Who do I coach?

I offer personal development coaching for passionate, driven adults with ADHD. As a trained Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) coach working exclusively with adults, I specialize in working with entrepreneurial, innovative, creative and talented people with big dreams and ambitious goals.

These people tend to run outside the mainstream. They usually feel constrained by conventional jobs, in fact, by convention of any kind. Often, whether they know it or not, they feel this way because they have ADHD. These dynamos have the energy of six ordinary people, but benefit enormously from working with someone who can help channel that energy.

Are you one of these people? If you are, you might not even know you have ADHD. The “official diagnosis” is less important than overcoming your challenges. Are you frustrated because you know you could be doing so much better than you are? Are you struggling to reach your goals because you…

• Have a pesky inner critic who questions everything you do?
  
• Feel you under-achieve compared to what you think you should?
  
• Have chronic problems and stress over managing your time?
  
• Constantly procrastinate?
  
• Have enormous difficulties starting projects, finishing projects or both?
  
• Make impulsive decisions, or are unable to make decisions?
  
• Avoid paperwork like the plague?
  
• Over-focus to the point of not noticing things you should pay attention to?
  
• Have such a poor sense of time you are chronically late or in a hurry?
  
• Seek high-risk activities like driving fast just to keep your focus?
  
• Prefer to run on adrenaline to get things done, “enjoying” emergencies?
  
• Wait until the last minute because you “work best on a deadline”?
  
  

If these challenges sound familiar, you may have ADHD, and an ADHD coach will be the best coach to help you overcome them and reach your goals. And if you do have ADHD, you’ll also be happy to learn that many people feel ADHD is actually not a disorder, but an advantage, especially for entrepreneurial, creative, non-conformist people like you.

The Hunter-Farmer Theory

One theory states that ADHD may actually be a genetic trait left over from our ancestors. Thom Hartman was one of the first authors to propose that Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder was something other than a disorder when he introduced us to his Hunter-Farmer theory.

Over the course of history, survival skills have changed. Early humans were hunters, gatherers and nomads. Thom Hartman theorizes that some humans were better suited for hunting than others. These people were hyper-aware, noticing every stimulus in their environment. Today we call this “distractibility”, but as a hunter, if you don’t take notice of your environment, you’ll either miss your prey, or become the hunted.

The same applies to impulsivity, which allowed the hunter to rapidly identify and seize opportunities, such as an unsuspecting antelope suddenly descending to the waterhole. Taking time for consideration and planning would more than likely leave the hunter hungry as the antelope escaped. In fact, when examined more closely, we realize that all or certainly most of the symptoms of ADHD would make a person a better hunter.

With the evolution to farming as a way of life, and later industrialization, different characteristics became better adapted for survival. Non-ADHDers, which Hartman calls farmers, had to work linearly. For the farmer to have a successful crop, things had to happen at certain times, in a certain way. To organize the crops to maximize their yield farmers had to develop more linear thinking.

Today, your success often depends on your role. An ADHD “hunter” is still best equipped to play the role of hunter, as an entrepreneur, as a firefighter, police officer or emergency medical technician or an investigative journalist. The non-ADHD “farmer” is usually better equipped to work in a cubicle in today’s modern corporation. Neither is “better” than the other. Problems usually only arise when you try to conform to a lifestyle that doesn’t fit your style.

Be Among the DaVincis

People with ADHD who do work that plays to their strengths have long distinguished themselves. Many ADHD experts agree to say that some of the most amazing, out-of-the-box thinkers of our times (and the past), probably had been diagnosed with ADHD.

Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin and Leonardo DaVinci are all thought to have been ADHDers. Einstein had many problems in school and was very disorganized. Edison was kicked out of several schools and burned down the family barn with one of his inventions, but was the owner of over one thousand patents for his inventions, and was a keen businessman and entrepreneur.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s brilliance and talent, along with his tendency leave projects unfinished (he carried the Mona Lisa with him until his death because he didn’t feel it was quite right) inspired Garret Loporto to write about the “Da Vincis.” In his book, The Da Vinci Method, he describes these amazingly innovative thinkers, artists and entrepreneurs with an abundance of energy.

Add to this list the modern day famous entrepreneurs and creative geniuses with ADHD and you’ll see that you’re in excellent company. Jim Carey (actor), Michael Jordan (sports star), Stephen Spielberg (director) and Stevie Wonder (musician) are all succeeding wildly in spite of (or because of) their ADHD.

You’re a Member of an Elite Club

Others who may be less famous but are no less successful join these energetic leaders of innovative thinking. Call them “Da Vincis” or “hunters”, we know them as Charles Schwab (business leader), Paul Orfalea (founder of Kinkos), John T. Chambers(CEO of Cisco Systems), Peter Neeleman, who invented the electronic airline ticket and revolutionized flying with JetBlue, and Richard Branson, the flamboyant and highly energetic owner of Virgin Records and Virgin Airlines, to name but a few.

Whether you are a “hunter,” a DaVinci, an ADHDer or just a passionate and driven person with ambitious goals and big ideas, you are the type of client that I work best with and I hope you will allow me the privilege of partnering with you to help you tap into your strengths and achieve your goals.

And what if you don’t have any big goals or ambitions because a lifetime of struggling and being told you aren’t capable of more has weighted you down? What if you are still struggling with every day life? Whether you’ve just discovered you have ADHD or have known for some time, I offer workshops and group coaching services that may be a more cost effective option to start to turn your life around.

If you’re not sure what solution would be best for you, don’t hesitate to contact me as I’d be more than happy to help you determine the ideal solution for your needs and your budget.

I look forward to helping you achieve great things!

Linda

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