Next Wednesday, the 3rd of March I am being interviewed by Marica Hoeck, expert business coach, on how to be a successful entrepreneur when you have ADHD. If you would like to join us scroll down for more information.

Wednesday, March 3, 2009 at 2:00 pm EST

“The Surprising Similarities Between Entrepreneurs
and Adults with ADHD: How to Minimize the Negative
and Appreciate the Gifts”

with Jacqueline Sinfield of Untapped Brilliance,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

To register for the call, go here:
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=4o08Z&m=1a6kwsKIaWTrOO&b=Z7pqyoYwF2XpT2XXlqfBAw

If you can’t make the time, sign up anyway,
and you’ll get access to the recording,
which will be available as soon as the
class is over.

I am in Vegas!!! And its super fun. The reason for the trip is to celebrate my birthday.

As a child this week in February was very exciting as my sister, brother and I all celebrate our birthdays in the space of five days. Because we were young, and because we were all still lived in our family home, there seemed to be an extra intensity to our excitement. Even though we now are living in different parts of the world, we all still celebrate our birthdays in quite a big way.

The older I get the more I realize just how many people would rather forget their special day. However, just because you don’t celebrate on your birthday doesn’t mean that you can stop the years passing by!. So why not embrace your day?

While it might not be your birthday this week.. I hope this week’s article will inspire you to create a wonderful day not only for your next birthday but for all birthdays to come.

As an adult with ADHD, it is very easy to focus on your weaknesses and areas “to be worked on.” So much thought can be given to these areas that it’s easy to forget about your talents. Many adults with ADHD are humble to a fault and dismiss their talents because they come so easily. Naturally, they don’t feel they can be proud of these traits, or that they aren’t valuable. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you notice what you are good at, you can spend more time utilizing your strengths and less time worrying about your weaknesses.

Just like adults without ADHD, there are many strengths you might have. Here are just five examples of things that might resonate with you.

1. High Energy    If you have the hyperactivity component of ADHD, it might have diminished a little compared to when you were a child, but it’s way more than most people! When channeled on one project, you can work for hours and in a way that leaves people without ADHD both exhausted and in awe of you.
2. Hyperfocus    When something captures your attention, you can focus on it for hours. The ability to mentally tune out distractions and become so focused means you can get a lot done, as well as have a huge sense of satisfaction afterwards. This is similar to what Czech psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls “Flow.” Time disappears and your actions flow from you.
3. Creativity    You think outside the box and aren’t constricted by the “norm” and what has traditionally been done. This can be great in any situation, from an office brainstorming session to decorating your house to creating a new invention that can positively change the world.
4. Sense of Humor    As an adult with ADHD, there is a high chance that you have a good sense of humor. Humor comes in many packages: loud, boisterous Jim Carey types or quieter, witty types. Finding humor in everyday situations makes the world a happier place. People with ADHD often have a ready smile and can be funny as well as appreciative of other people’s humor.
5. Sensitivity    Adults with ADHD tend to be a sensitive bunch. Sensitivity is not a trait that is glorified in our culture, but it is a wonderful quality. It means you can easily relate to other people, have a natural empathy to how they are feeling and are able to act accordingly. It also means that you are a good judge of character, which in turn has many benefits too.

This Weeks Actions

1. What talents come easily to you? Remember, they might be so effortless to you that you don’t value them. If you aren’t sure, ask close friends and family to help you identify them.
2. For each of the five points above, ask yourself:
   • Is this a trait I have?
   • When have I noticed/experienced it recently?
   • How could I maximize this trait and use it more to my advantage?
3. Notice how your life becomes more enjoyable and effortless when you work with your strengths.

Today is a big day for me because I will be sitting my Canadian Citizenship exam. I have been busy preparing for it this week and learning lots about Canada in the process.

If you like arts and crafts and live in the Montreal area why not pop in to an Arts and Crafts show this weekend? One of my amazing clients is selling her handmade handbags for the first time there.  It’s being held on Sat Feb.13 and Sun Feb 14 at St. Micheal’s church on St. Viateur corner St. Urbain from 10 am to 5 pm.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

My all time favourite quote is “You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it true” Richard Bach.
 
Every time I remember it I feel incredibly empowered and excited. It  means that anything my imagination conjures up can happen. The other day I rented a DVD called ‘Man on Wire’ and it shows beautifully how true that quote is.
 
‘Man on Wire’ is a documentary film about an incredible French man called Philippe Petit. In the late 1960’s Philippe decides he will walk on a tight rope from one of the Twin Towers of New York’s World Trade Center to the other.
 
What makes this really incredible is that when he decided to do this, the World Trade Center hadn’t actually been built NOR could he tightrope walk. He read about the towers being built in a magazine in a dentist waiting room.  As he was reading he got the idea to perform this incredible act.
 
Over the next 6 years in was consumed with  realizing his dream. He teaches himself to walk on a tightrope, and he gets some of his friends on board as he needs help with the practicalities of getting the wire in place.
 
His plan to perform this tight rope walk  is actually illegal. However there is something very innocent about this crime after-all he isn’t trying to steal anything or hurt anyone. Besides the possibility of being in serious trouble with the law, the walk was exceptionally dangerous…he could have died.
 
I won’t tell you all the details because I would like you to watch the film with the same sense of excitement that I felt. However this story is the perfect example of how even ‘crazy’ or ‘far fetched’ goals can be realized.
 
Adults with ADHD have many brilliant and inspired ideas. Yet very often instead of  following through with them and making them happen, they bring themselves back to ‘real life’. While it won’t be possible realize every idea ( chances are you have many), it is possible to implement the ones you feel extremely passionate or excited about.
 
Your ideas don’t need to put you in physical danger! Perhaps yours is a business venture,  a travel adventure, or a relationship that you would like to pursue. When you get an idea that excites and inspires you, rather than push the idea away and think ‘well that is so outlandish’ Remember Philippe Petit’s amazing story and follow your dream  knowing with certainty that you have the power to make it come true.

I have been sorting through my photos of the holidays and found this one that makes me smile. It was taken on New Years day in Edinburg Scotland. My brother James and our friends were all sitting at the table…reading my book. As you can tell they are very engrossed!

This weeks article is all about setting goals…and next Friday I am hosting a teleseminar about setting goals. If you would like more details send me an email at Jacqueline@untappedbrilliance.com

Have a wonderful week.

When I lived in England snow was a novelty. It didn’t snow very often and so when it did it was so fun. My dad is talented at making things with wood, so my brother. sister and I all had our own beautiful wooden sledges. The local park was set on a hill so it was the perfect place to do our sledging. We always hoped for a white Christmas, just like the song “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.”  Now I live in Montreal and we have loads of snow! On Wednesday we got our first “batch.” Huge quantities by English standards and it really got me in the festive spirit!

If you would like to listen to this week’s article, click here.

Procrastination is one of the biggest complaints people with ADHD experience. There are many reasons why people procrastinate and sometimes procrastination can even be useful. However, usually procrastination doesn’t make you feel good. You feel lazy, unproductive and the thought of the unfinished task looms heavily on your mind, spoiling any enjoyment doing other activities.

While it is not a new idea, breaking big projects or tasks into small, manageable chunks is a great way to beat procrastination and get things done. Evidence that this idea has been around for hundreds of years I the Chinese proverb that states “A journey of 1,000 miles starts with just one step.” A seemingly impossible journey that appears overwhelming at first can be broken down into simple stages and completed. After all, you know how to take a single step, then after that you take another. Take enough single steps and you are there! Mission accomplished. When you think of a task like this, then you can do ANYTHING. It’s a very empowering thought. A modern saying in the same vein is “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

When I was little I wasn’t a good eater. I would look at a plate of food and not know where to start, so I would barely touch any of the food on my plate. My mum realized this and would put a small portion on a side plate, which I would be able to eat and then she would put another small portion on the side plate and I would eat that too.

When something seems so big it seems impossible, just focus on a small part you are working on. Don’t start thinking about everything you still have to do because that will make you feel overwhelmed and  you will freeze (which has the same outcome as procrastination).

So the next time  you are faced with procrastination and resistance to starting a project, follow these steps:

1. On a piece of paper or on your computer, break the project down into steps.
2. If one of the parts still feels overwhelming, it’s because it needs to be broken down further. The idea is to make each item so small that it’s no longer painful. For example, if your project is to send your CV to Mr. X, here is what your action list would look like:
   1. Find CV on my computer
   2. Print CV out
   3. Address envelope to Mr. X
   4. Put CV into envelope
   5. Go to the post office to buy stamps
   6. Stick stamps onto envelope
   7. Post off the CV

   While you might feel a bit stupid for breaking the project down into such tiny steps, e.g. stick stamps on to envelope, please don’t. It doesn’t matter how basic each step is. What matters is that you are moving forward on a project that is important to you.

3. As you are working through each step, don’t worry about the next step. Or step number ten. When you get to that step, you will be able to do it.
4. Tick each step off when you have completed it. The sense of accomplishment keeps you moving forward.

As always, celebrate your success of a job well done!

As you might know I grew up in England. You might also know that England is quite a bit smaller in size than Canada. As a result, some things are “super-sized” here… such as road trips. A long car drive in England is say three hours. A long car drive in Canada is… well, I’m not really sure what Canadians would consider to be long, but for me, I will say six hours or more. That does mean a bit of a mind shift. When I was driving to Toronto this summer, I was really excited to be going. I packed my bags, printed out directions, got up early on Saturday morning and sat behind the wheel of my trusted VW Beetle and then thought, “Am I really going to be here, sitting in the same seat, doing the same activity for the next six hours!” It was quite overwhelming. So what I did was I broke the journey down into two hour chunks and stopped for a cup of tea and to stretch my legs after every two hours of driving. Suddenly, the long, boring journey became fun and enjoyable.

If you would like to listen to this article, click here.

Did you know that one out of four adults with ADHD suffer with depression? This is a higher rate than for the rest of the population. Depression can have a mysterious cloak around it, however, it helps to know that there are two types. “Primary Depression” is hereditary and you can feel depressed without there being a trigger or reason why you are depressed. “Secondary Depression” is the result of a trigger, perhaps because you are struggling with ADHD, repeatedly feeling like a failure despite great efforts to live up to society’s standards of what is “normal.”

When you are feeling low and depressed, your normal habits are affected. You lose interest in things that were previously appealing to you. Sleeping seems like the most enticing activity in the world, or becomes a battlefield as you endure insomnia. Exercise gets pushed aside (it seems to take too much energy), and healthy meals are replaced with comfort food. You no longer pick up the phone to chat with friends because that too is not longer appealing, and you feel as if you have nothing interesting to say. Your home becomes cluttered and messy because even taking the garbage out becomes a huge task. Before you know it, you life has become work, TV and sleep.

If this describes you and it’s been over two weeks, you need to make an appointment with your doctor and explain how you are feeling. If you are on anti-depressants and you have taken a bit of a downward turn, visit your doctor again. It’s important they know how you are doing. As well as seeing a medical doctor, you might want to consider visiting a psychologist too. Talk therapy is a very powerful tool.

In addition to visiting medical staff, there are things you can do to make yourself feel more like your old self.

Nutrition has a powerful effect on your mood. While pizza will make you feel good for a night or two, its feel-good factor is short term. It is time to start replacing comfort food with some REAL feel-good food. If the thought of cooking yourself a healthy meal seems too complex, start small. Have a goal of eating one piece of fruit a day, then increase that to two.

Exercise is incredibly good for us, both mentally and physically. However, even if you were a gym bunny before, don’t set yourself up for failure by expecting to be able to jump in where you were before. Start with a 30 minute walk a day. Walking is not only relatively painless, it helps you crave healthy food AND makes you feel good.

Next, get back to taking your supplements. If you only take one, choose Omega 3. It’s fabulous for your ADHD and it does wonders for your mood too.

Now take a peak in the mirror. Is there anything that will make you feel better? I know one man who had let his hair and beard grow really long and only washed them occasionally. When he shaved and had a haircut it affected his mood in a very positive way. What would your version of this be?

Have you let simple pleasures go? Like listening to music, doing a Sudoku puzzle, playing with your pet, etc. Create a list of all those things that you loved to do and then start to do one thing every day.

In terms of your environment, phase one, at the very least, take out the garbage. You deserve to live in a smell-free,  hygienic place.

Phase two, move every piece of clutter on the floor UP. People who are depressed put things on the floor and this adds to depression. You don’t need to do anything with those belongings for now as long as they are on counter space, tables, etc. and not on the floor.

Phase three is to do 15 minutes of either housework or organizing every day. You will be amazed at how good you feel about yourself after you have done this, no matter how hard it was to start.

Once you have been doing these things, you will be ready to start socializing again. Being with people is key because we are social beings who thrive on human interactions. So reach out again to your friends. Chatting to people online might be fun, but you need to get out there and meet people in real life. Start slowly – a short visit is fine. Spending time with people who are fun for you is key. Don’t meet with people who drain your energy or make you feel guilty.

Don’t feel bad for “wasting” X number of days/weeks/months feeling depressed and not “doing” anything. That is not helpful and makes you feel worse. The main thing is that you are shifting things now.

When you have begun to implement these steps, even if you didn’t feel like it at the time, you will start to feel better, either directly afterwards or over time.

Remember, you are incredibly awesome, even on the days you don’t feel like you are.

The information in this article does not replace a medical intervention in anyway. When you are feeling depressed it’s imperative that you visit your doctor.