Episode 55: How to become a millionaire taxi driver (or other)

http://doingenglishPLUS.com

 

Yesterday’s Podcast got mixed reactions.   Some good.   Others complaining. Nothing new there.    “Yes, but…"   “My situation is different…"   “That won’t for me…"   Bollocks is it different, and how do you know if you never try?   For example, one rather sarcastic comment read:    I was a taxi driver, I could work for 24 hours a day. Should I had driven a taxi without sleep time? ー Takuya Yamamoto   Yeah, yeah, I get it.   This is a pretty typical attitude, though. And it’s one that holds you back. For two reasons. The main, and most important reason is something I talk about in detail in June’s Doing English+ newsletter.    But the second problem here is that Takuya, like many people, is limited by his thinking.   Say you work for $10 an hour, and you want to increase your wage.   You just work more hours.   So instead of working 8 hours, you work 10 hours.   Very quickly you reach your limit….   … and you’re left feeling bitter and frustrated like your friend Takuya.   But in reality this kind of thinking is totally wrong.   The Pareto Principle tells us things are never, ever linear. 80% of a result always comes from 20% of the causes.   Let’s say you work for 10 hours, and make $100.   How much is that per hour?    If you say $10, you’re totally wrong.   It’s actually more like $80 for one hour, then the remaining $20 spread over 8 hours. Essentially you could have worked 1 hour, then gone home and you’d still have 80% of the money.   The question then is simply ー   What did you do during those super-productive 1 hour, and how can you do more of that?   This isn’t as simple as it seems, but with a little creative thinking, it’s not really that hard.   Don’t believe this can be done for a taxi driver?   Go read this article:   http://www.earlytorise.com/lessons-from-a-millionaire-taxi-driver/   Then ask yourself, how can I do the same thing?

How much are you worth? You're probably not getting paid half as much as you should, and here're 3 reasons why.

http://doingenglishPLUS.com

Need to make time to study?    I know the feeling. Life gets busy, and suddenly things like English just don’t get done.    We have a sub group called “The 5am Club”.   Get up early, get stuff done. You get the idea.   But why 5am?   Well, it all started in 2010.    I’d just started by masters (I did it online) and suddenly found myself having to work a full time job and study a completely new subject at the same time. To be frank, I was struggling.   Work was busy…   And we had a crying baby at home. Studying wasn’t happening. So I needed to find a time where I could study every day undisturbed.   My wife and son got up at about 6:30 every day.   Which made 5am perfect.   Of course, in the beginning it was tough, but as I got used to it, study progressed.   As study progressed…   I got more motivated to get up.   Which in turn helped me get more done, until eventually I finished my masters.   Listen to the full story in today’s podcast.

What is the hardest language to learn?   This is a good question, but of course the hardest language depends on your first language.   For English speakers it’s Japanese.   The Foreign Service Institute has a language difficulty ranking based on five categories. It shows what most difficult language to learn for native English speakers is, as well as of course, the easiest language to learn. They then indicate languages WITHIN the categories that are more difficult than the other languages in that category.   With me so far?   In the top 5 category we have:   Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, *Japanese, Korean   These would be considered the most difficult languages to learn. Of course, if any of these are you first language, that will explain why English is hard to learn.   You’ll notice that only Japanese is indicated as more difficult.   Making it the hardest language to learn for English speakers.   But how hard is it to learn Japanese, really? Is japanese hard to learn?   Well… yes and no.   We discuss this in this week’s Doing English Podcast episode.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4-ab-aLSuk    Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-doing-english-podcast/id1054863578?mt=2 Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/julian/the-doing-english-weekly-rant  

Last year I decided to hire an accountant...   And wow, what an experiment that was.   In today’s podcast episode we discuss two ideas — tips, even — for speaking better English that I learned form trying to find a good accountant for me.   Pay attention...   And put them to good use.   The video version of this podcast is here: https://youtu.be/W3WFjyNCSIE   Cheers,   Julian   P.S. Don’t forget:   The LKC² event will be:   Tokyo - jan 28th, Ottawa - Feb 18th   Information here http://doingenglish.com/events

Have you ever feel like you’re disadvantaged?   Like other people have a better life?   Like life isn’t fair?   Here’s some advice for you:   Life INS’T fair.   It never was. And it never will be. So forget about it, get off your arse, and DO something.   Whining won’t help.   In this week’s podcast episode I tell you a story about the year I spent working in a bacon factory.   The job was horrible.   But I learned a valuable life lesson.   Something you’d never learn in school or at an elite job.   And this week I share that lesson with you   Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4frt7ArMpN0

Films are great.

I love watching films.

But is watching films a good way to improve your English?

Good question.

Between the middle of November and the middle of December I watched a Japanese film every day for a whole month.

30 films.

About 60 hours of watching in Japanese.

In this week’s Podcast episode I’ll tell you everything I learned….

Why watching films is good...

And why watching films is not good.

Links and things mentioned

- Doing English Daily Newsletter
http://doingenglishNEWSLETTER.com

- Doing English+
http://www.doingenglishPLUS.com/

The Doing English Weekly Rant is a podcast for intermediate and advanced English learners who feel stuck and unable to progress.

Merry Christmas!   In this week’s podcast episode I’d planned to talk about what I learned from watching a Japanese film every day for an entire month...   But then I remembered --   Today is Christmas!!   I’m not a very festive person to be honest… but whatever.   Let’s talk about some cultural differences between the way Christmas is celebrated in Japan and the UK.   Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0S3h99TeUk&feature=youtu.be

In this week’s Podcast Episode:   * All about the Tokyo Event, and why you should come.   * The difference between western films and Japanese films (and why that matters for your English).   * About my two favourite films.   Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt6YmuC3g4Y   The Tokyo Event: http://doingenglish.com/event

A mistake most intermediate and advanced English learners make:  they understand the words, they ignore it as “too easy”.   Big, big mistake (and one that is holding you back).   What should you do to improve your English? What should you be focusing on? That’s what we discuss in this week’s Podcast episode.   Links and things mentioned   - Video Version https://youtu.be/ogN40qq1mhE   - Doing English Daily Newsletter http://doingenglishNEWSLETTER.com   - Doing English+ http://www.doingenglishPLUS.com/