Welcome to my personal stories and advice from a 20 year old who is mastering how to live with ADHD/Anxiety.
I want to share with you, the lessons I have learned about how to enjoy a better quality of life despite having ADHD. In my personal experience a combination of mindset and lifestyle changes can make ADHD more manageable and greatly improve your quality of life. However, there is no single silver bullet to deal with ADHD. The best piece of advice I can give to someone is find a purpose, and pursue that purpose relentlessly.
As someone dealing with ADHD and anxiety, having a purpose gives me the drive to get up in the morning when my mind is fighting against me, telling me to stay in bed. It also gives me the strength to take back control of my mind.
When you lack purpose in life, you drift. Drifting is dangerous for people like me. Now I’m sure you are reading this article thinking where can I find my purpose. Your purpose will be different to mine, as finding it will be your own unique journey and something you have to discover yourself. What I can provide you with, are some of the subconscious steps that I found worked for me and with hindsight and reflection proved to be very valuable in finding my own purpose in life.
Purpose can be found in the job you choose, the relationships you build and the hobbies you enjoy, for me it’s been a combination of them all. Where you find purpose is your choice. I hope that purpose will become your comfort blanket when the world overwhelms you and act as a catalyst in taking back control of your life.
In the meantime take every opportunity that comes your way, whether you want to or not. When I started doing this I met people, I networked, I made friends, I found activities I loved that I always thought were pointless. You will never find your purpose by being lazy and sitting back and waiting for handouts.
Here are 4 distinct steps I found worked for me when I was finding my purpose:
Step 1 - Be more open about your ADHD/Anxiety Issues - This was the hardest one for me, not feeling like a burden and being able to speak with the people I am closest to. Whether that is family members, my closest friends or people who want the best for me.
I ate up my problems for years and as soon as I started talking and opening up it felt like I was chipping away at a brick wall with every word that came out my mouth. I found this reduced my brain fog and allowed me to think clearer afterwards.
For me I needed a core group I could trust, as opening up about my mental health was something I struggled with for a long time. However, I learned the hard way that:
“If you’re a friend of everybody, You’re an enemy to yourself” Mike Tyson
Step 2 - Adopt a positive mindset - A lesson I learnt from sport is that for me personally, how I think drives how I feel. Whether that’s in sport or day to day life I have become more determined. I have no doubt I will win every time I go out there, I convince myself of it. If I don’t win I am at peace with myself, because I have prepared the best I possibly could and I know deep down that I couldn’t have done anything different in terms of preparation and what is in my control.
Step 3 - Live in the present and enjoy life more - My dad told me to think of life as a train journey, instead of focusing on the end destination, take time to look out the window and enjoy the view. Get off at each station along the way and explore what’s there. The end destination will not change, but appreciating life along the way will help you to live in the present and hopefully enjoy life more.
What’s happened in the past has been and gone, the only thing we can truly control are our actions in the present and how we pursue life going forward.
Step 4 - Be strong and take ownership of your ADHD/Anxiety! Don’t play the victim as I did - Face ADHD head on and be proactive and resourceful in finding out what works best for you in addressing symptoms like procrastination, anxiety and impulsivity. Take time to sit down and be your own worst critic, write down the problems you have and work through them everyday.
If you sit back and do nothing about your problems your life will just drift away. Learn from my experience to stop this happening to you. Facing up to your problems will be hard and will be tiring, but you need to get up and get going. Putting problems off and procrastinating was my speciality, but not anymore.
Over the next few months on my blog I will outline the lifestyle and mindset changes that I made over the last couple of years. Hopefully this will provide you with the inspiration to create your own individual plan.
If you have any questions or want me to touch on certain topics, drop me a line through Instagram and I will get back to you.
Account Name: @tom.mccormick9