← Overcoming Distractions-Thriving with ADHD, ADD
Overcoming Distractions-Thriving with ADHD, ADD
Busy Adults with ADHD-finding and connecting with people who “get you”
00:20:15
In this episode, Dave tackles the quiet struggle of adults with ADHD in demanding roles…from entrepreneurs to executives. While students often have built-in support systems, busy professionals are left to navigate their unique challenges alone. Join...
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Transcript36 lines
- [00:08]
A
I'm Dave Greenwood and this is Overcoming Distractions. If you are an adult with adhd, a busy professional, an entrepreneur, a high achiever, or just need some strategies to navigate your adult adhd, you're in the right place.
- [00:26]
B
Who am I?
- [00:27]
A
I'm an entrepreneur with ADHD and the author of two books, Overcoming Distract and Overcoming Burnout. I coach and mentor people just like you, and together we navigate the ups and downs of adult adhd, from getting out of our own way to helping people just like you thrive in the workplace. That's what I do. Want more info on working with me? Hit overcoming distractions.com ready? Let's get to today's podcast. All right, all my distracted friends, what.
- [01:06]
B
Is going on with you? Hopefully you're having a great week. Hopefully you're navigating the challenges as best you can and I hope you're celebrating the wins. As I always say, if you are that busy professional with adhd, then you have definitely landed in the right place. So, so welcome veterans and welcome people who have just recently found Overcoming Distractions. We are one of the only podcasts that focuses specifically on those of you who are busy professionals, leadership entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, et cetera, et cetera. So welcome to so. You know, it is incredibly important for adults with ADHD to, you know, surround ourselves with like minded people, especially as I just described the people in these demanding roles. If you're an entrepreneur, an executive, you're a business owner. The reasons are numerous. You know, everything from the social dynamics of being that person, your unique challenges, as well as the strengths.
- [02:36]
C
Right.
- [02:36]
B
Of the ADHD brain as an adult in a busy, demanding career, a business trying to grow, a business trying to grow a department, trying to meet demands, right? But I don't think many of us have those options, right? You know, I also believe many of us are probably hesitant to even discuss this. And I understand many of us are in positions that require us to not be so open about having adhd. Like kids, teenagers, students. Maybe they have social clubs or social skills clubs and schools. Maybe they, you know, have a guide, you know, a teacher, special ed teacher, school psychologist, parents, whatever, executives, business owners, people like us in leadership positions with adhd. We don't really have that. And we have to get up, we have to come into our organization, our business, and, and we need to put on a good face, right? But the fact is a lot of us are living this quiet struggle with our challenges and frustrations and friction and working with people that don't get us. And we do have unique Challenges. And it takes a shitload of energy for many of us to work through those and make it look like nothing's wrong. The inside.
- [04:16]
C
Right.
- [04:16]
B
I mean, I know this sounds familiar to many of you. That's why you're listening, probably. And, you know, so often when I'm working with people one on one, because a lot of people do need to, you know, dig down into kind of their individual challenges and make things work for them. But just the fact that I get them makes a big difference because they have no one else they can talk to or work through these things. Maybe it's not even a spouse, right? So I have also been asked by many people over a, you know, period of time if there was a group that was dedicated to people like us busy professionals, those entrepreneurs, us business owners, our leadership, senior VP, CEO, etc.
- [05:05]
A
Wherever you are.
- [05:09]
B
Where we could kind of get together. Confidentially, of course, because that's a massive part of something like this. And share our wins, our successes, our ideas, even the challenges of being a busy adult with adhd. So I'm thinking once again of starting a group for people just like us. And I want to gauge your interest. So first, if you're interested, you can send me an email with your interest to overcoming distractionsmail.com super simple. Just the name of the podcast, overcoming distractions@gmail.com. but I want to break down why having, you know, a group like this, whatever it is, you know, wherever it is, is. Is just so critical for us. And the first, I think, is just, you know, it's a space to be authentic. I mean, on the outside, we may look like we're super busy kicking a little ass. On the inside, all we want to do is punch a wall, right? Or just walk away. In many social professional settings, those of us with adhd, we do feel the need to mask our symptoms. Maybe we overcompensate. Maybe we. People, please. Maybe we avoid certain interactions altogether because maybe some of the things that come out of us can be perceived, you know, in a negative way. And I think this constant effort is exhausting and it does prevent many of us from being our authentic selves. And we might be so behind in our work, we're making excuses to others and ourselves or, you know, just challenges of navigating the week and things are just getting more difficult by the day.
- [07:13]
C
Right?
- [07:14]
B
But I do think sometimes being ourselves is not the wisest move, whether in business or our career. And I don't care what the experts say about being yourself. Being ourselves sometimes can result in us getting fired, losing clients, etc. Etc. And I'm sorry, that's just a fact when it comes to the business world. So sometimes we can't be totally ourselves. So somebody want to challenge me on that? Go ahead. But surrounding yourself with like minded people does create that safe space where we can like for example, interrupt without judgment.
- [07:59]
C
Right.
- [08:00]
B
People get us, they get, we're excited, our brains like, you know, got an idea and we just need to kind of get it out somehow before we actually forget it.
- [08:09]
C
Right.
- [08:10]
B
So you can share kind of your. Maybe it's a chaotic thought process and maybe it's like the fire hose of ideas that maybe overwhelm others, but maybe it's celebrated by other people that think like you. You know, say you're the CEO with a million ideas, you know, getting in a confidential kind of environment with others, people might understand exactly what, you know, your thought process, you can be accepted for who you are. It's all that impulsivity, the, the spontaneous, the energy, the, the other things that maybe some people, you know, don't totally get.
- [08:58]
C
Right.
- [08:59]
B
And, and I think also just being in the room with other people, I say room, it's, you know, be a virtual room but you know, discussing the challenges you have with time, energy, deadlines, getting stuff done, working with others, personal challenge, burnout and all the other things that, that are, that we have to work with.
- [09:21]
C
Right.
- [09:22]
B
So again, if this sounds like you and you're interested in this type of group, just gauging the Overcoming Distractions audience for an interest in this. I'm trying to see if there's a bunch of people that want to do this. Just shoot me the email@overcoming distractions.com Gmail. So the next thing, I think when we get in, in a situation with other like minded people, we can understand and navigate maybe some of the social challenges that some of us may have. I think a busy adult with adhd, we have some of those social challenges and interactions. Maybe it's forgetting important details, it's losing focus, like a mid conversation. Maybe we have an impulsive comment that maybe leads to a misunderstanding, you know, with a client or a co worker or you know, others in leadership, etc. A team member.
- [10:26]
C
Right.
- [10:27]
B
And, and honestly when it comes to adhd, some of us just kind of lose our shit occasionally right in the office. Maybe we need to apologize, you know, whatever. So, and I think that kind of community of like minded people offers the, you know, I think people understand the why behind the certain things that we do or we don't do you understand, you know, a similar challenge from other people? And I think, you know, we can also share our strategies. You can openly discuss and learn from each other's experiences and finding effective strategies to manage our ADHD world when we're just that busy person with all kinds of demands on, on our energy and time, etc. And I think the other thing is we can try to focus on our strengths and not just our deficits. And I get it. A lot of people contact me individually to work together because they're in a place that they don't like at the moment. And I get that we typically don't really ask for help or need to work with somebody like a mentor until we get to the point where we. We can't do it, you know. You know, I can't live like this anymore.
- [11:53]
C
Right.
- [11:54]
B
And I think while ADHD does present challenges, we all know that. I think we also got to realize that we have strengths. We need to continue to remind ourselves. I mean, particularly I think, in an entrepreneurial or executive or leadership setting.
- [12:14]
C
Right?
- [12:15]
B
And we need to continue to remind ourselves and also just kind of boost other people up because, you know, we live some hard days sometimes, we live some difficult weeks. Things don't go our way, things happen, life happens.
- [12:32]
C
Right?
- [12:33]
B
But I think you got to remind yourself that we're creative, we think differently. I think we're wired for, you know, not only novelty, but making connections that other people might miss. Some people think their hyper focus is a huge quality. I like to go on the. I've talked about this before about, you know, the ability to get into flow state. And so many of us do have challenges getting there, but once we get there, I think we can crush it when it comes to getting work done.
- [13:03]
C
Right.
- [13:05]
B
I think we have resilience. You may feel like you're tired right now, you may feel stressed, you may be on the verge of burnout, right? But I do think that we've built a little bit of a muscle as people with adhd. We've navigated years of setbacks, maybe going back to school, but I really think a lot of us with adhd, we've gotten to a certain point in business and life and our career. We do become resilient, we become adaptable, and we actually have kind of that natural energy, right, that we can feed off of. So, and again, we see things, others, and that's a massive asset in the business world. So we just need to learn how to kind of channel these positives. And a group like this just Kind of boosts people up. So, you know, even if it's just one or two people, right, so we can pump each other up also, I think a community of like minded individuals, it's a space where, you know, we're not just acknowledging the, the, the, the strengths we have, but it's, it's almost like a foundation of that, like, hey, we're good at this stuff. We just, our brain gets in the way sometimes and I think maybe it shifts the focus of the conversation from like, what's wrong with me? To how can we leverage unique abilities together and have that conversation. So I think next thing, from a tactical point of view, it's that, that practical and that professional support from your fellow entrepreneurs and executives and business owners and leaders. You know, we have probably to some extent found a way to maybe manage ADHD symptoms and like a high profile or super busy demanding environment. Some of us may not, but I think a lot of us can help each other with that street smart and real world advice. You know, things like time management, energy management, organization. How do you run a business while struggling with your executive functions, leadership and communication? How do you lead a team and maintain focus? How do you lead clients to, to get to a certain point, right? How do you manage clients or manage accounts or whatever, Coping with our emotional dysregulation from time to time? How are you handling stress? How are you handling criticism? Have you gone through burnout and have you figured out certain ways to mitigate that?
- [15:54]
C
Right?
- [15:56]
B
You know, I work with people individually a lot of times and we problem solve together and I still do that and some people need that. But I don't claim to know everything and I'm comfortable enough knowing that I can learn from people like you as well. So. And I think the last thing as we wrap up is, you know, being in a setting of people that actually get you. It's a little bit of validation and maybe some of us have a little bit of shame or guilt. Maybe we, I always, I always say that a lot of our challenges go back to like our report cards. Now I've worked with some brilliant people, but I could show you my report cards and, and I can tell you they're, they're, they're nothing to brag about.
- [16:45]
C
Right.
- [16:46]
B
I laugh now because they're like all the classic comments, like needs to try harder, all that crap. You know, Dave needs to focus. I mean, holy moly, it's like literally like the, the, you know, the classic ADHD misunderstanding comments on a kid's postcard, you know, But I think we've. We've had a lifetime of maybe distractions in attention, a little bit of, you know, emotional challenges, right? Some of us, maybe it's misinterpreted as that lazy, the rude, lack of caring, right? I think some of that then kind of turns into our low self esteem and we feel like we're different or broken, etc, right? But I think when we connect with other busy adults with adhd, you're gonna find like people that actually get you.
- [17:42]
C
Right?
- [17:42]
B
I mean, that, that's where we thrive, is when we can actually have like meaningful, productive conversations with people that actually get us right. You know, imagine an entrepreneur and an entrepreneur talking about, hey, I'm trying to run and grow this business and lead people, and I have adhd. So. But I think we need to kind of realize that our adhd, it's not a moral failing. It's, you know, it's our brain. We were born with it. Okay? And I think that validation, I think, is super powerful and we can help others with adhd. I think also, quite frankly, we do understand the negative consequences of even discussing ADHD in some of our, I'll call it high profile or demanding positions. And again, many of us just don't have anybody we can talk to. So I think in essence, these relationships provide that peer support, professional network. They provide emotional support to people who just, you know, need to be able to have these conversations and maybe help each other navigate the challenges we're all facing. So I want to see if there's interest in a group like this online. Again, it would be completely confidential. That is absolutely mission critical to having a group like this where we could actually share our successes, our challenges with a group of people that actually, you know, get you. So again, if you are interested, please just send me an email@overcoming distractionsmail.com if I have enough people that are interested in, we can start the process of putting this confidential group together. So again, if you're new and you want to learn more about me, you can hit my website, overcoming distractions.com and I look forward to hearing from you, whether it's working individually, one on one, or in a possible group setting in the very near future. All right, gang, we'll catch you next time. Sam.