每日口說挑戰8個習慣幫助你過上最好的生活 (8 Habits to Help You Live Your Best Life)

[Transcript]

Hey folks. What’s up? Welcome to today’s Pronunciation Challenge. This is Ken Miao. Today’s episode is gonna be my last episode here on VoiceTube as I’ll be taking a break from hosting to focus on my graduate school life. After being on this show for two and a half years, I hate to say goodbye. It has been an enjoyable weekly routine for me to produce all those episodes and answer some of your inspirational questions since 2020. I’ve told Minjane that I would definitely love to come back in the future if VT needs me again and most importantly, if you guys would like to hear me host again. And so from the bottom of my heart, I thank you guys so~so~ much.

Alright, let’s get on with today’s episode. And what better than talking about some great habits to help you live your best life? I do believe that now’s a great time for us to think positively again, or at least we can remind ourselves to get back on track in life. In these trying times, everyone is struggling with something behind the scenes, whether it be mental health difficulties, financial problems, relationship struggles, or school issues, just like what I’m facing now, life can be so difficult sometimes.

You have to ask yourself, "What does it mean to live a full life and how can I achieve this?” Well, here are eight habits that can help you live your best life. Number one, take good care of your health. And the easiest way to do that is to have a well-balanced diet and do some exercise. Put in a little time and effort every day to take a walk, eat some fruits and vegetables, or take some self-care time to help prevent dealing with health problems later on in life. After all, I mean, your body is what matters the most. You won’t be able to achieve anything without a healthy body, right?

Second, introspection, or in other words, self-reflect. How do we do that? Just take 5 minutes every day and write down your thoughts on a piece of paper; it allows you to figure out your values, what you truly like and dislike, and learn from past experiences. I think this one is especially important once you begin to work, because when every day is fixed in the same routine, it’s easy for us to stop learning and improving. So take 5 minutes every day and simply speak to yourself, know yourself a little better.

Number three, maintain social connections. Everyone needs a support system, no matter how independent or introverted they may be. Try to make it a habit to maintain social connections with friends and family, even if it's simply a quick conversation once every few weeks. So in other words, don’t lock yourself up. And watching YouTube, Netflix does not count as keeping a social connection, okay? Just simply talk to somebody and allow your emotions to flow. Number four, F-O-C-U-S focus, that means we should really avoid multitasking. You'll likely end up doing higher-quality work faster.

Number five, live in the moment, or as I like to call it, live it up. You know, I agree with what the video suggests that we shouldn’t be taking pictures and sharing them on social media whenever something exciting happens. Especially when we travel abroad or visit a new place. Enjoy the beauty of life with our eyes, immerse yourself in the moment and not be disturbed by your smartphones. I know man, but I just can’t control my hands…

Number six and seven is to manage your inner critic and complain less. Now folks, this is so true. We tend to judge others, namely the response or service we receive, under a microscope. And the minute other people fail to meet our standards or expectations, we get pissed and complain, sometimes even silently. But we’re actually just punishing ourselves while criticizing others. Sometimes, the negative energy even remains when we go to sleep, which is kinda like torturing your own braincells when you think about it. So folks, make peace with yourself, not war, this is also what I remind myself all the time.

And last but not least number eight, don’t be afraid to take actions. What's something that you've always wanted to do? C’mon, there’s gotta be something. Many people are afraid to try new things, whether it be fear of failure, thinking it's already too late, or not being able to find the time. However, we’re mostly just making up excuses, and there really is no better time to take action than the present. One thing you can do, well, actually two things, is to express your gratitude and apologies. It’s easier to compliment others but it’s always a little harder to say sorry. Many people, including me, worry that it’ll make us look bad to simply apologize to someone. But when you pluck up the courage to say sorry, things almost always turn out fine.

Take it from me. I once realized that I might have hurt one of my friend’s feelings by making a joke about his appearance. My conscience is yelling “Go, say you’re sorry, don’t run away from what you did.”, but my ego was persuading me to get an ice cream and just forget about it. And what did I decide to do? Yup, you’ve guessed it, that ice cream was so delicious. I’m just kidding, I apologized to my friend for making that joke, and I told him I should have considered his feelings before saying anything. My heart was pumping so fast as I waited for him to reply. Ding! A new message. “It’s okay, Ken. Thanks for noticing. I’ll admit that I was pissed when I heard that joke but we’re cool now man.” Dude, you can’t imagine how grateful and ashamed I felt. But it was a great relief. Not only did I get his forgiveness, I could finally forgive myself for my wrongdoings. So folks, apologize to the ones you’ve offended and make peace with yourself. You won’t regret it.

[Sentence of the day]

There is a lot of pressure to be flawless because we see perfection from social media around us everywhere.

[Vocabulary words]

1. pressure
a difficult feeling that you get from being worried or unhappy

i.e. Be nice to him - he's been under a lot of pressure recently.
對他好一點——最近他壓力很大。

2. flawless
perfect or without mistakes

i.e. Congratulations, Julia. That was a flawless performance!
恭喜你，茱莉亞，真是完美的演出！

3. perfection
the state of being complete and correct in every way

i.e. Voltaire once said, “Perfection is the enemy of good.”
伏爾泰曾經說過「完美是善的敵人」。


Alright folks, I’ll say it one last time, that’s all we have time for today. To be honest, I really enjoyed hosting today’s episode. I feel privileged to be able to share with you some great habits for us to live the best of our lives. It’s been an amazing journey with all of you on board. You can always reach me at my instagram page @mrkenmiao if you have anything exciting to share, or simply wanna check out my updates. Well, this is me. Better not keep the train waiting.

Thank you guys so much.
This is Ken Miao. We’ll meet again soon in the near future.
Bye!

There is a lot of pressure to be flawless because we see perfection from social media around us everywhere.

There is a lot of pressure to be 'flawless because we see per'fection from social media around us everywhere.

Day89 challenge

Really.
So I tend to hide myself.