Justin Timberlake came to Montreal over the weekend!  JT is a brilliant performer; he can sing, dance, has an incredible stage presence, and is funny and genuine.

If you are thinking that the photo was taken a long way away from the stage, you are right. It was! 15 months ago, tickets went on sale at 10 am and at 10:06, those were the best seats I could get. Crazy (in a good way) right?

Justin Timberlake has a huge fan base; the noise at the concert was insane, not from the music but from the appreciative crowd. Everyone was very happy to be there. Imagine having the power to make that many people happy by doing something you love to do.

Did you also know that JT has ADHD and OCD?

JT, like other famous or successful people with ADHD, uses it to his advantage (it take a lot of energy to perform 2 hours and 30 minutes). He focuses on what he is good at and what he enjoys doing.

Are you wondering what ‘focusing on what you are good at’ looks like for a regular person? Here is a real life example.

John (not his real name), is a client who is naturally very talented in all things technical. He has a wealth of knowledge about a particular software and is a successful consultant to business owners. John helps business owners use this software to make their business run smoothly and profitably. People love hiring him because not only can he problem solve, create big visions, set up complex things, he is also a gifted teacher and coach.

Every so often, John attends a networking meeting. Last week, John was asked if he could run the meeting, because the organizer was going to be away.

On the day of the meeting, John arrived on time but forgot to print out the itinerary to hand out to everyone like the organizer usually does. He did remember to bring snacks but forgot the soft drinks. He started to beat himself up about the things he didn’t do.

However, when the guest speaker didn’t show up, John stepped up in front of the crowded room and did a talk completely unprepared. The guest speaker was going to talk about the software John knows a lot about. So John talked about the software and he bought it to life with a case study. When he finished, he got a round of applause (the first in the history of the meeting)! Everyone at the meeting had been completely engaged with the presentation, and days later, people were still talking about it in the online forum.

When John and I talked, he told me about the event, but he was having a hard time enjoying the success, because he was focusing on the things he hadn’t done: the drinks and itinerary.

Because it was easy for him to talk about a software he loves, he wasn’t giving himself any credit for the fabulous presentation he had given with no preparation.

John isn’t alone in this. Many people with ADHD do this. They don’t give themselves credit for their successes. They discount its importance because it’s easy for them. Instead, they focus on the small things that they didn’t do. Things that other people have long forgotten (no one posted on the forum about the missing itinerary). However, when you do this, you drag yourself down and cloud your brilliance.

John, like Justin, has created a life and business focusing on his strengths and what he is good at. With a tiny of bit of fine tuning to his internal dialog, John is going to really enjoy his successes; which in turn, will lead to having more and more successful experiences!

This week, your action steps are:

1) Write down what you are naturally good at.
2) Identify which of those you enjoy doing.
3) Work out how to spend more time doing them.
4) Spend more time celebrating your successes than thinking about the small stuff.
5) Notice how much easier and fun life is!

What are you naturally good at? leave me a note in the comments section below!