So what I can control and what I can control and how to influence your environment over time. So I'm going to start off with a quote from, I guess he's the father of evolutionary theory, Charles Darwin. So his quote goes like this. He says, It is not the strongest of the species that survives nor the most intelligent that survives, it is the one that is most adaptable to change. So as you see here, he's pointing to the fact that is our adaptability. That is our superpower as human beings go another step further.

And that thing is that as human beings, what differentiates us from animals is the fact that we can actually influence our environment over time as well. There's a great book called willpower doesn't work by Benjamin Hardy. So in his book, he explains why willpower doesn't work. So when it comes to actually trying to change your environment by fighting your existing environment, that for me entails willpower. And that's why it can be an uphill battle because you're resisting something that you don't want. There's a principle of Mind of how it works that says whatever you resist will persist, no matter whether it's a positive or a negative.

So the thing is, what you want to do is to focus your attention altogether in a different direction rather than fighting what you don't want, because we're going to get more of that great exercise that has helped me has been can or can't control. This is simply if you write down a piece of paper, what you can control and what you can control, then you'll be able to focus on what you can control is that what you focus instead of focusing on what you can't control? The thing is, if you leave it to your own devices and leave it like a default way of being, I found in my own life that when I'm unconscious to the way I'm living, that my net my default tendency will be to focus on what I can't control because it's a lot easier to focus on the negatives. This leads to learned helplessness is a term psychology for people who always feel like a victim.

They never actually take personal responsibility, and they end up with a lifestyle where they're the victim all time. So you don't want to be down that Pat, you're not going to succeed in life. If you take that path. Even though it's an easier path at least a harder life, you want to take a little bit more conscious effort and lead to an easier life in the long run, where you take personal responsibility for your life. So that exercise is really good. I'd read that book as well, willpower doesn't work.

There's a few tools as well that will help you to create a more immersive environment to the tool called Anki, which is a flashcard system, which is great for learning new words and new phrases. There's a platform called Hello lingo, or you can go on there you can instant message people. I found instant messaging really good because it develops a pattern in your brain, you're talking to real people, you're messaging them. So in the real world that prepares you for conversations because you're having similar conversations. It's just an instant messaging platforms, you get that a little bit more time to respond. And you can also try things out experiment you're not face to face with somebody, there's less overwhelm that way.

There's another platform as well called eye talkie. This is kind of like a Facebook for for language learners. Like It's got that feel to it. So I'd recommend checking that out. And I put in these, I put these, these resources in the documents, so check them out, they'll help you to create a more immersive environment for you. So the main thing to keep in mind is that is our adaptability.

That is key when it comes to learning something. And just in general, as human beings, it's important to be aware of what you're surrounded with day to day, because you will adapt to it. Whether it's positive or negative, is irrelevant, you'll adapt to whatever it is. So the best approach is to be conscious of your surroundings and consciously choose the situations you want to put yourself in. There's also a great quote from Jim Rohn, that says, You're the average of the five people you hang around with the most. To take that on board to become more conscious of what you're doing day to day, who you're hanging around with who's influencing you, and then to take some time to think about who do you want to be influenced by?

What environments Do you want to be around? Who are you who aligns with you? These are questions that that are very important to be conscious of because they're going to determine a lot about The quality of your life and what you can and can't do in your life. So I hope this has been insightful. On the next video we're going to talk about how to make this fun moving forward, how to make new friends, and I'll see you on the next video.