05 Thought Mastery VOCAB

Hello, this is AJ. Welcome to the vocabulary lesson for “Thought Mastery.” This is going to be a little bit of a short vocabulary lesson but that’s okay. Let’s start.

Let’s start again with NLP. NLP is an abbreviation for neuro‑linguistic programming. NLP is a technique or really it’s a method for managing your brain. It’s a psychological method. And the parts NLP, the parts of that abbreviation are N means neuro, neuro.

So neuro means nerve, it really means nerve, something to do with the nervous system, related to the nervous system. So, for example, we haveneurosurgeons.  A surgeon is a doctor, a kind of doctor, so a neurosurgeon is a doctor who specializes, a doctor who focuses on nerves, especially the brain. So again, neuro means related to nerves related to the brain, related to the nervous system, neuro. You see this in a lot of different words, soneurosurgeon,neuroscience, etc.

Okay, and then we have linguistic which we’ve talked about already but let’s talk about it one more time. Linguistic means related to language, related to language, linguistic.

And of course, programming again, programming means to develop specific commands for something, a system of actions. Usually we use it with computers but you can do it with your own brain, too. Alright, so that’s NLP, neuro‑linguistic programming.

Another word I use in this talk, a very common word, is modify, to modify. To modify means to change something a little bit. It has the idea of a little bit, so if you say modify the picture, it means change the picture but it usually has this idea of a small amount, not totally. So we modify the color, for example, we change just the color. Then we modify the size, we make something larger or smaller. And we modify, this, this, this, this, and then totally it might be a big change, but each individual change is small. So we use the word modify, to modify.

Alright, another word I used, another phrase actually I used in this lesson was boost up. To boost or to boost up, sometimes we say to boost, sometimes we add up and we say to boost up. They both have a similar meaning. To boost means to make something stronger or higher. So, for example, we can boost up a child, what does that mean?

Well usually, we use it in a situation where the child is sitting on the floor, but they need to be higher.

For example, to eat at the table, maybe they’re too low. They’re short so we want to boost them up. We give them a taller chair, boost up the child. In this talk I’m talking about boosting up your energy.  It means lifting your energy, bringing your energy higher. So a boost means to give something extra, extra high, push something up is the idea. You boost up, it means you push up or lift up. So you want to boost up your motivation. You want to boost up your energy. You want to increase it, lift it up, push it up.

Another word I used in this talk, in fact I’ve used it a lot in these lessons, is the word mastery. You probably already know mastery, but let’s talk about it a little bit. Mastery means to be excellent at something.  So it comes from the word master, which is a noun.  A master is someone who is really, really, really good at something.  For example, we’ll talk about Tiger Woods again. Tiger Woods is a master at golf. Right, he’s a super, really excellent, amazing, wow, wonderful guy at golf. He is a golf master. So mastery, mastery is the situation of being really good at something. It’s the quality of being really good at something. I have mastery in English. It means I am super great at English.

So you have mastery. I have mastery in playing tennis.  I have tennis mastery.  If you say “I have tennis mastery” it means you’re a great tennis player. You are great at every part of tennis, you can do everything. You’re one of the top tennis players. So that’s what mastery means, to have mastery. To have golf mastery, English mastery, tennis mastery. It’s not just good, it’s not just very good, it’s super good. It’s the top. It’s the very top. So you want English mastery, right? You want to have total skill in English like a native speaker. So I have English mastery, all native speakers…well I won’t say all… but most native speakers have English mastery if they were born in an English speaking country. If you’re born in a Spanish speaking country you have Spanish mastery. So as a student, you want to acquire, you want to get that same mastery, that excellent level, that top level of ability.

Okay, that is the end of our vocabulary lesson, a very short and easy vocabulary lesson for this lesson. Listen to it a couple of times and then go, as always, to the mini‑story.

Remember, the mini‑story is the most important lesson. In all of these lesson packs, it’s always the mini‑story that you should focus on. The main article, yes, but also the mini‑story. The mini‑story is where you will get most of your English. The mini‑story is designed to teach you grammar, especially grammar, intuitively, naturally. You don’t need to think about it, just listen and answer the questions. Listen and answer the questions. All these easy repetitive questions are actually putting the grammar, English grammar, into your brain a little deeper each time. Don’t think about it, just enjoy the stories again and again and again.

Okay, I will see you next time.