Summary4 min read

Podcast Summary:

Adult ADHD ADD Tips and Support
Host: Michael Joseph Ferguson
Episode: ADHD Goal Avoidance – How to Overcome the Aversion to Goal Setting
Date: January 15, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode centers on “ADHD Goal Avoidance”—why adults with ADHD often feel a deep aversion to setting (and sticking with) goals, and how to completely reframe the process for neurodivergent brains. Host Michael Joseph Ferguson, ADHD life coach and author, offers a straightforward, practical trick for making goal setting more inviting, less emotionally fraught, and more sustainable. Listeners are guided through a specific exercise to set goals in a way that reduces overwhelm and shame, making it easier to revisit and renew one's intentions over time.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Challenge of Goal Setting for ADHD Brains

Many adults with ADHD associate “goals” with negative emotions: past failures, overwhelm, and shame.
The structure of neurodivergent brains—particularly in creatives, artists, and entrepreneurs—creates unique challenges with long-term planning, time blindness, consistency, and executive function.
Michael references the Hunter/Farmer hypothesis: ADHD individuals (hunters) are wired for intense, short bursts of activity, unlike neurotypical (farmer) brains who manage long-term planning with ease.

Quote:

“For many of us, the word goal has all kinds of negative associations... Because of how our hyper-creative brain works, our dopamine receptors, and challenges with executive functioning, we often will have an initial burst of inspiration. But then the energy wanes and we’re left with a list of flat and possibly overwhelming goals that we never look at again.”
— Michael (00:00)

2. A Simple Trick: Shift from “Goals” to “What I’m Wanting”

Michael’s key suggestion: Every time you see the word “goal,” replace it with “what I’m wanting.”
This reframing shifts goal-setting from an obligation (“what I have to accomplish”) to a process of honest self-connection (“what I desire”), dramatically reducing emotional baggage.
Emphasizes that goals should be seen as living, adaptable desires, not rigid pass/fail tasks.

Quote:

“It’s not about pass and fail. It’s about tuning back into what you most want. So goals then become easier to work with and have much less emotional baggage... Your goals list can be seen as something positive versus a list of things you didn’t do.”
— Michael (05:45)

3. The Importance of Revisiting Goals Regularly

For ADHD brains, writing and setting goals isn’t a one-and-done exercise.
Revisiting, rewriting, and readjusting is essential—involving others (a coach, partner, or friend) can help bring goals back to the forefront of your mind.

4. The Goal Setting Exercise

Timestamps: [07:16–10:45]

Michael guides listeners through a concrete exercise:
1. Pick an area of your life you’d like to improve (categories: Health, Work, Relationships, Home, Creative Expression, Spirituality/Mindfulness, Service, Play/Travel).
2. Ask yourself: “What am I wanting in this area?”
3. Write one “goal” (reframed as what you’re wanting).
4. Place it somewhere visible to revisit daily.
5. Don’t worry about the “how”—just let yourself dream.
Emphasizes that simply writing down what you desire “tunes” your subconscious to work on it, even if you forget about it consciously. You'll start noticing opportunities and ideas supporting your intention.

Quote:

“There’s something really powerful with writing your goals down. Even if you just completely forget them... there is just in that act of writing and setting a goal, there’s some real power.”
— Michael (10:19)

5. The Ongoing Nature of Desire—It Never Expires

You can continually return to your “what I’m wanting” in any area, regardless of past outcomes.
Adjustments are natural and encouraged, reducing shame and promoting a sense of empowerment over failure.

Quote:

“Regardless of whether or not you hit the goal, you’re still going to be able to come back and say, what am I wanting in this area?... It’s not whether or not you accomplished it or didn’t accomplish it, because you always will be able to come back and say, what am I wanting? And from that place, there’s a lot less shame and a lot more empowerment.”
— Michael (11:08)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“It's essential to make goal setting a regular exercise... Assume goals will change as you do.” (04:45)
On subconscious processing: “Your unconscious is starting to work on [what you wrote down], and you'll start to see things in your life that are going to support you in achieving that goal.” (09:35)
On fail-safe adaptability: “It's never going to go away. It's not contingent upon you doing something.” (07:45)

Timestamps for Important Segments

00:00 — Introduction, why ADHD brains struggle with goals, the emotional baggage of goal setting
03:05 — Hunter/Farmer hypothesis & how it affects neurodivergent goal-setting
04:20 — Reframing goals as “what I’m wanting”
07:16 — Guided goal setting exercise and life categories
10:19 — The power of writing down your desires; subconscious processing
11:08 — Revisiting and readjusting your desires for sustainable progress

Additional Resources & Community Highlights

Life Visioning Workshop: January 24th & 30th, 2026 (sliding scale pricing available)
ADHD and Addiction Support: Community member Mike Starkey launching a new podcast and offering support meetings (adhdandaddiction.com)

Tone and Approach

Michael’s style is warm, encouraging, practical, and validating—acknowledging the unique struggles and strengths of ADHD brains, while providing simple, compassionate strategies that affirm listeners’ experiences.

Takeaway

The key to sustainable, shame-free progress for adults with ADHD:
Ditch the pressure of traditional goals and connect with your ongoing desires by simply asking, “What am I wanting?”—then revisit, rewrite, and let those wants evolve with you.

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[00:01]
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For many of us, the word goal has all kinds of negative associations. It can remind us of past failures, our shortcomings, and a challenge with short and long term planning. Because of how our hyper creative brain works, our dopamine receptors, and challenges with executive functioning, we often will have an initial burst of inspiration. But then the energy wanes and we're left with a list of flat and possibly overwhelming goals that we never look at again. However, knowing how to work with goals is essential to making forward progress in your life. In this episode, we're going to explore a very simple trick that will completely change how you think about goals, and we'll leave you with a clear exercise to make goal setting far more ADHD friendly. Stay tuned. Welcome everyone. Thanks for tuning in. I'm your host, Michael Joseph Ferguson. Happy 2026. I know there's a lot going on in the world right now, but I hope you're doing well. I hope the year is off to a good start. In today's episode we will be talking about a very specific topic that my partner Questa mentioned we must cover at the beginning of the year because it comes so much in our workshops and that's ADHD Goal Avoidance how to overcome our aversion to goal setting. It is so common for us to feel overwhelmed with goal setting or it brings up a lot of stuff. So we're going to talk about a totally different way to approach goal setting and we'll cover that in just one moment. Our upcoming life visioning workshop is happening on January 24th and 30th. This is our 10th year doing this and I see a lot of you have already signed up. If you're interested, you can go to drummerinthegreatmountain.com workshop. I'll talk more about it at the end of this episode as well as some really cool community announcements of people from our community doing some cool stuff. It's a little late this year for me to do my annual start of the year pep talk. I'm finishing a new book. You guys are going to like it. I've been taking lots of notes from you guys what you're looking for. Very excited. I think you're going to enjoy it. If you want to stay up to date on when it comes out, you can join the email list@drummer and the great mountain.com really want to encourage you to follow us on Instagram and on bluesky. I will leave the links in the description as well as on Facebook and YouTube. I will be making announcements on all of those platforms so There are countless reasons why goal setting is so challenging for us. We typically struggle with long term planning, time, blindness, staying consistent. All of these can be immensely difficult for us to revisit. The hunter farmer hypothesis. If we do have some hunter gatherer genes in us, then we'd be used to going on the hunt, doing a short burst of intense energy. Then we'd bring food back to the tribe. It's a very short goal. To achieve the goal cycle, we are definitely less like farmers, also known as neurotypicals, that needed to take a long view to in terms of survival. So in the modern world, with most of us lacking a cohesive community, we often feel we're entirely alone when it comes to goals and goal setting. However, it's important to recognize that we need goals just like everyone else. We just require a different way to look at them. So instead of viewing goals as here's what I have to do, there's an entirely different way to approach them. So we'll tackle two things. Number one is the overwhelm, shame and emotional baggage of setting goals. And two is remembering the goals we've set for ourselves. So here's the approach. Every time you see the word goal, replace it with the phrase what I'm wanting. It sounds very simplistic, but it changes how your brain looks at them. To our brain, writing and setting goals is seen as a one and done exercise. I got inspired, I wrote out some goals. I'm done. But for us, it's essential to make goal setting a regular exercise. We need to actively rewrite, update, and possibly work with someone else to review our goals in order to bring them back into the forefront of our brain. Otherwise they fade away. And it's also important to recognize that your goals list is a living document. It changes over time as you change. If you feel like you set a goal and things have shifted and you want to readjust it, that should be part of the process and assume that will happen versus writing a goal, feeling bad that you didn't get it accomplished, and then never revisit that goal again. This happens so much. I see it so much with my clients. And so when you revisit this idea of instead of thinking about goals, think about what I'm wanting, it changes the game. It's not about pass and fail. It's about tuning back into what you most want. So goals then become easier to work with and have much less emotional baggage. So no matter what's occurred, your goals list can be seen as something positive versus a list of things you didn't do. You didn't accomplish. You just keep coming back to, this is what I'm wanting. This is what I'm wanting in the area of health. This is what I'm wanting in the area of work. This is what I'm wanting in relation to this particular project. This is how we work with goals in a way that can feel comfortable for us, that we can always come back to. No matter what's going on, you can always tune into how it feels to say what I'm wanting because that what you're wanting is always going to be there. It's never going to go away. It's not contingent upon you doing something. Okay? So let's apply this with a very simple exercise. So I want to encourage you to get a sheet of paper that you can write something down on, maybe in your notebook, maybe on your phone. I want you to pick one area of your life you most want to see positive movement in. And I'm going to give you a list of categories. This is a list that's in Drummer and the Great Mountain. I got this list from Sonia Chockette's book, you, Heart's Desire. I made some slight modifications to them, but I think this is a really solid list of areas of your life that most things will fall into. Okay, so here's the health, work, relationships, home, creative expression, spirituality and mindfulness. That's one category. Service that's volunteering, supporting others, and play, travel as one category. Now take a moment and think about what are you most wanting in that area of your life? Allow yourself to dream. What do you want your life to look like in. In that area? Don't worry yet about how you'll do it or how you'll get there. Just tune into what it could feel like for you to have that in your life. So write one goal. And starting with just this one goal for this week, I want to encourage you to place it somewhere where you'll see it every day, whether it's your bathroom mirror, in your planner, on your desk. And recognize as soon as you write that goal, you, your subconscious will start working on it. And there's something intangible that comes from goal setting. That, and I know many of you have experienced this before, you set a goal, you forget about it, but your unconscious is starting to work on it. And you'll start to see things in your life that are going to support you in achieving that goal. Your brain starts to say, okay, this is what we're wanting. Okay, let's look around. And even though you're consciously not aware of it, you'll start to notice things that will come to you. This is often the case. This is something that I've seen happen over and over again. When it first started happening, it kind of freaked me out because I was like, okay, wait, this is a little spooky because this is not how I think the universe works. But as someone who's been doing this for many, many years, I can tell you that there's something really powerful with writing your goals down. Even if you just completely forget them, you never revisit them again. There is just in that act of writing and setting a goal, there's some real power. However, when you can revisit the goal with the eyes of this is what I'm wanting versus oh, this is my goal and I didn't achieve it. Therefore, I would just, what's the point of ever doing it? I'm just going to be a failure forever. When you keep coming back to this is what I'm wanting, it always feels fresh. So, for example, if you have a health goal of getting more toned or losing a specific amount of weight, you may write the goal, you may lose five pounds, you may gain five pounds, you may gain ten pounds. But if you come back to the goal and you say, what am I wanting? I'm still wanting to lose ten pounds. And maybe you readjust it and say, okay, wait, that's too much. I want to set the goal to be. I want to lose five pounds. I want to start there. So regardless of whether or not you hit the goal, you're still going to be able to come back and say, what am I wanting in this area? And you may tweak it a little bit, but it's not about pass or fail. It's not whether or not you accomplished it or didn't accomplish it, because you always will be able to come back and say, what am I wanting? And from that place, there's a lot less shame and a lot more empowerment. Okay, so before we wrap up, I want to talk a little bit about the upcoming Life Visioning Workshop, specifically sliding scale pricing, as well as highlighting a member of our community whose work I want you to know about. So, in terms of this upcoming Life Visioning workshop, and with most of the workshops we'll be doing moving forward, we've added a sliding scale price as well. So if you're struggling with money right now or you're living in a country where the exchange rate is really high, I don't want the money to be a barrier for you to come and join us. So if you go to the website and go down to the Pricing for Life Visioning workshop, you will see that there is a sliding scale price as well. To talk a little bit about what we're going to be covering. For those of you who haven't joined us the first day we're going to be talking about creating an inspired vision for your life and we're going to be going through a specific exercise to get together as a group where we go through all of those areas of life categories like health, work and relationships and really hone in on short and long term goals. We're going to be creating your short term goals list and then in the second session we will be converting those goals into doable actions together as a team and we're going to be talking about how to approach your goals and action items on a day to day basis. So we do this workshop and not to give you information but to provide you the space and context to do this work that all of us need to do on a regular basis. So I hope you can join us. If you're interested, you can go to drummerinthegreatmountain.comworkshop and I also want to highlight a member of our community who's been with us for quite some time, Mike Starkey. He is doing great work in terms of ADHD and addiction. So he has a podcast that we'll be launching in at the beginning of this year on ADHD and Addiction with Mike and Amber. If you would like to know more about what he's up to, you can go to ADHDand addiction.com he's also doing regular Zoom support meetings for people who are struggling with addiction and have adhd. This is important work and I really like Mike. He's done some amazing work and he knows what it's like to struggle with this. So if you're interested again, go to adhdand addiction.com and that's it. I hope you all have a wonderful 2026. Stay safe, take good care of yourselves and we'll speak to you soon. So until next time, be well.
[12:48]
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Thanks for joining us. If you'd like to learn more about the book the Drummer and the Great Mountain, visit Drummer and the Great Mountain.com to join us on social media. Click the links at the top of the homepage. Help us spread the word. We're a small press and reviews really help. If you've been enjoying the podcast or the book, consider writing a review on itunes, Amazon, Goodreads, or your podcast app. If you're new to the podcast and want to quickly get up to speed on the concepts we discuss, check out our free 5 day mini course. Visit drummerandthegreatmountain.com Minicourse if there's a topic you'd like us to cover on future episodes, we'd love to hear from you. Please send us an email@inforummaandthegreatmountain.com.