Why Your ADHD Is A Good Thing
As I type this, I am also intermittently dancing around my dining room. Which I guess is very fitting considering this article will be about ADHD, specifically mine. Listening to music and dancing around has become apart of my writing routine, both for articles and for workout programs. I have a great office with a view of the mountains, but 99.9% of the time, my laptop resides on our countertop in the kitchen which dubs as a perfect standing “desk” and I have the free space to move around. I find I can’t think as well or be as creative when I am sitting. In fact, even when I go to coffee shops occasionally to write, I sit but I am still shuffling my shoulders, bobbing my head, and tapping my feet. Actually, every “desk” job I’ve ever had, which is only two, and my entire time in school, I was always “fidgeting” or had some sort of paper made football, tech deck mini skateboard, tennis ball, something to move and play with. My last desk job, almost a decade ago, I had an entire mini skate park on my desk and a little nerf mini basketball hoop hanging on my cubicle wall and would drive my neighbors insane with constantly bouncing a tennis ball. As a kid, I was never disrespectful, but the common note sent home to my parents said something along the lines of “Karli sure has a lot of energy but needs to learn to sit still.” Lucky for me, my parents raised me with manners, so I was at least a likeable hyper little shit.
If you don’t get the jist by now, I am a classic case of that thing some people refer to as, ADHD, Attention Hyperactivity Disorder. Even when I was kid I never understood why it was negative having a lot of energy, trouble focusing on one thing because so many things are awesome and interesting, and your mind wanders from curiosity. Isn’t curiosity the starting point for all discovery and creativity? Don’t we want children to be energetic and enthusiastic? Shouldn’t that be held to higher regard than one's ability to memorize things google already knows for the sake of regurgitating it on a test, rather than for the sake of understanding and learning how this can positively apply to your individual life? I sure as hell hope so.
The textbook definition of ADHD is a chronic condition marked by persistent inattention, hyperactivity, and sometimes impulsivity. Inattention when uninterested? That makes perfect sense and is understandable to anyone. We have all been forced to listen to something against our will and mentally checked out. Hyperactivity, however, implies you’ve defined “normal” active levels, which no medical journal or doctor ever has. So, by whose standards am I hyper and what is the standard of “normal activity?” If we can’t define “normal activity” how is it we are defining someone as hyperactive? And sometimes impulsive, meaning someone is occasionally curious and may stray from the flock once in awhile, or simply get lost in their own imagination. But without impulsivity we wouldn’t have risk takers, meaning we wouldn't have innovators, creators, descoverors, people willing to venture into the unknown. Who wants to live in that world?
I wanted to write this article for the worried parent, the struggling teacher or coach, or the misunderstood kid, to give all of you a different and more positive outlook. First off, it’s proven that we all learn by different means. For example, someone may be an auditory learner, they can listen to something, grasp an understanding of it, and be able to recall it later, while others will forget the information almost immediately. Some learn better by visual or reading and writing things down, while others have to make some sort of physical connection in order to grasp the material. How is it that we know this, teach this, and in the same breath tell someone they have a learning disorder because they don’t excel under a specific set of guidelines?
Ironically everything most of my teachers and counselors told me about my ADHD being a hinderance, has been a net positive in my life, both in my financial business and relationships. For example, because I practice self awareness, I knew early on that working inside at a desk for the rest of my life was out of the question if I ever wanted to be happy and enjoy my work. At this moment, I make a living being a Strength and Conditioning Coach. My job needs me to be very energetic on a daily basis, be creative both with my thought out programs and on the fly with my clients, and always be moving, playing, and curious of new methods of training. My so called, “disorder” is actually serving me to not only be better at my job but make more money as well.
While I feel confident I am good at my job and strive to get better every single day, I did not do well in school by test score standards. But again, because of the practice of self awareness, I quit trying to force myself into a “normal job” a long time ago. I’m not by any means saying if you made good grades and now work some corporate desk job that it’s a bad thing, whatever makes you happy is the best job for you. I just know what I enjoy. Knowing what you like is important when choosing a job or career and equally important is knowing what you don’t like and what simply doesn’t mesh with your personality. This personality trait of mine, that’s essentially what you’re doing when you say someone has ADHD, you’re describing a part of their personality. But, it’s simply a part, it’s not the whole, and learning to harness it in a positive way can provide you with opportunities that “low energy, non risk takers” simply won’t get. Take my job for example, if you have low energy doing my job, you’d be fired day one. If you can’t occasionally be impulsive or take risks, you probably won’t have much financial, business, or relationship success. High energy, risk taking, and occasional impulsivity can all be incredibly positive traits, when learned to be used in a positive and strategic way. Rather than thinking that something is a hindrance, extra obstacle, or disorder, try to find ways to turn it into a strength.
Seek to find ways to use the excess energy in positive and creative ways. Take up athletics, martial arts, skateboarding, gymnastics, art, explore the endless options and find something that you love, that seems to hold your focus longer than anything else. But never mistake high energy with negativity. Energy is simply there, it’s a part of us, not only do we choose how to label it, we choose what we do with it. And it’s every individuals duty to harness their energy in a positive and therefore powerful way.
Health is Happiness
Coach Karli