So I have been teaching this student Natalie (18) for two years. She is a seriously clever girl and always does amazing in her class work and her coursework but has never really delivered in an exam. Her aim is to go to the University of Leeds but she is FREAKING OUT about not getting the grades. Does this sound familiar?

I offered her a place in the first ever Student Breakthrough workshop to see if we could smash her assumptions and replace it with a more positive perspective. It was an awesome session and I came away with SO much energy.

See if you or your child can relate to her pain points…

• Fear of not getting into university
• Fear of letting herself down
• Fear of not doing as well as her sister and cousins
• Fear of being a failure

This fear was leading to some very negative perspectives which led to some very negative action…

• Crying in exams
• Never delivering on the big stage
• Anxiety
• Insomnia

Natalie was ultimately being motivated by fear, not success.

For someone who has never experienced Student Breakthrough or coaching, Natalie did so well. We then flipped her original assumption that “I won’t get into Leeds” to one which said “I will get into Leeds but I have other options.” This was the game changer as she used her imagination. I could see her mind working overboard as we replaced that negative perspective with one that was more positive. Breakthrough moment incoming!

Her perspective shifted to

• Confidence
• Relief
• Comfort

This in turn helped her to think about her mind-set as she entered exams. She was aiming so, so high (which is great) but the spin off was she was heaping tons of pressure on herself and not delivering to the best of her ability. Talking through this with a qualified academic life coach and using this assumption tool was so useful to her.

I then led Natalie through a visualisation exercise. This is so useful to students and something that is never done in schools as there simply isn’t enough time. Vision is so important with pro athletes before a match or race so it is awesome to use it with students. Natalie got those feelings of relief, comfort and options and synced it to a body movement of placing her hands together for – Leeds and Options. I could actually see the biggest smile come over her face as she realised that getting into Leeds was not the be all and end all. It was not life and death.

Again as I always say – the process is simple, the result are anything but. This was exactly the case. The best bit about it, Natalie came up with this all by herself.

Natalie set some powerful action to take this week to use her reminder before revision and we are going to check in on how she got on next week.

For me, I have really enjoyed my first workshop. I know it was with one student but for someone who didn’t even know what a life coach was at the start, to someone who I know is going to be so successful and go on to great things is so brilliant to be a part of. Even if I have helped Natalie 2% I know I have succeeded.

Equally my vision is becoming more and more clear. To give as many students as possible the edge so they can boss anything that life throws their way!

Student Breakthrough is a revolutionary approach to transforming students’ lives!