What should I do with my life? In what hobbies should I engage? How will I live my life?

The above questions are important questions that everyone needs to ask themselves. If you want to live a happy, fulfilling life, find the gifts God gave you and use them to the best of your ability.

We ADHDers tend to have a history of messing up. When you have not yet learned how your brain works best, you mess up a lot. This can lead to a lack of confidence, even in areas where we are naturally gifted. Unfortunately, we become prone to experiencing a great deal of fear, anxiety, and nervousness. However, that does not mean we have to be slaves to this fear. Instead, we can escape its deadly grasp and take back control of our life. This is something I learned through my experience in the theater.

Who wants to go through life with every day being a grind? No one! Who wants any part of life to be a grind? No one! So, why, then, do we do things we find to be a grind? Because we let the things we do become a grind. Everyone has things in their life that are a grind. However, we do not simply have to accept these things as a grind. We can find a way to gamify these tasks and make them fun.

Hello!

I write this while crouched like an owl on my chair, instead of sitting at my desk like a normal person. Why am I owling as I write this? Well, I am dealing with writer’s block, and I need to have a post ready to go by Monday at 10:45 AM. It is 11:45 AM on Friday currently, and I refuse to work on Sundays. So, as Daffy Duck says in Space Jam, “It’s gut check time.” Something needs to happen, and sometimes, if one wants something to happen, one must change what one is doing. Sometimes, changing things up can bring the focus needed to complete a project. Hence, owling…

When you are diagnosed, you are not handed a piece of paper with instructions on how to live the perfect life with ADHD. There is no guide detailing a sure-fire way to avoid the struggles of ADHD. The ugly truth of the matter is there is no owner’s manual for ADHD.

Every year, millions of people stay up until midnight on the night of December 31 to ring in the new year. I have never understood this. I find this quite arbitrary. Prior to midnight, we write "2018" on our checks, and after midnight, we write "2019." If we are celebrating the changing of one element on our calendars, then why are we not doing this every month or every day? One could argue that we celebrate because we only change the year once every 365 days, but if we are simply celebrating the novelty of the changing of the date, it would make more sense to celebrate a new decade.

A fixed mindset is easy to spot, especially when you have become aware of it. To remind yourself of what it is like, review part one of this series. When you see the qualities, take notice of them. What effect does this mindset have? How does it affect you? How does it affect others? When you see it in action, remind yourself that you want to foster a growth mindset, not what you are observing. Be sure to take note of both when you are acting with a fixed mindset and when others are using it.

Growth mindset focus on learning, not results. If students focus on improving and learning, their grades will go up. The focus is on learning the information, not simply doing well enough to get the grade that will make their teachers and parents happy. The improvement in academic performance is especially useful in subjects, like math, that build on previous material. Instead of struggling as more and more as topics build on previous topics and having to go back and relearn some material, the student will be ready for the next subject, having already mastered the previous topics.

Those of us with ADHD have vivid imaginations. We have a crazy amount of ideas and are prone to thinking differently. Our imaginations are powerful, but is this power good or bad? That is a question worth exploring. People believe Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison had ADHD. One of the reasons for this belief is that they were incredibly inventive. They thought outside of the box.

When a person struggles with hyperactivity, impulsivity, inattention, and executive functions, they will struggle in their spiritual life. There are very little resources avail even addressing how to manage one’s spiritual life when one has ADHD. It has been my observation that very few, if any, faith leaders (priests, pastors, rabbis, imams, etc.) offer guidance on managing ADHD and one’s spiritual life. Therefore, I offer this challenge to faith leaders of all religious backgrounds: Research ADHD and how you can minister to those members of your flock who have ADHD.

One of the saddest facts about ADHD is that it increase the likelihood a person will commit a crime. That is not to say that everyone with ADHD will become a criminal. Many people with ADHD do not commit crimes, but there is an increase likelihood of criminal behaviors in persons with ADHD.

There are several areas in which to examine a connection between crime and ADHD: How prevalent is crime among those with ADHD, why ADHDers are more prone to commit crimes than others, and how to prevent ADHDers from committing crimes.

ADHDers are often told to work harder. Yes, it is important to have a strong work ethic, but it is also important to play hard as well. My grandfather once advised me, "Alex, whatever you want to do in life, work hard to get there, but also, take the time along the way to play hard, as well." This is a lesson I have never forgotten. Years later, I heard something similar while studying ADHD. The ADHD mind needs time every day for some unstructured fun. Play, which Dr. Edward Hallowell defines as "any activity in which your brain lights up and you get imaginatively involved," is not only necessary, but also can help one be more productive and learn more about oneself.

Exercise is BORING. This means it is hard for me to enjoy doing it, and when I do not enjoy doing something, there is a good chance I won't do it. That is why I continue to find new and exciting ways to exercise. However, to make exercise fun, it is sometimes beneficial to bring back a physical activity you did as a kid.

I don't really have a name for this exercise routine. Lately, I have been calling it "Imaginary basketball." Essentially, it is a basketball game involving only yourself. You take control of both teams and dictate how they perform.