Joey
Joey, Twice-exceptional freshman in college overcomes academic underachievement and overwhelming anxiety
Hear Joey's story
Joey shares how his grades dropped precipitously once he started college, causing him debilitating anxiety as he became stuck in a cycle of procrastination and skipped classes. Discover how Joey embraced structure through coaching, radically improved his grades, and gained insight that helps him succeed.
Read more details about Joey’s coaching results below.
Problem
It took only a short time for Joey to experience academic underachievement when he arrived at college.
Lack of Structure
With the benefit of structure from living at home completely gone, Joey's attendance was inconsistent, and his procrastination ran unabated.
Late\Missing Assignments
The courtesy his high school teachers extended to him to turn in work late without penalty did not continue into college.
Poor Grades
For the first time in Joey's life, he began to earn grades other than an A's, and his performance on physics and math exams included F's, D's, and C's. Joey's inability to control this downward academic spiral resulted in intense overwhelm and anxiety.
Chronic Anxiety
His belief in himself and his abilities as a student fell apart. He began to avoid most things in life except sleep, which he found to be the only respite from his chronic anxiety.
Solution
Joey’s primary goal was to reduce the tremendous anxiety he was experiencing as well as return to earning good grades in school. To help achieve this goal, Joey and his coach immediately set out to create the structure and routine around doing schoolwork that went missing when he left home.
Conquer Procrastination
With his coach's help, he successfully implemented various tools and strategies to conquer his procrastination and the hard-wired response of his brain to tell him to "simply do the schoolwork later."
Avoid Distractions
Instead of fighting the endless temptations and distractions in his dorm room, Joey began to do schoolwork in either the library or the study room in his dorm building.
Develop Advanced Study Skills
The advanced study skills he developed gave him the confidence to effectively prepare for even his most difficult exams.
Accountability
The accountability partnership he created with his coach significantly contributed to his following through on what he said he would do.
The anxiety was debilitating. I wanted to avoid everything, and sleep was the only thing I looked forward to. - Joey
Benefits
- Even though he did not know it then, Joey was hungry for structure in his approach to schoolwork and began seeing improvements almost immediately. He responded well to the new routines and habits he developed with his coach's help.
- Having a predetermined start time for when to begin doing schoolwork and avoiding studying in his dorm room circumvented his brain's go-to pattern of thinking, "You have plenty of time; just do it later."
- Joey quickly stopped missing deadlines and learned how to prepare for exams for the first time in his life. Using his newfound study skills, Joey's test scores improved from F's, D's, and C's to primarily A's and some B's.
- Using a calendar and to-do list to manage deadlines profoundly lowered his overwhelm and anxiety as he no longer ruminated about what needed to be done or when things were due.
- Joey also benefited greatly from the mentorship and support provided by his coach. In addition to learning the mechanics of being an effective student, coaching allowed Joey to recognize how his limiting beliefs resulted in him getting in his own way.
Results
Joey finished the semester working with his coach with a 3.75 GPA compared to the 2.75 GPA he earned the previous semester.
Excellent Grades
Much more important than Joey's higher grades was his new and evolved version of himself. Joey's confidence and belief in himself have grown tremendously.
Increased Confidence
The overwhelm and anxiety he suffered during his freshman year in college are largely gone and replaced with optimism and excitement about his future.
Positive New Habits and Routines
His tendency to procrastinate was replaced with new routines and structures that he consistently applies around meeting deadlines.
Growth Mindset
He replaced his old mindset that needing to study meant he wasn't smart with a new mindset that positive habits, advanced planning, and study skills were the ticket to success. These changes did not come about because he was told what to do or how to think but because he realized their value through the coaching process.
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