⛵️ No Time? Discover the Seven 'Cs'

Hey Reader,

Want to start speaking English with confidence and flow? Stop using time as an excuse.

Back in 2011, when I first started teaching in São Paulo, 90% of my students would tell me they didn't have the time to practice their English outside of class.

Between work, exercise, family, friends, travel, and traffic, they couldn't figure out how to squeeze English into their day. I didn't know any better, so I accepted time as a valid excuse.

But it's hard to make any progress in a language that you only use once a week.

So after a while, many of these students started beating themselves up over it. Sometimes they used the entire hour of class to apologize for being short on time. Others quit.

I felt useless but I stayed curious, dug deeper, and got to know my students even better. And that's when I realized something:

My highest-performing students had the same amount of available time as my worst ones.

But how? Were they smarter? Did they have the mythological "language gene?" Were they dating Americans? 🏈

Nope. None of the above.

The difference is that they they avoided the less-obvious failure points. Failure points that feel like they're related to time, when they're actually not.

That allowed them to build a language practice, keep it afloat, and make time their friend instead of their enemy.

Over time, I developed a framework to remember the qualities these students had in common. It's inspired by a book I read about Portuguese explorer Fernão de Magalhães, the 1st person to ever sail the seven seas.

In today's email, you’ll discover the seven "Cs" (i.e. 7 Cs) you need to conquer to never blame time again.

They'll help you navigate around the usual failure points and continue your journey. I know because they're the same principles I've used to help over 250 students unblock their English.

Here are the 7 Cs, in no particular order:

Clarity
Control
Courage
Constraint
Conviction
Commitment
Concentration

I'll expand on all these in the future, but here's a brief explanation of each one:

1. Clarity

“Take a simple idea and take it seriously.”

– Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway 📈

The #1 reason students waste their limited windows of time is because they don't have clarity.

If there's complexity when the moment arrives, you'll just procrastinate, so keep it simple to start. I've already outlined the failure points to avoid in the what, when, and where of your English practice. But the most important one is your why.

Getting clarity on your purpose and using it as your north star will help you navigate through the roughest waters.

2. Control

"Focusing on things you can’t control allows them to control you."

– Ryder Carroll, The Bullet Journal Method 📚

Another reason you "never have time" is because you don't control the time you're trying to use for practice.

Depending on calendar events or notifications is fine for obligations and urgent tasks. But if we're being honest, your daily English practice is neither, so it's too easy to skip.

Instead of scheduling your trigger for a time you don't control, anchor your practice to a sequence or location in your routine.

3. Courage

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”

– Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd U.S. President 🇺🇸

If you fear failure, the actual challenge of speaking a second language is having "no time" to find the courage to do it.

Simple isn't the same as easy. The real growth only happens after you accept the discomfort, inconvenience, and pain it comes with. Before you can speak fluently and confidently, you have to make a million mistakes and be incompetent.

Making a fool of yourself might get easier with time, but the only way it becomes sustainable is with courage.

4. Constraint

"One who has never lived under constraints doesn’t know what freedom is."

– Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet 📚

It might feel like a contradiction, but using constraints gives you creative freedom.

Students who blame time are often waiting for that perfect day to practice with no interruptions. But that day rarely arrives, and even when it does, it never compensates for all the inactivity while they were waiting.

Don't make the same mistake. Use the limitations to your advantage, focus on daily repetitions, and keep it simple.

5. Conviction

"Beliefs make emotions. Emotions make actions. Actions come from emotions. Emotions come from beliefs. So choose whatever belief makes you take the action you want. "

– Derek Sivers, A Daily Run 📝

At some point in your language journey, your progress will slow, and you'll need to take a leap of faith.

Most students who quit class stopped believing they could improve in a reasonable amount of time. And with no conviction, it was impossible to succeed, especially in language learning where confidence is half the battle. Once it felt like a waste of time to them, they stopped.

Trust the process and know that every minute spent on your practice is moving you forward in your language journey.

6. Commitment

"We’ll do almost anything to avoid burning our bridges, to keep alive the fantasy of a future unconstrained by limitation, yet having burned them, we’re generally pleased that we did so."

– Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks 📚

There's a different level of resilience you can only access if you convince yourself you have no other choice.

CrossFit WODs are a great example of this. Another is the incredibly-low 4% divorce rate of arranged marriages. But until you fully commit – to your CrossFit community, your partner, or your English – you'll choose freedom over frustration every time.

Commit to your language practice, say no to the other projects fighting for your attention, and you'll find more ways to make time for your English.

7. Concentration

"Multitasking is like constantly pulling up a plant. This kind of constant shifting of your attention means that new ideas and concepts have no chance to take root and flourish."

– Barbara Oakley, A Mind for Numbers 📚

The answer isn't more time. It's less distraction.

If you have more than a few priorities in your life, you don't have any. And if you scroll Instagram for 2 hours straight when you have free time, what makes you think another hour of time will help you focus on English?

Make English a true priority, limit the distractions, and give yourself a chance to find your flow.

school cafeteria 🍣

Hungry for more? Have some leftovers

"The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by."

– Austin Kleon, Steal Like An Artist 📚

📚 Magellan, Stefan Sweig (Amazon)

If navigators like Magellan (i.e. Magalhães) found the courage to jump on a ship and set sail for the seven seas in the year 1519, not knowing where they would end up, what's keeping you from finding the courage to unblock your English?

🎧 O Descobridor Dos Sete Mares, Tim Maia 🇧🇷 (Spotify)

You know, the seven "Cs." ⛵️

📝 A Daily Run, Part I and II, Derek Sivers (sivers.org)

Referenced above in the 'Conviction' section, these two essays helped me escape the analysis paralysis caused by the contradictions of my beliefs. The lesson? Choose the belief that helps you take your desired action, and leave the rest for later.

Did you find this email useful? Please consider forwarding it to a friend who's on the same journey as you.

If your friend sent this email to you and you don't want to miss the next one, you can sign up for more at schoolofjuan.com.

Have a great week!

– Juan

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