Why, what, when, who, and how are incredibly important words.

When we teach real beginners, we usually start with “what”
(What’s your name?),
then “how”
(How are you?),
then “when”
(When is your birthday?),
and so on.

That makes sense for beginners.

But for professionals like yourself – or for advanced or adult learners – there is a much more powerful way to approach this.

Let’s take a look…

Why?

Why do you want that new textbook?
Or more songs?
Or more money?
Or more students?

Why do you want to cut your hours and only teach the students you actually love teaching?

Once your “why” is clear, it stops being a “maybe someday” dream and starts becoming next year’s reality.  And you suddenly have all the energy to make it happen!

 

So the next question is ….

What?

What is it *exactly* that you want?

What does “better students” really mean?
What does “less stress” actually look like?
How much is “more sleep,” “more money,” or “more students”?
How many countries is “travel more”?

When you define these properly, two things usually happen:

You realise it’s far more achievable than you thought
(you don’t need a million dollars to fly private jets every month), or

The steps suddenly become much clearer.

 

When?

When do you want this by?

If you want 120 students and $100,000 a year – but you give yourself 10 years – inflation will probably eat most of it anyway.

Parkinson’s Law applies here:
work expands to fill the time we give it.

Set a vague timeline, and procrastination fills the space.

Set a clear when, and your brain starts to panic – in a good way – and comes up with all sorts of creative ideas to make things happen before the deadline.

 

Who?

At this point, most people think the next question should be “how?”

But it isn’t.

If you already knew how, you’d already be doing it.

The next question is “who?”

The internet is amazing – but it’s also full of terrible advice.

Get fluent in 2 days.
Make a million in a weekend.
Lose 100kg overnight.

Most of it comes from people who either haven’t done the thing at all, or did it once – ten years ago, by luck – when the world was very different.

So instead, ask:

Who has actually done the thing – and is still doing it now?
Who has built a chain of schools?
Who has taught thousands of kids?
Who takes family holidays whenever they want?
Whose students genuinely become fluent?
Who looks relaxed, fulfilled, and stress-free?

Find those people.

Then ask for a chat.

Successful people love helping others who are genuinely following in their footsteps. They enjoy thoughtful questions, real curiosity – and they enjoy it even more when people actually do the work.

(Most people just listen to us … and then do nothing.)

 

How?

Once you know the who, the how becomes much easier.

The people who have already done it – and are still doing it – will show you the path. They’ll tell you what works and what doesn’t.

Then it’s back to your why.

There will be obstacles.
There will be plenty of work.

But there will also be laughter, momentum, confidence, smiles  and those “wow” moments when things start to click and your goals begin turning into reality.

Why.
What.
When.
Who.
How.

Let’s get started today!

Be genki,

Richard