Today, Eric is joined by Nate!  Nate is a program manager for the Department of Defense and a graduate student at Columbia University.  He received an ADHD diagnosis in 2016 at age 24 and a bi-polar diagnosis in 2022.  After better understanding his mental abilities and inabilities, he realized how incompatible he was with the person the world expected him to be.  This experience has led Nate down a path to highlight the tremendous potential and value that neurodivergent individuals can bring to an organization despite the story someone’s resume may or may not tell.  

You’ll hear about how Nate found success despite being ‘punted’ from 5 schools, how education and opportunities are geared towards the ‘majority’, having a responsibility to our community to enable the changes we’d like to see, and how Nate received his ADHD diagnosis during active duty.  Then, you’ll also hear how being neurodivergent can bring different perspectives to the table, why age or rank doesn’t increase or decrease the worth of someone’s perspective, being curious and resilient, and that you don’t have to have a degree to offer a valuable insight. 

Get in touch with Nate at nsr2143@columbia.edu 

Other Questions/Topics Answered in this Episode:

• [00:02:16] How did Nate, a late-diagnosed ADHDer, become a program manager for the Department of Defense? 

• [00:03:09]  “Quantification does not equal the qualification” 

• [00:5:55] Why was Leadership as Nate’s undergrad important? What about college? 

• [00:18:34] What does it take for someone who’s been fired multiple times, tried higher-education multiple times, to have that resilient spirit to keep on going?

• [00:26:52] “I never looked at your rank or your position and thought that made you smarter or have a better opinion than me.” 

• [00:27:12] Speaking up and presenting a different view of the world in a diplomatic way

• [00:29:14] Experiencing pushback, managing those encounters, and reflecting on those who are pushing back

• [00:31:09] How does one navigate a scenario where they’ve pushed too hard or misread a situation?

• [00:35:53] Nate shares his experiences with bi-polar and how it shows up for him 

• [00:42:28] How does Nate manage the cyclical nature of bi-polar? 

• [00:48:14] Closing thoughts, the importance of curiosity and resilience, and how you can reach Nate 

Resources & Honorable Mentions:

• “Your Potential can only rise to the occasions its presented” - Nate

• “Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine.” - Alan Turing 

• Book - - An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison (on Goodreads)

Check out the Other Podcasts on the ADHD reWired Podcast Network:

• adhdessentials.com ADHD Essentials with Brendan Mahan
• hackingyouradhd.com Hacking Your ADHD with Will Curb
• adhddiversified.ca ADHD Diversified with MJ Siemens

Have you heard about our Adult Study Hall Community?

• Go to adultstudyhall.com to join our ADHD-friendly body-doubling community!
• Interested in group coaching? Go to coachingrewired.com to get all the up-to-date information on the upcoming season of ADHD reWired's award-winning Coaching & Accountability groups!

The spring season of ADHD reWired's award-winning intensive Coaching & Accountability Groups starts in less than one week, going from March 30th through to June 8th!

Want to get to know our coaches?  Give episode 475 a listen where you'll hear from Kat Hoyer and even more from Kristin Marts! 

If you love what you hear, or if you've been on the fence for a while and you're ready to take the leap, there's still time to join us! 

Go to coachingrewired.com to get started with your pre-registration process so you can join us for our last spring registration event on Monday, March 27th at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern. 

If that time doesn’t work for you, then we are also holding an all-day open-house event on Tuesday, March 28th from 7am Pacific / 10am Eastern, until 2pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern! 

In this bonus non-stop episode, Eric is joined by fellow ADHD reWired Coaches: Kat Hoyer and Kristin Marts!  

You may have heard Kat Hoyer on the podcast before and her journey, first as a coaching group member in season 9 of ADHD reWired’s Coaching & Accountability Groups, to becoming a peer mentor, now an ADHD reWired coach!  Want to know more about Kat?  We have ADHD reWired podcast episodes with Kat listed below! 

Then, we have Kristin Marts, who you may have met or heard from in our Live Q&A episodes!  But, if you haven’t heard much about Kristin, then this is the episode you need to hear!  Kristin is involved in musical theater, is a dancer by trade, is a licensed clinical social worker, and a loving mom to special-needs kids.  

You’ll also hear about her growth journey as a member of the coaching groups, how she started listening to ADHD reWired, and how being a dancer masked her ADHD.  Finally, you’ll hear about her experiences as a peer mentor of the coaching groups, the power of flexibility, then diving into the role of a coach.  

Learn More about ADHD reWired’s Coaching & Accountability Groups at coachingrewired.com! Our 2023 spring season of coaching & accountability groups starts on Thursday, March 30th! https://coachingrewired.com

⭐️⭐️⭐️

That’s coachingrewired.com to get your name added to our interest list so you can join us for our final registration event on Monday, March 27th at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern!  Can’t make it?  Then keep an eye out for another announcement for an open-house event on Tuesday, March 27th! 

Resources & Honorable Mentions:

• Episodes with Kat Hoyer: 

• Episode 175: We’re Like-Brained, Not Just Like-Minded (listen here)

• Episode 191: What You Might Not KNow about ADHD reWired Coaching Groups (listen here)

• Episode 399: Workplace Accommodations: Do I Need to Disclose? (listen here)

• Episode 413: From HR to ArC (listen here)

• Episode 469: Masterminding Finishing and Creating Processes with Janelle in the Hot Seat (Part 1) - also featuring Kristin! (listen here)

• Episode 470: Masterminding Finishing and Creating Processes with Janelle in the Hot Seat (Part 2) - also featuring Kristin! (listen here)

Check out the Other Podcasts on the ADHD reWired Podcast Network:

• adhdessentials.com ADHD Essentials with Brendan Mahan

• hackingyouradhd.com Hacking Your ADHD with Will Curb

• adhddiversified.ca ADHD Diversified with MJ Siemens

Have you heard about our Adult Study Hall Community?

• Go to adultstudyhall.com to join our ADHD-friendly body-doubling community! 

Emily Sussman joins Eric on the podcast today to talk about mindfulness and reducing stress!  Emily, who is a mom and also has ADHD, has over 20 years of experience empowering others, uses mindfulness daily, and is a certified instructor in mindfulness-based stress reduction.  When asked why she practices daily, Emily says, “It’s like breathing!  You must breathe to survive, hence: mindfulness.” 

In this episode, you’ll hear about what a “resource” room was, how Emily became an advocate, her experiences going through special education - both as a kid and as a parent, and why saw less success for neurodiverse brains in public schools.  Then, you’ll hear Emily’s definition of mindfulness, how she got started, the struggles she faced through schooling and learning, and then walks us through a meditation! 

Get in touch with Emily:

• LinkedIn Emily Sussman 

• Email: emilysussmancounseling@gmail.com  

Other Questions/Topics Answered in this Episode:

• [00:01:11] Introducing Emily & an ADHD moment 

• [00:02:48] How did Emily get into mindfulness-based stress reduction? 

• [00:05:19] As a kid who went through special education, how is it for Emily now, navigating as a parent?

• [00:07:16] Emily’s observations from public school to alternative schooling 

• [00:11:51] Emily shares how ADHD was the final piece of the puzzle 

• [00:21:32] What is Emily’s definition of mindfulness?  What is mindfulness-based stress reduction? 

• [00:26:55] Happiness and how mindfulness gave Emily a sense of purpose 

• [00:27:16] Emily shares a relatable ADHD struggle about explaining, expressing, and perspective 

• [00:28:17] What is a body scan meditation?  Why is it helpful? 

• [00:31:39] “There’s no such thing as clearing your mind!” 

• [00:32:56] Eric shares the importance of self-care, experiencing the benefits, and the impact of repetition

• [00:41:31] Prefacing a mindfulness meditation and suggestions before beginning 

• [00:45:27] Emily leads us through a meditation

• [01:00:17] Wrapping up and closing thoughts 

Resources & Honorable Mentions:

• “Once you begin to come out of your shell, that’s when you’re going to start feeling good about yourself, that’s where you’re gonna learn how to learn, and then you find your passion.” - Emily 

Check out the Other Podcasts on the ADHD reWired Podcast Network:

• adhdessentials.com ADHD Essentials with Brendan Mahan

• hackingyouradhd.com Hacking your ADHD with Will Curb

• adhddiversified.ca ADHD Diversified with MJ Siemens

⭐️ Registration for our spring season is happening now! Learn more about our award-winning intensive online coaching and accountability groups at coachingrewired.com! 

If you’re ready to get your ADHD reWired, that’s coachingrewired.com to start your pre-registration process so you can join us for our last spring 2023 registration event on Thursday, March 23rd at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern! ⭐️

Join the ADHD reWired Team every second Tuesday of the month for our monthly Live Q&A!  Listen to this episode uninterrupted by ads when you become a Patron at $5.00 a month or more by going to adhdrewired.com/Patreon! 

Questions & Topics in this Episode:

• [00:03:16] A listener asks about helping college students with rigid thinking and flexibility

• [00:10:40] “Time management, project management, time-blindness and distractions are weak spots in my daily work.  Where would you feel is the best place to try and put my efforts in preparation for a return to the office?” 

• [00:16:59] A listener who is starting their ADHD journey asks about being self-employed and getting themselves to work.  

• [00:29:48] “I would like to hear from the panel about how adults with ADHD can manage/heal the grief and trauma associated with the lifelong losses incurred by the previously unmanaged condition.” 

• [00:38:42] What are some ideas to make kitchen cleaning more fun and exciting?

• [00:49:52] Differential diagnosis for adults: Are there mental health or neurological conditions/combinations of conditions that causes an adult to display the entire range of EF (executive function) challenges in adults?  How can impaired adults advocate for a diagnosis and get support in the case nobody in their life noticed symptoms in their childhood? 

• [00:55:17] “What are the helpful visual cues to help keep track of time?”

• [01:01:24] A moment of dad & plenty of laughs

Resources & Honorable Mentions:

• Time Timer https://www.timetimer.com 

• Time Tracker® Mini https://www.learningresources.com/item-time-trackerr-mini 

• App (iOS): It’s Almost Time for iOS https://apps.apple.com/us/app/its-almost-time/id437756921  

Check out the Other Podcasts on the ADHD reWired Podcast Network:

• adhdessentials.com with Brendan Mahan

• hackingyouradhd.com with Will Curb

• adhddiversified.ca with MJ Siemens

Today, Eric is joined by Ian Siegel, who has been doing test prep and college consulting for a decade.  In that time, he has delivered some of the highest improvements on SATs and ACTs in the country, and has helped over 90% of the students he worked with get into their top-choice colleges.  Ian is also the author of “School Sucks, Your Child Doesn’t: The Secret to Unlocking Your Child’s Untapped Potential” where he details his philosophy and illustrates the overlooked reality that every leader, thinker, and doer has had an expert tutor or mentor. 

In this episode, you’ll hear Eric and Ian talk about adult learners, why having a high IQ doesn’t necessarily make it easier for someone to learn, emotional intelligence, how stress impedes our learning states, why self-judgment prevents learning and the importance of self-acceptance. 

Learn More about Ian:

• Get in touch at ian-siegel.com https://ian-siegel.com 

• Check out his book: School Sucks, Your Child Doesn’t: The Secret to Unlocking Your Child’s Untapped Potential by Ian Siegel on Goodreads 

• Website: streamlinelearning.com https://streamlinelearning.com 

Other Questions/Topics Answered in this Episode:

• [00:02:07] “Brilliance comes with baggage.”

• [00:04:17] Ian shares his learning journey and an early experience as a new tutor with an ESL student

• [00:13:41] “The people who have the most EQ are the ones who have the best capacity to think from other people’s perspectives.”

• [00:22:20] Giftedness and reverse stigma 

• [00:23:25] How do we help people who have different learning styles actually learn, especially dealing with the years of school trauma? 

• [00:30:09] Two archetypes that come out of ADHD and anxiety 

• [00:31:05] Schismogenesis, how we fail to learn from each other, and lack of self-acceptance

• [00:32:10] What do we do about defensiveness? 

• [00:34:46] “Learning with neurodivergent brains depends on our ability to hold space for uncertainty, ambiguity, and being able to stay curious.” 

• [00:43:34] What is the impact of a stressed brain on learning? 

• [00:46:50] Feelings are not facts, and intuiting vs. projecting 

• [00:48:21] When working with students, how much time does Ian spend working on emotional self regulation? 

• [00:51:50] Closing thoughts & learning more about Ian

Resources & Honorable Mentions:

• Book: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber

• “Learning comes not when you’re stressed or under the gun, but when you unconditionally accept yourself.” - Ian Siegel 

• “Feelings are not facts.” - Eric Tivers

Check out the Other Podcasts on the ADHD reWired Podcast Network:

• adhdessentials.com with Brendan Mahan

• hackingyouradhd.com with Will Curb

• adhddiversified.ca with MJ Siemens

⭐️ Registration for our spring season is happening now! Learn more about our award-winning intensive online coaching and accountability groups at coachingrewired.com!  If you’re ready to get your ADHD reWired, that’s coachingrewired.com to start your pre-registration process so you can join us for our next spring 2023 registration event on Thursday, March 9th at 12pm Pacific / 3pm Eastern.