Why Having ADHD Makes you a Rockstar!
You were born to shine
If you had twenty-five jobs between the ages of sixteen through twenty, you might have ADHD.
If you are passionate about everything and love to create, but tend to start way more projects then you finish…you could have ADHD.
What exactly is ADHD?
ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and has three main traits.
1. Inattention
2. Impulsivity
3. Hyperactivity
You might have one of these or all of them, or maybe someone you love does. If so, I wrote this for you. I am someone who has it and has learned to shine in every area with it. I first had to learn what it was and then focus on my strengths.
ADHD is, first of all, not your fault. It doesn’t mean you are dumb; it means that you have a chemical imbalance that needs some extra support.
The above list that I described is a description of me and my experiences. I have bounced off the walls with it my whole life, which has brought a lot of fun, but also caused me to burn a lot of bridges.
The traits that make us different than the neurotypical brain are
1. Trouble regulating emotions
2. Poor executive function
3. Trouble regulating our attention
4. Poor working memory
It’s important to know that even with those challenges, we can shine in ways that others cannot!
Here are the things that make those of us with ADHD Rockstars!
1. We have the ability to hyperfocus.
Hyperfocus is a superpower. I have eight children because I love my husband and think babies are just so cute. I probably didn’t think it through what having eight children would look like in the long term (dang ADHD), but it hasn’t kept me from thriving and rocking in life!
I have used my hyperfocus superpower to learn 1,000 skills. Just last year, I went back to school and got my master’s degree in one year and made straight A’s all the while pregnant with my eighth baby, and then having a newborn.
I am currently in school, getting my second master’s degree in six months that will feed into my Ph.D., which should be complete in two years! I am doing this all while homeschooling my children and taking care of their daily needs. I want to thank hyperfocus for that.
Here leads me to the next superstar trait of people with ADHD.
2. We take risks
While others might consider what the outcome of something could look like, that portion of our brain is underdeveloped, so we just go for it!
People with ADHD are 300% more likely to start businesses than the average person, and this has been true for me! I have started three businesses from scratch while at home and homeschooling my children!
I used my hyperfocus skill to teach myself to sew, and then started designing clothing, modeling it, and selling it all over the world! I guess you could say I became a successful independent fashion designer with no teacher besides the computer and just taking the risk.
Along with being a risk-taker, we are also more likely to be
-generous
-forgiving
-funny
With the number of things we overlook, we have to learn not to take ourselves too seriously. In turn, it allows us to have a tremendous amount of love and understanding of other people’s shortcomings. We are quite aware of our own weaknesses, and that is very humbling.
Also, when you are around someone with ADHD, you never have to worry about there being an awkward silence…or silence at all.
We are fun to be around; we are unpredictable and enthusiastic about life. We are brilliant at things we pursue( at least for small spurts of time until we get bored). We are also creative, and the life of the party! For all of these things, having ADHD makes us a rockstar!!
There is no limit to what we can achieve with an understanding of our shortcomings and strengths, and a support system that has our back.
Rock on ADHD’ers- We were born to shine!