EP. 366: You Don’t Need a New Year. You Need a New Lens.

Podcast: ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka
Host: Tracy Otsuka
Release Date: January 7, 2026

Episode Overview

In this empowering solo episode, Tracy Otsuka challenges the cultural pressure to remake ourselves every new year. Instead, she argues that meaningful change comes from adopting a “new lens”—a fresh perspective on ourselves and our ADHD brains—rather than from willpower, effort, or resolutions. Tracy breaks down how our thoughts create emotions, which then drive our actions and ultimately shape our outcomes. With personal stories, neuroscience, and actionable strategies, her central message is that shifting our self-perception—rather than trying to “fix” ourselves—makes the most profound difference. The episode is especially tailored to women with ADHD, with a focus on self-compassion, strength-based views, and practical mindfulness tools.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rethinking the New Year Narrative

[03:10] Tracy challenges the idea that flipping the calendar alone fuels change:

“You don’t need a new year. You just need a new lens. Because real change … comes from changing how you see yourself, how you interpret what’s happening, and how you relate to your own mind.”
Emphasizes that many ADHD women feel pressured to fix themselves, but what actually creates change is the way we view our thoughts and experiences.

2. You Can Control Your Thoughts

[06:25]:
- Most people think thoughts are automatic; in reality, we have thousands daily and can learn to shape them with awareness.
- Our thoughts generate emotions, which are especially powerful for ADHD brains—positive emotions drive us, negative ones keep us stuck:
  
  “If we’re in negative emotion, it’s really hard to do anything. We just kind of spin.”
Mindfulness is framed as paying attention to those thoughts and intentionally choosing more helpful ones.

3. ADHD and “Hyperactivity of the Mind”

[08:34]:
- Tracy describes how ADHD minds are particularly prone to rumination, catastrophizing, and “disastrousizing.”
- A major insight:
  
  “You need to know that if you want to, you can get off this ride. It is your choice.”
Ruminating on the future is often counterproductive; it is the fear of emotion—not circumstance—that holds people back.

4. Embracing Uncertainty and the “Open Door” Metaphor

[12:30]:
- Even painful, uncertain experiences can become positive with hindsight.
- Tracy shares her “red door” metaphor:
  
  “But for that door not opening—the regular white door—I would have never been led to this red door, with this new amazing experience that is actually the one I meant to have.”
By seeing life as a journey, we can trust that things unfold for us—even when outcomes are still unclear.

5. Thoughts → Feelings → Actions → Results: The Core Formula

[16:59] Tracy’s main cognitive-behavioral insight:

“Your thoughts dictate your feelings or emotions, which in turn control our actions ... Our actions determine what are the results that we are going to end up with.”
Hammers home the importance of supervising our “brat brain,” which often runs on autopilot and negativity bias.

6. Mindfulness as a Game-Changer for ADHD Brains

[28:41]:
- Mindfulness helps calm the ADHD nervous system, boosts self-worth, and increases the ability to pause before reacting:
  
  “It teaches us how to calm our own nervous system, which is one of the most valuable skills that we can teach our ADHD brains.”
Tracy references episode 53 for a deep dive on mindfulness.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On self-perception:

“No one ever made a difference by being too little.” — Tracy Otsuka [01:54]
On action and feeling:

“If you are taking action or you’re not taking action, it’s because of the way you feel.” — [17:36]
On negative self-talk:

“When you start witnessing your thinking, you suddenly realize that your brain is a brat and has been completely unsupervised.” — [21:40]
On Reddit and critics:

“I’m always being told that I don’t believe in medication, like it’s a religion or something, which is so untrue... regardless, I do not think medication should be the only recommended ADHD protocol. Period.” — [34:21]

Practical Tools and Actionable Advice

The STOP Skill (from Dialectical Behavior Therapy)

[37:13–46:25]
Tracy shares a step-by-step mindfulness technique for dealing with overwhelming or negative emotions:

S – Stop: Pause whatever you are doing.
T – Take a breath: Use deep breathing to calm your nervous system.
O – Observe: Notice what you are thinking and feeling—objectively and without judgement.
P – Proceed: Make a choice; continue with more awareness, and decide on your next constructive action.

She illustrates with a candid story about stumbling into a negative Reddit thread about herself and consciously choosing to opt out of that negativity, refocus on her mission, and protect her emotional well-being.

Reticular Activating System (RAS) and Intentions

[50:24]

Explains how our RAS filters the world according to our intentions and goals.
The more specific your goals, the more you’ll notice opportunities that align with them.

Visualization

[54:57]

Combines vivid mental images with positive emotion—not just picturing success, but feeling it.
“Your brain doesn’t distinguish much between real and vividly imagined experiences.”
Rehearse success from both first- and third-person perspectives.

Building Comfort With Discomfort

[60:09]

Take small actions that mildly challenge your comfort zone (e.g., leave your phone at home, talk to a stranger, sit in silence).
“One small step at a time leads to a big giant leap right into the future.”

Gratitude and Celebration

[62:10]

“If you don’t celebrate your successes, you’re never going to feel successful.”
Focus on what’s working—gratitude increases positive emotion and draws more positive experiences.

Identity Shift vs. Productivity Fixation

Tracy closes with her conviction that struggling with ADHD is not fundamentally a productivity problem, but an identity problem:

"ADHD, it is not a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. When you believe you’re broken, lazy, too much, or unreliable—everything you do comes from that belief ... But when your identity changes, everything downstream changes too.” [64:13]
Understanding and reframing your self-concept is the foundation for falling in love with your ADHD brain and reaching your potential.

Timestamps for Important Segments

[03:10] – New Year, New Lens philosophy
[06:25] – Thoughts and emotional regulation in ADHD
[08:34] – Hyperactivity of the mind; breaking the cycle of rumination
[12:30] – Embracing uncertainty and the “red door” metaphor
[16:59] – Thoughts–Feelings–Actions–Results formula
[28:41] – Science-backed mindfulness benefits
[34:21] – Tracy’s candid story about handling criticism and Reddit
[37:13] – The STOP mindfulness skill, step-by-step
[50:24] – Reticular Activating System and goal-intention setting
[54:57] – Visualization techniques and neuroplasticity
[60:09] – Building comfort with discomfort
[62:10] – Gratitude and celebrating wins
[64:13] – The identity shift at the heart of ADHD solutions

Conclusion

Tracy Otsuka’s episode is a rallying call to reimagine how we see ourselves as ADHD women—to foreground strengths, compassion, and understanding over relentless self-improvement. With practical tools and personal anecdotes, she shows that adopting a new, strength-based lens is the key to falling in love with your ADHD brain—and achieving lasting change.

Memorable takeaway:

“The key to loving your ADHD brain is not trying harder or fixing yourself. It’s understanding who you are and learning how to work from that place instead of against it.” — Tracy Otsuka [65:44]