Growing Toward is life coaching and academic skills training for students of any level. We focus on the skills and habits that will help you feel and perform your best. 

The point of school (whether high school, college, or grad school) isn't just to be good at school. It's to be better at life. The skills you learn in school should help you build a more meaningful life. They should help you create opportunities. The skills you learn in school should help you not only get an A, but help you manage overwhelm when you get your dream job. They should help you outside the 9 to 5, when you need to be present with your family and friends. 

Learn the skills and tricks of successful, motivated students

What do motivated, happy students have? 
Successful, and more importantly, happy students usually have a few things in common. They've developed meta-skills like purpose, focus, organisation, and self-awareness. I call these skills "meta" because they are the higher skills that allow you to do other things well. These meta-skills help you get your homework in on time, create a compelling thesis proposal, or study for a test. Working with a coach or a Growing Toward online program can help you strengthen and develop these skills faster than you could on your own.

At the same time, many successful students know tricks that others don't. This hacks or tricks allow them to study information more efficiently and beat procrastination. Usually, students stumble upon these strategies on their own. In Growing Toward, we teach these strategies explicitly. 

​What are these Meta-skills?
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 2013).​​

1. Know your strengths, weaknesses, and purpose. 

2. Get organized 

3. Study smarter, not harder

4. Beat procrastination by understanding it

4. Develop your attention skills

You don't have to go through it alone...

Transitions can be tough, but you don’t have to go through it alone. I’m here to help. I’ve gone through the process myself, earning two Masters degrees and a PhD. In my job as K-12 teacher and academic advisor, I’ve helped many students and families negotiate academic transitions. If you want to successfully upgrade, here is a process.
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Learn a powerful tool for goal setting, planning, mindfulness, and self-reflection that most people have never heard of

Step 1 is upgrading your brain at the level of your operating system - your self-concept and how you pay attention. The tool you’ll use here is called the Noticing Tool or the ACT Matrix (Polk, 2016). The ACT Matrix was developed to increase psychological flexibility and adaptability. It helps you know your values and your WHY, which leads to increased motivation. It helps distance yourself from negative self talk which distracts you and zaps your energy. Finally, it helps you learn faster by giving you a way to self-reflect and figure out what’s working or not working. 
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Learn high leverage strategies for studying, productivity, and organization

What can you already do? What skills/capabilities do you need to add? You might need to upgrade how you organize your to-dos or schedule your day. You might need new, more efficient study strategies. Growing Toward teaches specific strategies for planning, organization, note-taking, and studying. In coaching, we spend time figuring out the most high leverage strategies for you.
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Learn an easier way to develop performance habits and routines

Most of us have an idea of the things we need to do to improve, but we don’t do it. Why? Part of the coaching process is translating new strategies and behaviors into routines and habits. By approaching these changes in the right way, you’ll be able to install them more quickly, more easily, and more sustainably into your life. ​

Learn the tools that many wish they had from the beginning.
​Schedule a free coaching assessment and get started now.

Sources
Grasso, Maureen, et al. “A Data-Driven Approach to Improving Doctoral Completion.” THE CGS OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES ON INCLUSIVENESS, vol. 2, 2007 University of Georgia and Council of Graduate Schools, Washington, DC, 2007, https://cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Paper_Series_UGA.pdf. Accessed 26 6 2021.

Hattie, John, and Gregory CR Yates. Visible learning and the science of how we learn. Routledge, 2013.

Onetti, Wanesa et al. “Transition to middle school: Self-concept changes.” PloS one vol. 14,2 e0212640. 20 Feb. 2019, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0212640

Polk, Kevin L., et al. The essential guide to the ACT Matrix: A step-by-step approach to using the ACT Matrix model in clinical practice. New Harbinger Publications, 2016.

Wilson, Kelly G. The ACT matrix: A new approach to building psychological flexibility across settings and populations. New Harbinger Publications, 2014.
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