JBHoffman

Hello! I want to take a moment to share my story so that hopefully some of you find some value in it. I was once in the top 50 players in a massive multiplayer online game called Runescape, which has millions of players worldwide. I was also a competitive Super Smash Bros player, and got every achievement in some of the hardest modern video games. Despite these in-game successes, my real life was in shambles. I was addicted to games and played 15 hours per day most days. My grades in school were low. I was obese. I struggled with low confidence, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and suicidal thoughts. I hated going to work, and didn’t do well when I was there. I didn’t have strong friendships, and had terrible luck and confidence with women. I had poor family relationships, and even ended up in the back of a police car after fighting my step-dad in order to plug the wi-fi back in after he had unplugged it. There were so many issues preventing me from being my happiest, and ALL of them were caused by my gaming addiction. After being in multiple unfulfilling friendships/relationships in which the other person would rather play games than spend time with me, I realized that I was causing similar pain to others. This is what started my journey of overcoming my gaming addiction. Years later, I was finally able to overcome my addiction and the issues that came alongside it. I still struggle with some cravings and negative moods every once in a while. But overall, I am a significantly happier person now. I am now a certified life coach, and as of May 2020, I will be a Certified High Performance Coach through Brendon Burchard. I now read personal growth, psychology, finance, leadership, relationship, and spiritual books every single week and take online courses as well. My role models include Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey, and Brendon Burchard. After realizing that so many of the things I have learned from people like them apply to gaming, and feeling the power of telling my story to others, I have made it my mission to help gamers start leveling up in life and achieving their dreams by using gaming concepts to teach psychology as well as the principles that Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey, Brendon Burchard, and other influencers teach.

Hi all, I am glad to be a part of this and want to support however I can. Here's some information about me: My name is Jeff, I am 28. I've been hanging out in the subreddit a little bit, but I want to do more to support. I spent most of my life addicted to the following games: Runescape (I was in the top 50 players worldwide and this took up a good 15 hours per day of my time), and Super Smash Bros (I played competitively and helped a few people organize tournaments). Despite me having that level of success in games, I was obese, depressed, had a lot of anxiety, some suicidal thoughts, terrible relationships with my family, I was terrible with women, had a hard time focusing at my jobs, etc. I now no longer play online games. I've even overcome my obesity, and through the help of people such as Tony Robbins, Viktor Frankl, Stephen Covey, Brendon Burchard, James Clear, etc as well as learning about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical behavior therapy, I have successfully conquered the vast majority of the problems I had. I feel significantly more energy and excitement for life, and have learned skills that have helped with my interpersonal relationships a lot. I also now work as an academic and vocational coach at an organization which helps people with addictions in general. I continue to educate myself through reading one book per week about personal growth, relationships, psychology, finances, leadership, spirituality, you name it. I am also taking courses through Tony Robbins, Dean Graziosi, and Brendon Burchard. In May, I will also be certified as a high performance coach through Brendon Burchard. I've realized the power of telling your story, so my goal is to help people "level up in life." I haven't quit gaming as a whole. Though at this point, I've identified that not only do I not find any lasting value or enjoyment in games, and that allowing myself to game in any capacity makes me feel lethargic, fall out of my routines, and goes against what my goals are. So while I am here to support you, I am also here to continue working on myself. I am excited to get to know you!