Life can get hectic, crazy, and/or messy at times. Things can spiral out of control, and chaos can rule the day. However, the world doesn’t stop spinning when your life gets messy. You still need to be able to perform at work. Bills still need to be paid. And, your house needs to stay in order. As much as we would like life to slow down while we deal with our crap, it does not. So, what can we do when life is messy and troublesome?

This past weekend, I attended the 2021 Virtual Conference on ADHD. One of the presentations that most resonated with me was on accountability. This session was presented by Eric Tivers of ADHD Rewired. It was filled with humor and great tips on setting up accountability structures in your life. Here are five things I learned while listening to Tivers’ presentation.

Life with ADHD can be stressful. It leads to mental anguish, but that anguish can be overcome. It is possible to make peace with your ADHD. In this final week of ADHD awareness month, let’s explore some ways to make peace with your ADHD.

As ADHD awareness month continues, you may be discovering more about your ADHD. This is an overall good thing, but it can come with some growing pains. Learning more about yourself and your ADHD makes some inconvenient things come to light. You may learn just how difficult it is to thrive with ADHD.

This ADHD Awareness Month, I will be exploring different areas of ADHD awareness. Last week, I discussed a new book on ADHD. This week I will be discussing the faulty logic of comparing yourself to others, something we ADHDers should never do.

Why ignore reality? Life with ADHD can get really hard. There are struggles aplenty. I do not have to describe them to you. Chances are, you know what I am talking about. In the moments when life seems difficult, what do you do? The answer can be found in a scene from the 2003 movie Finding Nemo. In the scene, Marlin is sad about his missing son and is ready to give up. That is when Dory swims up to him and encourages him to “just keep swimming.”

What do you want to do in life? How do you want to live your life? What can you do to live in alignment with your values? These questions get at your mission in life. It is important to have a mission in life. It serves as a guide for making decisions on both the big things in life and the little things. Knowing what you want to accomplish is going to be key to living a fulfilling life.

When I was in school, I never thought I was an exceptional mind. I thought I was just an average student. Yet, my mother always pushed me to do better than I was doing. She believed in me, but I did not believe in myself.

That experience is sadly common for those of us with ADHD. We are told by others we have so much potential, but we fail to live up to the expectations of others. As a result, we stop believing in ourselves. This is a tragedy because many of us with ADHD are extraordinarily gifted.

Last week, I discussed the troubles with impulsivity. This week’s blog post covers the flip side of that discussion. Yes, impulsivity can cause some troubles, but it can also be a fun side of ADHD as well. There are ways of harnessing your impulsivity and using it to your benefit.

One of the guiding principles of Reset ADHD is “If it’s not fun, it won’t get done.” I try to make my coaching fun and engaging. I want to make sure my clients are excited about coaching and trying the strategies we discuss in our coaching sessions. There is a very good reason for this: The ADHD brain loves fun!

Stop me if you have heard this before. You wake up, hit the snooze button a couple of times, roll out of bed, rush to get ready, and run out the door with only coffee for breakfast. I am sure I do not have to tell you that this is not the ideal way to start the day. A reset on your morning routine would be wonderful.

The most obvious benefit of a reset is a fresh start. Things can get stale if you work at them for too long. Pausing and hitting the reset button allows you a fresh start. You can approach what you are working on with a new perspective and can have a better chance of success.

I talk a lot about hitting the RESET button on ADHD. In fact, I named my coaching practice after that. I firmly believe in hitting the RESET button and starting again with strengths-based strategies. However, there can be a temptation to power through when things get tough. It can be difficult to know when is the proper moment to hit RESET. I have compiled some times when hitting the RESET button would be beneficial. But, these are not the only times when hitting RESET would be advantageous. There are more, and I hope you recognize those moments when they arise.