131 | Making Your Mess Your Message

News!

This episode is coming out a day early! If you’re listening on Monday, the day this episode has been released, you have just a few more days to reserve your registration call for the Fall Session of the ADHD reWired Coaching and Accountability Group!  Learn more about the group at http://coachingrewired.com

Today, Monday August 29^th, we are doing a live Q&A webinar

Register at http://EricTivers.com/events  

Also, I just created a brand new video series, “125 Strategies to Get Your ADHD reWired”. In this series, I go through the strategies I use to better my ADHD.  To access this series, go to http://www.erictivers.com/125strategiesvideo

This Week’s Guest:

Donna Barre has worked for years as a “data geek”.  She is now re-inventing herself to help others with ADHD find meaning, joy, and the pursuit of their creative endeavors.  Donna was also a member of the very first ADHD reWired Coaching and Accountability Group. 

Donna is doing something unique, she’s bringing arts and crafts into the world of ADHD.  In this conversation, Donna talks about the importance of play and creativity and their role in productivity.  She explains what art does for her and how activities like art can help in various areas of life.

In the ADHD reWired Hot Seat portion of our discussion, we work with Donna on her issues with confidence and bravery.  She shares some areas in which she feels like her bravery and confidence are lacking.  We work through some practical ways to build confidence and bravery.  We also learn what a brave Donna looks like.  In this discussion, I share this resource: http://www.classtools.net/random-name-picker/

Connect with Donna!

Website – http://clickadhdservices.com

Email – dr.donna@clickadhdservices.com or donna.barre@comcast.net

You’ll Learn:

• [7:16] – Donna shares her back-story and explains why she joined the ADHD reWired Coaching and Accountability Group.
• [9:16] – When Donna started the group, she was looking to unload some real estate and the group helped her through that process. 
• [12:43] – Donna shares how long-term success means ongoing support and accountability. 
• [16:21] – Donna gets sucked into entertainment such as television and the internet and she talks about how she gets herself back-on-track. 
• [19:04] – Donna talks about her tendency to minimize accomplishments and we talk about self-correcting mechanisms and breaking bad habits.
• [24:25] – Donna is bringing arts and crafts into the world of ADHD. She talks about the importance of play and creativity and their role in productivity.
• [34:34] – Donna opens up about clutter.  This is a cyclical struggle for her. 
• [41:01] – Data is Donna’s “play”. 
• [45:05] – “Making your mess your message”
• [49:02] – Donna sits down in the ADHD reWired Hot Seat and throughout this segment, we work through her issues with confidence and bravery.  Donna shares what she thinks being brave means, and what a brave Donna looks like.
• [1:23:12] – Fill out the contact form to let Donna know if you are interested in her supportive crafting group.

Use my Audible.com affiliate link for your favorite titles:

http://www.audibletrial.com/ADHDreWired

ADHD reWired Coaching & Accountability Group

Reserve your registration call for the Fall Session of the group! Registration is now open!  Registration closes on Wednesday, August 31st.  Learn more about this group at: http://coachingrewired.com

ADHD reWired Tech eCourses and Mini Workshops

Tell us what technology or tool you would like to learn about: Complete our 3-minute survey below and you can win free coaching, a $50 gift card to Amazon or your preferred app store or a productivity mystery box.

Learn more about our courses and workshops at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HDJCSSS

Stay tuned to ADHD reWired for follow-up sessions with past guests who have allowed Eric to help them and keep up with their progress.

Want to be a guest?

Hey! What about you? Do you have a story? Are you a Coach? Are you an ADHD Clinician? If you answered yes to any of these questions and you'd like to be a guest, schedule a pre-interview call here.

130 | Stepping Into Freedom From Anxiety

This Week’s Guest:

Kali Pelham is an educator that has taken big steps to gain freedom from anxiety.  She just finished the reWired Coaching and Accountability Group. 

Kali struggles with anxiety and feeling like everything is urgent and important.  She talks about how her involvement in the reWired Coaching and Accountability Group has helped her in this area.  Kali shares her journey and explains her thought process and the conversations with her husband that led them to realizing her life would benefit from involvement in the group.  Throughout this conversation, we learn the areas of her life that have benefitted and she shares specific examples of the tools and practices she has implemented.  Kali tells us about how she has her calendars set up, how she operates her to-do list, and uses programs like Google Keep. 

We engage in a 10-minute power coaching session to help Kali determine where things fall in the urgent vs. important matrix.  We also talk about implementing the GTD (Getting Things Done) Methodology to be organized and manage time.  Also, what are the questions to ask yourself to determine the importance of tasks?  Listen to this conversation to find out!

You’ll Learn:

• [8:38] - Kali shares her back-story and explains what brought her to the reWired Coaching and Accountability Group. 
• [14:17] - Kali describes the moment that she knew she needed to sign up for the reWired Coaching and Accountability Group.
• [17:35] - Kali talks about her use of typical ADHD medications and where they help and where they fall short.
• [19:05] - Kali was unable to find a support group in her area and the reWired Coaching and Accountability Group provided her with that support.
• [20:35] - Kali describes her priorities and what she wanted to get out of the group.  Now that she’s finished the group, she evaluates the group’s effectiveness in those areas.
• [21:38] - Kali describes some of the tools she’s put in place and she shares how she constructs her to-do list.
• [23:26] - Kali shares how she merges her digital calendars.  This leads to a lengthy discussion on being organized with calendars and to-do lists.
• [32:10] - Kali walks us through some of the items on her to-do list.
• [36:18] - Re-framing “I should...” to “It would be nice if…”
• [38:32] - Kali talks about her need to ignore technology first thing in the morning.
• [40:50] - Kali explains how she uses Google Keep
• [44:35] - Kali talks about her relationship with God. 
• [46:25] - Kali shares her “one thing”, the fact she doesn’t have to perform and she can “just be”.  This leads into a discussion on acceptance, peace, and serenity.
• [54:42] - Kali talks about a recent incident where she was able to be more accepting.
• [1:01:40] - For Kali, this journey is about doing things without anxiety.
• [1:05:05] - Kali’s 10-minute power coaching session. 

Use my Audible.com affiliate link for your favorite titles:

http://www.audibletrial.com/ADHDreWired

ADHD reWired Coaching & Accountability Group

Reserve your registration call for the Fall Session of the group! Registration is now open!  Registration closes on August 31st.

Learn more about this group at: http://coachingrewired.com

ADHD reWired Tech eCourses and Mini Workshops

Tell us what technology or tool you would like to learn about: Complete our 3 minute survey below and you can win free coaching, a $50 gift card to Amazon or your preferred app store  or a productivity mystery box.

Learn more about our courses and workshops at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HDJCSSS

Stay tuned to ADHD reWired for follow-up sessions with past guests who have allowed Eric to help them and keep up with their progress.

Want to be a guest?

Hey! What about you? Do you have a story? Are you a Coach? Are you an ADHD Clinician? If you answered yes to any of these questions and you'd like to be a guest, schedule a pre-interview call here.

129 | The Life Changing Power of the ADHD Coaching and Accountability Group

This Week’s Guests:

Aaron Collier and Kari Gormley join us on this week’s episode.  Both Aaron and Kari have been accountability partners in the most recent ADHD reWired Coaching and Accountability Group.

Aaron Collier is a computer programmer/librarian that resides in California.  He was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 39.  After feeling like he didn’t have the tools he needed, he joined the ADHD reWired Coaching and Accountability Group. 

Kari Gormley is a coach, mom, wife, long distance runner, and podcast host (The Running Lifestyle Podcast).  She was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago.  She became part of the group to help herself with habits.

In this episode, Aaron and Kari share their own stories and describe the tasks they struggle with. They’re also able to give examples of how they’ve been able to implement strategies and processes to become more successful at accomplishing these tasks.  This isn’t just through their own determination, accountability is imperative in this process.  As accountability partners, Aaron and Kari share how they hold each other accountable.  It’s easy to sense the productive friendship that has grown out of this group in just 9 weeks.  

We have a special offer! If you sign up between August 22nd and 24th, use the promo code “CoachingReWired245” and you will receive two 45-minute coaching sessions with me!  You can also get the audio recording of these coaching sessions!  By using that code you’ll also be able to sign up one ADHD ReWired Tech mini-course or workshop when we launch them in early 2017. That’s over $300 in bonuses!

You’ll Learn:

• [9:18] - Aaron explains the idea of a mastermind group and how he (and his relationship with his wife) has benefitted from this concept.
• [11:56] - Aaron describes the group’s “Study Hall” sessions and the accountability that comes from it.
• [16:53] - Kari talks about her mastermind session.  She shares her “lessons learned list”.  This includes a useful tip on stopping at task, building processes, doing one thing at a time, and more.
• [23:40] - “Statistics are not determinable outcomes.” 
• [27:32] - Aaron talks about being mindful about his list and taking care of what needs to be done now. He also shares his success with going to the gym since joining the accountability group.
• [29:56] - Aaron shares the importance of play and talks about the change in his productivity since incorporating play. 
• [31:45] - Aaron talks about his star chart and the reason for his success in sticking to it.
• [32:37] - Kari and Aaron share why they have been successful in holding each other accountable.
• [35:00] - The ratio of men/women with ADHD is 1:1.
• [35:45] - Aaron shares a typical accountability email.
• [39:45] - Kari and Aaron talks about what it takes to be a good accountability partner and aspects of the accountability relationship.
• [43:45] - Kari talks about the bond between people with ADHD and shedding the shame.
• [44:32] - Aaron talks about his time-blindness and his appreciation of the trust in the group.
• [47:17] - Kari and Aaron explain why this group has been life-changing.
• [51:30] - The importance of routine and how this group reWires your brain.

Use my Audible.com affiliate link for your favorite titles:

http://www.audibletrial.com/ADHDreWired

ADHD reWired Coaching & Accountability Group

Reserve your registration call for the Fall Session of the group! Registration will be open for 8 days only:  August 22-27 & 29-31

Learn more about this group at: http://coachingrewired.com

ADHD reWired Tech eCourses and Mini Workshops

Tell us what technology or tool you would like to learn about: Complete our 3 minute survey below and you can win free coaching, a $50 gift card to Amazon or your preferred app store  or a productivity mystery box.

Learn more about our courses and workshops at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HDJCSSS

Stay tuned to ADHD reWired for follow-up sessions with past guests who have allowed Eric to help them and keep up with their progress. 

Want to be a guest?

Hey! What about you? Do you have a story? Are you a Coach? Are you an ADHD Clinician? If you answered yes to any of these questions and you'd like to be a guest, schedule a pre-interview call here.

128 | How to ADHD with Jessica McCabe

This Week’s Guest:

Jessica is the creator and host of the How to ADHD YouTube Channel.  Jessica has ADHD herself, and discovered that medication is only part of the solution. Jessica created her first show as an ADHD toolbox. This was a friendly mix of useful tips and techniques that she shared based on her research and her own personal experience.  Jessica says, “I make mistakes so you don’t have to.”  Jessica provides her 10,000+ subscribers with new episodes every Tuesday.  Jessica’s background in acting helps make her videos compelling and pretty clever.

Reach Jessica McCabe:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/howtoadhd

Twitter: @HowToADHD

Jessica talks about her struggle (and unexpected success) with consistency in producing videos for the How to ADHD YouTube Channel.  One thing that makes her feel comfortable in this area is the level of forgiveness in the ADHD community.  People within the community appreciate the authenticity and we like to see that others struggle with the same things that we do.  Jessica shares that some individuals find that she speaks too quickly, yet some appreciate the way that she speaks because they struggle with people that talk slowly.  This illustrates that point that no matter what you do or how perfectly you do it, you’re not going to be for everybody.  Jessica does get some feedback that ADHD is a serious topic and “no laughing matter.”  She sees the seriousness of this topic, which is why she researches so much to try help things, but if you can’t laugh, it just gets too depressing.  Jessica illustrates the humor of ADHD by telling a story about burning her face with a steamer.

Jessica was a productive student in elementary school and chose to always have her nose buried in a book.  She believes she enjoyed reading so much because she was bored by reality.  When she entered Junior High, the added responsibilities of daily school life and independence magnified some of these ADHD symptoms.  She was provided with medication and that was the only treatment, so she wasn’t learning how to manage her life. 

Jessica shares that she almost called the show “How not to ADHD” because she had a better idea of what NOT to do.  Her boyfriend pointed out that might not be the best name and she’s glad she listened.  This leads into a discussion on relationships.  Jessica has a relationship history that she calls “not a pretty thing” and points out that this area of life one that does not get discussed enough in the overall ADHD discussion.  She was always “good” at new relationships.  Things were exciting and new.  As those things changed and things weren’t as new and exciting, she would blame the boredom on the relationship.  This is not an easy thing for Jessica to discuss, but this is important and worth sharing.  When starting her current relationship, she  was very honest about her bad choices in previous relationships. 

As an actress, Jessica struggles with memorizing lines and she has found some tools to help herself in this area, including an app.  She also feels that being put on the spot is the best way to remember lines.  Nobody wants the embarrassment of not remembering lines and this is a strategy that works for her.  She also did a series on tricks to help improve working memory.  Simply reading material is not the best way to learn.  Jessica also shares how she’s used the Mind Palace strategy.  She points out though, that not every strategy works for every person. A strategy that works for a person isn’t guaranteed to work every time.  It’s about having a tool box with different strategies that you can implement. 

Jessica also talks about her struggles with to-do lists.  She’s currently excited to use the app Epic Win. We challenge her to open her to-do list and share some of the overdue tasks on her list. As it turns out, correctly identifying the type of task something is actually helps with accomplishing the task and completing it.  Another alarm that might help with accomplishing tasks is Freaky Alarm. Throughout this discussion, she realizes her resistance to these types of tools.  She is afraid of being “boring” through routine. 

You’ll Learn:

• [6:35] - Jessica talks about starting her YouTube Channel, “How to ADHD”.
• [7:44] - Jessica expected to struggle with consistency and has been more consistent than she imagined she could be.  The ADHD community is also very forgiving.
• [9:38] - Her biggest fear was that people would think she was wrong.  She talks about giving herself the permission to make a mistake.
• [11:02] - No matter what you do and how perfectly you do it, it’s not for everybody.
• [12:50] - “If we can’t laugh at ADHD or ourselves, it’s just depressing.”
• [12:06] - Jessica tells an entertaining story about burning her face with a steamer.
• [16:47] - Jessica shares her personal story and her ADHD diagnosis.
• [21:45] - “If the solution is too simple, they’re trying to sell you something or it’s something that just worked for them.”
• [22:35] - “How to ADHD” or “How not to ADHD”?
• [23:26] - Jessica shares her relationship history, which is a symptom of ADHD that doesn’t get discussed enough.
• [31:00] - “People who express gratitude are happy. It’s not happy people who express gratitude.”
• [32:33] - Jessica talks about how she has more satisfaction with what she is doing now compared to her career as an actress.
• [33:30] - The difficulty of memorizing lines trying to learn things that you aren’t invested in.
• [36:29] - We don’t have a terrible memory. Our working memory is challenged.
• [42:25] - Jessica talks about how she uses a mind palace to help learn new things.
• [43:55] - “A kid with ADHD succeeds once and it’s held against him for the rest of his life.”
• [49:15] - Jessica McCabe sits in the hot seat! She is struggling with having the tools, but not wanting to use them.  Together, we work through this and find some solutions to this and other issues that Jessica is encountering in her life.

Audio books mentioned in this show:

Go Wild: Free Your Body and Mind from the Afflictions of Civilization  by John J Ratey - http://a.co/3vsQFME

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J Ratey - http://a.co/ha9zpDU

Get these titles through my Audible.com affiliate link:

http://www.audibletrial.com/ADHDreWired

ADHD reWired Coaching & Accountability Group

Reserve your registration call for the Fall Session of the group! Registration will be open for 8 days only:  August 22-27 & 29-31

Learn more about this group at: http://coachingrewired.com

ADHD reWired Tech eCourses and Mini Workshops

Tell us what technology or tool you would like to learn about: Complete our 3 minute survey below and you can win free coaching, a $50 gift card to Amazon or your preferred app store  or a productivity mystery box.

Learn more about our courses and workshops at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HDJCSSS

Stay tuned to ADHD reWired for follow-up sessions with past guests who have allowed Eric to help them and keep up with their progress.

Want to be a guest?

Hey! What about you? Do you have a story? Are you a Coach? Are you an ADHD Clinician? If you answered yes to any of these questions and you'd like to be a guest, schedule a pre-interview call here.

127 | Running Routines and the Drive to Be a Better Dad

This week’s guest, Andrew Wilcox is the creator of “Eat Live Dream ADD”, a blog about his experiences living with ADHD. It explores topics such as routine, exercise, running, health & wellness, motivation, fear, acceptance, self-loathing, sex, emotions, adult tantrums, relationships and parenting. Andrew is married and a father of three and the only person in his home diagnosed with ADHD. He was diagnosed at age 5 and took Ritalin on and off for most of his life until he was 28 and made the decision to regulate his ADHD through coffee, exercise and routine.

Medication: Having been diagnosed with ADHD at a very young age and having to take medication to manage it left a big impression on Andrew and his views towards medication. He tells the story of how he was shamed by a teacher in front of his whole class for failing to understand a math problem and then thrown out of class when he retaliated. Being singled out for being different from his peers and constantly being judged for it made him make the connection that medication was bad. After suddenly quitting medication at the age of 17, his life began to take a downward spiral until a friend intervened and had an honest conversation with him.  His father offered him a place to stay and to get him back on medication. Recognizing this as “fork in the road moment”, he got back on medication and began to piece his life together. Today it has been 7 years since he has given up medication in favor of managing ADHD through exercise, coffee and a routine. He has at this time, made the conscious decision that while medication can be effective for some individuals, he will choose a different path to regulating his ADHD. Regarding medication, Andrew believes that just as it is important to wean yourself off medication when you decide to stop taking it, it is important to get back on it gradually. He also believes that our bodies will take some time to adjust to the dosage and not giving up during this transition period is key to making the medication work for you.

Routine: According to Andrew the hardest thing about staying on an exercise routine is (1) allowing yourself to have an “off” day where you choose to do a less intense version of your regular workout (2) stop beating yourself up when you do break the routine and instead channel that frustration into your workout when you get back into it.

Coaching: In the coaching segment of the show, Andrew talks about how in the face of a stressful situation he is likely to react poorly and he would like to work on keeping this reaction in check. An example of this situation is when Andrew is trying to get his two daughters to bed. How can he keep himself from letting stress takeover in such a situation? Eric gave him the following strategies to help manage this:

1. Consider that in a scale of 0 – 10, your current stress levels have not gone beyond 6. This is a good time to use logic and reason to bring yourself back. A meditation/mindfulness practice will allow you to put yourself in the observer position and slow down.
2. Have a conversation with your family and come up with a code word that can help you recognize your increasing stress levels in a situation.
3. Channel your physical energy into exercise. Remove yourself from the situation
4. Allow yourself to make mistakes and forgive yourself when you do have a slip-up.
5. Come up with creative solutions to get the children to bed: different schedules for both kids, a 1 minute dance party, collaborating with them to come with a solution that works and reviewing this from time to time.

Andrew will follow up with Eric in 2 weeks to talk about how he is using these strategies to manage his stress reaction.

Experience the ADHD reWired Study Halls for FREE!

8th August, 2016 and 15th August, 2016 at 12:30 pm CDT

More information on our website: http://www.erictivers.com/adultstudyhall

ADHD reWired Coaching & Accountability Group

Reserve your registration call for the Fall Session of the group! Registration will be open for 8 days only:

August 22nd to 27th and 29th to 31st

http://coachingrewired.com

ADHD reWired Tech eCourses and Mini Workshops

Tell us what technology or tool you would like to learn about: Complete our 3 minute survey below and you can win free coaching, a $50 gift card to Amazon or your preferred app store  or a productivity mystery box.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HDJCSSS

Reach Andrew Wilcox:

Blog: https://eatlivedreamadd.wordpress.com/

Twitter: @ZillaDrew

Facebook: Eat Live Dream ADHD

Books mentioned during this episode:

The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children – Ross W. Greene PhD

Get this title through my Audible.com affiliate link:

http://www.audibletrial.com/ADHDreWired