If you are following my YouTube channel, you know that I am currently writing a book. This project is unique because, in writing my previous books, I had the opportunity to write in a different way that I am writing now. My early books were written by giving myself a word count for each day and writing until I hit my daily word count. My latest books (The Reset ADHD Trilogy of Books) were written using my blog posts. This time, I am trying to write a book while running a business. So, how do I go about this?

One of the hardest parts about living with ADHD is dealing with the ramifications of when things go awry. We quite often find ourselves not where we want to be. This is frustrating and can lead to negative self-talk. This can quickly devolve into a harsh relationship with oneself. When we are constantly berating ourselves, we begin to internalize the messages we are receiving. How we break out of this vicious cycle is not easy and seems overly simplistic, but it can be done.

Once per month, Reset ADHD offers “Improv for ADHD” play sessions. These sessions are an opportunity to have fun and grow in your ADHD management skills. Improv is a huge part of my life, and I love sharing it with others. But, why do I love it so much? Well, there are many reasons. I will detail why it is so special to me below.

It’s January here in South Dakota, which means two things:

1. My smoker is covered in snow.

2. I’m craving barbecue food like crazy.

This is causing me to reflect on the barbecuing process and how much I enjoy it. Yes, it is time consuming and messy, but now that I have tried smoking meat, I cannot stop. In short, I love making good barbecue food at home. It is a major part of my life now.

At this point, you may be wondering why an ADHD blog is talking so much about barbecue. Well, I feel smoking meat has helped me with my ADHD. Here’s how…

One of the tragedies of living life with ADHD is we do not give ourselves enough credit for what we are doing. We forget about the good things we have done, those things that help us move forward in life. There is a negativity bias that we need to overcome. We tend to focus on the things that have not gone according to plan. Yet, we need to remember that, sometimes, reality is better than what we had planned and that we have been making strides. Yes, there is always room for improvement, but we tend to discount the progress we have already made. So, I say to you, dear reader: You’re doing better than you think.

Getting an ADHD diagnosis can be a life-altering event, especially if it is an adult diagnosis. You have learned something new about yourself and how your brain is wired. Things are the same as they have always been, but now, you know more about what is happening. You have a name for your struggles and unique traits. While it is a good thing to finally have answers, it can be a hard thing to handle. How does one make peace with oneself after an ADHD diagnosis? How does one make peace with one’s past after an ADHD diagnosis? It is a journey following an ADHD diagnosis, for sure, but there is hope.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the 2023 Applied Improvisation Network Conference. I arrived at the Improv Centre in Vancouver for registration, got my badge, got the lay of the land, and then walked outside. There, sitting on a bench, was one of the keynote speakers, Colin Mochrie of Whose Line Is It Anyway? fame. I was able to sit next to him and tell him how much he meant to me as an improv performer and practitioner of applied improvisation. Reflecting on my encounter with Mochrie and learning more about his life and career has led me to wonder how he can help those of us with ADHD.

For the past few weeks, I have been in a funk. I do not like being in a funk, yet here I am. While discussing this with my mentor, he came up with an acronym. G.O.O.F. Get Out Of Funk. The key to getting out of a funk is to G.O.O.F. around. Be a G.O.O.F.! I love this idea and am going to run with it. I pledge to be a G.O.O.F. while I am in this funk.

I think this idea can be helpful for others with ADHD. Sometimes, the ADHD can get to us, and we get down about our struggles. To all those in a funk, I say, “Be a G.O.O.F.”

I was recently interviewed by someone, and I was asked about what message I would like to give my younger self. I was not ready for that question, but my response was: “You are where you are meant to be.” As I think about that statement, it occurs to me that it, not only makes sense for myself at younger ages, but it also applies to all of us at any age. Where we are in life is preparing us for where we are going. If there are struggles in our lives, they are making us stronger and ready for what is to come in our lives. In short, we are where we are meant to be.

Many people with ADHD just take their medication and move on with their lives. However, this approach is met with mediocre results. The prevailing wisdom amongst ADHD experts is to enlist a multimodal approach to ADHD management. This means managing your ADHD on multiple fronts. One could look at this as taking care of your mind, body, and spirit. It seems to this ADHD blogger that the most neglected aspect of a mind/body/spirit approach is the spirit.

It can be hard to trust oneself when one has ADHD. There are many mistakes that get made made when living with ADHD. Most are not a big deal, but the frequency of mistakes can erode one’s self-confidence. Building up trust in one’s abilities and self-efficacy can be challenging. So, what can be done? Here are a few tips.

You have freedom. You have the freedom to live the life you want to live. It is up to you to decide how you live your life, but it will not be easy. The world is not wired for ADHD brains. You have to work for your right to have the life that will support you. It is up to you to achieve your ideal life. Here are some tips for living and creating the life you desire.

On March 23, 2023, Reset ADHD hosted a webinar on ADHD and improv. At the end of the webinar, it was announced that Reset ADHD would be hosting virtual improv “playdates.” If this sounds intriguing to you, sign up. If you are wondering why I am pushing ADHD and improv so hard, read on, for in this blog post I will be discussing what can be learned from improv.

When I was in college, I had to interview three entrepreneurs for one of my classes. One of the entrepreneurs I chose to interview was my grandfather. During the course of the interview, he gave me a piece of advice that I’ll never forget. He said, “No matter where you want to go in life, work hard to get there, but also, take the time to play hard along the way.” He went on to tell me that he feels he did not take the time to play enough early in his career and that he was trying to make up for that a bit in his later years.

When we think about dealing with our ADHD, we use words like “control” and “manage.” What I would like to propose is that we change the way we talk about ADHD management. What if we started using words like “play” or “harness?” How would that change the way we think about ADHD? I maintain that this is a better way of approaching things. Now, I am not proposing to make ADHD a superpower. I am not one of those people; I see the dangers of ADHD. In fact, I have called ADHD the “ignored public health crisis.” However, I think the answer to this public health crisis is play and fun.

This blog post is scheduled to be released on the last day of ADHD Awareness Month 2022. Every year, I find the end of ADHD Awareness Month bittersweet. All of the cool activities designed to raise awareness about ADHD end, but at the same time, there is a relief. As someone who works with those with ADHD, I feel pressure to include ADHD awareness in my marketing during the month of October. This year, I did that. Other years, I have not. However, I am of the belief that ADHD awareness is for the whole year, not just October.

One day, I was in gym class as a kindergartner. The gym teacher was having us run from one end of the gym to the other. I am not sure why he was having us do this, but there we were running from one end of the gym to the other end of the gym whenever he blew his whistle. Before one sprint, my best friend turned to me and said, “You’re gonna get last.” Sure enough, as soon as the whistle blew, I found myself running behind the other kids and reached the other end of the gym last.

One day, I was sitting in my third-grade classroom, and we were working on a worksheet as a class. The teacher was bouncing around the room, having different students answer the questions. This was taking too slow for me, so I started to work ahead. While working ahead, I tried to keep tabs on where the rest of the class was so that, if called upon, I could answer the question without anyone knowing I was working ahead. The split second I lost where they were, I got called on. I answered the one I thought they were on, and my teacher goes, “We just did that one. You’re not paying attention. You can pull a card.”

When you have ADHD, it can be hard to have confidence. There is so much that seems hard to do. However, we can do hard things. It is possible. When you find yourself facing a seemingly impossible challenge remember these things.

Self-care is a necessity. If you do not take care of yourself, you will be unable to take care of everything else going on in your life. Taking care of yourself is not easy, though. It can be hard to find the time to do it, and it can be hard to know what to do for self-care. For example, treating yourself to ice cream might sound like self-care, but if done too often, it can lead to health problems. (Every once in a while, ice cream is okay.) So, what follows is a selection of self-care tips and ideas.