Your brain on ADHD is a Lamborghini, you just need to know how to drive it! Peter Shankman has discovered how ADHD can be a gift and shares that wisdom in his book: Faster Than Normal.

The Gift of ADHD

Highlights from the interview:

• Peter came by his expertise with ADHD by growing up with it. But it was called sit-down-you’re-disrupting-the-class-disease. He didn’t realize his brain was just looking for that extra dopamine that it wasn’t getting.
• ADHD is a superpower that he uses to his advantage. He figures out ways to channel that energy to do what he needs to do.
• His book, Faster Than Normal, focuses on the ADHD brian and that it is a benefit and not a curse to have it. People without ADHD can follow these rules and get more productivity. He has a podcast called Faster Than Normal and interviews other people who are taking advantage of the ADHD mind
• One day, he decided that the people out there that would judge him were not paying his mortgage, so he just told his story.
• He was very socially awkward as a kid and young adult. Not until his 30’s was he able to control his faster brain. He has been working as an entrepreneur since his 20’s because that fits his personality and his brain.
• He wrestles with ADHD every day. But he makes sure he has very specific life rules to make sure he treats his brain the right way.
• For instance, he made an agreement with himself to get up and exercise before he does anything else because he knows his brain needs exercise for him to have a good day. It’s an absolute requirement. You have to understand and accept that.
• He wrote Faster Than Normal, usually a tedious process, on a flight he booked from New York to Tokyo. He brought his laptop, a power cord, headphones and a sweater. He wrote chapters one through five on the flight to Tokyo. He landed in Tokyo, went through immigration, turned around and wrote chapters 6 through 10 on the flight home – a total of 31 hours to write his book. It works for him. Writing on planes is his zone of focus.
• Many people label ADHD as negative. Peter has made ADHD a positive thing. Typically people label “different” as bad, but he celebrates the differences and uses them to his advantage. His goal is to teach people that it’s not a death sentence to be different. You want to be different.
• The key is to understand your own brain and how it works.
• Another thing Peter does is to eliminate choice as much as possible. For instance, his wardrobe is divided into two sections: 1) Office and Travel and it has t-shirts and jeans, 2) Speaking and TV and it has button down shirts, jackets and jeans. If he had to get up every morning and decide what to wear, he would never be able to decide.

Listen to the episode for the full story.

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Stacy’s Journal

Welcome to Stacy’s Journal! In this segment, I let you peek into my journal as I share my thoughts on a topic or resilience resource. I loved Peter’s contracts with himself to make sure he does what’s right for his brain. I think we can all learn something from that. I know for me, I can’t take that first bite of bread or a cookie because...