When we were little, with parents standing not far away, we stood up, toddled into their arms, and thus learned to walk.

When we grew a bit older, we learned to eat with spoons, dress ourselves… then speak, recognize characters, and recite ancient poems.

Later, we entered school, starting with 1234, and gradually learned more and more knowledge.

As we grew into adulthood, especially standing at the threshold of adulthood at 17 or 18 years old, we often feel that among all our accumulated knowledge, something is still missing.

So, she told the students, “I hope you treat ‘earning money’ as a practice notebook. Let’s learn something different.”

If life is a vast sea, they are now temporary companions on the same boat, sailing toward the next island destination.

They need dependable companions, adequate equipment, precise navigation instruments, and a correct map.

Lin Wanxing sat with the students in the captain’s cabin, helping them unfold this map.

“You’ve probably heard teachers talk about these things. Using learning as an example: preview, listening, practice, error correction, reflection…”

Standing at the podium of the Yuanyuan Tutoring Center, Lin Wanxing had just reached this point when the boys showed expressions of collapse.

“Don’t use learning as an example. It immediately becomes boring!”

The boys showed painful expressions and protested.

Lin Wanxing discovered that her first real lesson here was already meeting resistance from her students, so she smiled and said, “What I mean is, you’ve learned many of these things before, but because you haven’t applied them, they seem difficult. Or you’ve tried, but because you had failing experiences, you feel they’re useless. In reality, the basic methods that run through various professions aren’t that different.”

“What basic methods?”

“Methods for setting goals and persevering to achieve them.”

Lin Wanxing didn’t want to discuss too many methodologies with the students. Many times, doing and getting successful feedback is much more important than learning the method itself.

She held the chalk and wrote a word on the blackboard: Specific

“First, the key to setting goals is that they must be specific. If you ask how specific, the more specific, the better.”

Qi Liang said from his seat, dragging out his tone with a mocking intent, “How specific? For example~ how many places do I want to advance in the next exam?”

“Watch your step, Student Qi Liang.” Lin Wanxing tossed the chalk and caught it herself, smiling, “Is your learning goal merely to surpass others rather than mastering knowledge yourself?”

Qi Liang: “…”

Lin Wanxing wrote three numbers on the blackboard: 7920, 10989, 13200.

“Using earning money as an example, a detailed specific goal would be: I want to earn xxx money, with the specific target amount for you to discuss. The advantage of certain specific numbers is that they are easily measurable.”

Lin Wanxing wrote a second word on the left side of the blackboard: Measurable.

Lin Wanxing: “In this process, every cent accumulated is visible. As the numbers grow, you get closer to your goal. This is measurable.”

The third word was: Actionable.

“As the name suggests, ‘can be, through action, completed.'” Lin Wanxing drew a line under each word, “I want to lose 5 pounds through exercise—this is a measurable, specific goal. The verb ‘exercise’ is key because you know what specific action to take, rather than simply ‘I want to be thinner.'”

“Don’t even try, teacher, with those skinny arms and legs of yours!”

“You should build muscle, teacher, do you know about building muscle?”

The boys protested one after another.

Lin Wanxing smiled and wrote the fourth word on the blackboard: Relatable.

She said, “See, this is the inappropriateness of the ‘weight loss goal’ I just mentioned—it doesn’t match my actual situation. For you, you need money to buy gym membership cards, so through effort, earn money related to this actual amount, rather than immediately setting a goal of earning 100 million. Breaking down each big goal into interconnected small goals, experiencing the process of achieving goals in segments, getting positive feedback and successful experiences—these are important.”

“So don’t aim too high.”

“Be practical and take it step by step!”

“What else?”

The students asked.

Time-bound

“If you don’t set a time limit for your goals, you’re like a jerk who only says ‘I love you’ with his mouth.” Lin Wanxing paused, then said to the students, “The time limit for this ‘money-earning’ plan is set by me, for a period of 10 days, oh no, 9 days.”

“Why do you get to decide!” the students asked.

“Because I will advance you the payment for three gym training sessions during these 9 days,” Lin Wanxing said.

Lin Lu suddenly realized, “So, we need to earn this money before the coach leaves?”

“Teacher, were you just saying the coach is a jerk?” Qi Liang asked.

Lin Wanxing was taken aback, “Probably not. It was just a random example, and besides, he never said ‘I love you.'”

The students started teasing again, but Lin Wanxing remained calm. She knew better than anyone that Wang Fa would leave soon and wouldn’t stay.

She turned around and wrote the sixth word on the blackboard: Evaluate

“Only a few people know from the beginning what is right and exactly how to do it. Most of us figure things out gradually while executing the plan, so we need to regularly review the big goals and those small goals we’ve broken down, how they’re specifically being completed, and make timely adjustments.”

Qin Ao: “So you’re saying, each of us sets a minimum goal of earning 720 yuan in 9 days? We break this big goal into smaller goals of earning 80 yuan each day. This number becomes actionable and measurable. Then we summarize our money-earning gains and losses daily, and together earn this money. Is that right?”

Lin Wanxing neither confirmed nor denied: “I’m only teaching the method. How specifically to do it is for you to discuss and decide. Remember, you need to allocate time for training and earning money yourselves. The coach and I will only provide support.”

The boys collectively scoffed, as if already accustomed to her way of speaking and not caring at all.

They were enthusiastic, rubbing their hands, as if about to plunge into passionate discussion, planning money-making schemes.

So, Lin Wanxing finally wrote one more word on the blackboard: Reward

“The advantage of earning money is that you get definite rewards every day. If you achieve your goals, you can use the money you’ve earned to buy the gym membership cards you need. There’s no better reward than that.”

“What if we can’t earn enough?” Chen Jianghe asked.

Lin Wanxing smiled and circled the first letter of each of the seven words on the blackboard, forming a new word “SMARTER.” She said, “Regardless of the outcome, you’ve at least learned a few English words. That’s not bad, is it?”