped the Human Resources Department. (The Human Resources Department in a big company is the department that hires people.) She didn’t contact them. She contacted the managers directly where she wanted to work in the departments she wanted to work.

She took initiative. She did creative things. She sent videos of herself. She sent audios of herself. She did all kinds of interesting, amazing things.

So she took what?

She took initiative.

And who took initiative?

Carol took initiative.

She took initiative for what reason?

To get a new job; to get a new great job.

Was she successful?

Oh, she was super successful. She got lots and lots and lots of interviews, because she broke the normal rules of job hunting. Because she broke the rules, she stood out.

“Stood out” means to be noticed; to be noticed by other people. She was clearly not like everybody else, she stood out.

She was noticed by employers. She got lots and lots of interviews and, eventually, she got a great, fantastic, new job. At her new job she continued to take initiative. She continued to break the rules. She continued to be remarkable and she became irreplaceable.

What did she become?

Irreplaceable.

And because of that, she got a lot of raises, a lot of promotions and, eventually, she became CEO of the company; the top leader, the top executive of the company. She was very, very happy and she was certainly remarkable and irreplaceable.

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That’s the end of our mini story for this month. Just listen to this story many, many times, same instructions, as always.

The first few days this month, listen to this mini story. Just listen, that’s fine. You don’t need to say anything. Then after you understand it mostly and maybe reading the text too, then next, a few days later, for several days you might pause and answer the questions and then, after doing that for several days, you can try to answer the questions very quickly without pausing. Most of your answers can just be one-two-three words. A few words, that’s fine.

And, finally, once that becomes easy, for the rest of the month you can try playing a sentence or a couple sentences, pausing and then copying my exact pronunciation saying the sentences yourself. Same speed as me, same pronunciation as me, same emotion as me, everything and in this way your pronunciation will get better and better in a very easy, natural way.

That’s the basic technique or method for using the mini stories and you can also use the same method for the point-of-view stories.

All right, have a great day, have a great week, have a great month and I’ll see you again soon, bye-bye.