In today’s show, Eric is joined by Dana Crews!  Dana has been a coach, educator, facilitator, and trainer in the behavioral health and mental health field for over 15 years.  She is currently combining her own personal practice, unique life experience, and education in the ancient wisdom traditions together with modern psychology and behavioral and neuroscience research in her newly-created mindfulness ADHD life-coaching business: Second Arrow Life Coaching! 

Dana is an advocate for invisible disabilities and neurodivergence.  She believes that knowing and connecting to your core values and practicing basic mindfulness and yogic techniques allows us to transform self-judgment and fear into constructive reflection, insight, compassion, health, and creative solutions.

• Find Dana on LinkedIn (click here!)
• Learn more about Dana at her website secondarrowlifecoaching.com (click here!)
• Find Dana on Instagram @secondarrowlifecoaching (click here!)

Questions/Topics: 

• [00:01:11] Introducing Dana 
• [00:03:08] What is the difference between satisfaction and contentment? 
• [00:05:03] Exploring contentedness and its different avenues 
• [00:06:32] Where is the overlap and what is separate between contentment and gratitude? 
• [00:11:51] A discussion about the discomfort in familiarity 
• [00:14:24] Is the struggle of holding onto contentment an issue of emotional self-regulation?  
• [00:20:00] How much of the struggle around contentment comes from societal ideas of feeling content and ADHD brains needing novelty? 
• [00:21:40] A discussion on Buddhist psychology and philosophy 
• [00:23:52] How does one strive through the lens of Buddhist philosophy? 
• [00:27:27] Not thinking about the future vs. over-planning for the future 
• [00:29:40] Overidentification, rumination, and separation of self 
• [00:31:32] How much of being able to experience being content has to do with resilience?  
• [00:39:40] Dana shares more about growing up, undiagnosed ADHD, travel, and meeting the Dalai Lama 
• [00:41:58] What is Ayurveda? 
• [00:44:33] How can self-awareness inform our understanding of our experiences? 
• [00:46:30] A moment of an idea of contentment 
• [00:48:26] Closing thoughts 

🌟 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 and want to take your ADHD management to the next level? 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!

In this episode, Hannah Choi joins Eric on the podcast!  Hannah is an Executive Function Coach for Beyond Book Smart and is the host of the podcast, Focus Forward: An Executive Function Podcast.  Hannah works with both college-aged clients and adult clients, and lives in Connecticut with her husband and two kids.  Her executive function strengths are time management and cognitive flexibility, and her challenges are working memory and attention.  Hannah also loves to read, watch Korean dramas, exercise, travel, and spend time outdoors! 

You’ll hear about the importance of developing a relationship with your professors, strategies and skills for self-advocacy, the benefits of breaking down big projects, and emotional regulation to access executive function skills.  Then, you’ll also hear about the importance of maintaining sleep, nutrition, and exercise, managing medication, a warning about due dates, course load, schedule design, and more! 

• Learn more about Hannah at beyondbooksmart.com (click here!)
• Listen to Focus Forward at beyondbooksmart.com/podcast (click here!)

Questions/Topics: 

• [00:01:02] Introducing Hannah 
• [00:02:14] How did Hannah begin working with college students? 
• [00:04:56] Hannah shares her experiences in college while questioning her abilities 
• [00:05:44] “If I knew then what I know now….” 
• [00:07:18] A discussion on self-advocacy while in college and getting over the fear of getting to know your professors
• [00:11:45] Hannah shares a tool she uses with clients 
• [00:13:56] Breaking down Steps/Time/Mapping
• [00:18:076] Finding balance between college work and socializing
• [00:22:44] A discussion on emotional regulation and accessing executive function skills 
• [00:30:21] Managing ADHD medication and other mental health treatments 
• [00:32:53] What are some other important accommodations that students can ask for? 
• [00:41:56] Eric shares an experience and a warning about (a lack of) due dates
• [00:44:47] How important is course load and schedule design? 
• [00:49:14] Navigating interests in college 
• [00:51:41] Closing Thoughts

🌟 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 and want to take your ADHD management to the next level? 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!

In this episode, Eric is joined by Vernon T. Foster II!  Vernon is an author, podcaster, and self-proclaimed Sommelier of video marketing.  Diagnosed with ADHD just over 2 years ago, Vernon is passionate about sharing his experience as a black man living with ADHD and creating community.

You’ll hear Vernon share his story from life as a kid to today, what prompted him to write his book, what it’s like to have to walk out the door as a black man in America while navigating ADHD, and dealing with challenges because of the layers society has placed on black American men.  

• Learn more about Vernon T. Foster II on Linkedin (click here!) or at his video marketing website at vernontfoster.com (click here!)
• Get Vernon’s book at adhdblack.com - The Black Man’s Handbook to Living with ADHD: 5 Ways to Create a Better Tomorrow No Matter How You’re Feeling Today (click here!)
• Check out his Instagram @vernononvideo [Instagram] 

Questions/Topics: 

• [00:01:06] Introducing Vernon and his continuing process of figuring himself out and his ADHD journey
• [00:02:56] Vernon shares his experiences with various jobs and getting fired 
• [00:04:47] A conversation about what led Vernon to ADHD, connecting the dots, and life as the “token black kid” in school
• [00:08:09] Experiencing covert racism 
• [00:10:02] Vernon shares about his time at Florida State University and a discussion on testing 
• [00:10:50] Eric and Vernon on Scantrons 
• [00:14:44] The Stroop Test 
• [00:16:34] ADHD medication, college, and an important message 
• [00:20:45] Eric shares a test-taking strategy 
• [00:21:38] Life after an ADHD diagnosis / A shocking statistic / What prompted Vernon to write his book
• [00:23:35] Vernon shares his reaction about the ADHD diagnosis statistics on African American and Latino children
• [00:23:58] “Why didn’t anyone tell me this sh*t?” 
• [00:25:19] Eric asks Vernon, “As a black man, diagnosed later with ADHD, [...] what do you think is maybe not understood by most people?” 
• [00:25:57] “The world is already against you, the odds are already stacked against you” / Other challenges navigating the world as a black man  
• [00:27:52] Understanding ADHD and how it affects every aspect of Vernon’s life
• [00:29:34] The challenges of navigating the world with something very visible alongside something that is invisible and how one affects the other
• [00:32:02] “A lot of people who look like me…” / Level the playing field / Hoarding information and wealth and perpetuating the cycle
• [00:33:36] “It’s my duty to be a steward of those things to help support other people that look like me, people that also don’t look like me.”
• [00:39:34] Vernon shares his wisdom, tips, and being a work in progress 
• [00:42:14] Tapping into the tools after an ADHD diagnosis 
• [00:44:20] Managing emotions, emotional intelligence, and taking your power back / Mindfulness 
• [00:48:17] Support, family, and community / “It’s really hard to do this alone.” 
• [00:52:55] Communicating what you need when you have ADHD 
• [00:57:33] Closing thoughts  

Resources & Honorable Mentions:

• ADHD reWired Episode 333: Race-Based Trauma, RSD & ADHD with Romanza McAllister LCSW (listen here!)
• Website: blackgirllostkeys.com - René Brooks: Living as a Black Woman with ADHD  (click here!) 
• “How do we become better stewards of the gifts and the opportunities that we have to show other people that it’s possible? To invest in other people?” - Vernon 

🌟 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 and want to take your ADHD management to the next level? 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!

Join the ADHD reWired Team every second Tuesday of the month for our monthly Live Q&A!

Go to adhdrewired.com/events to register so you can join the ADHD reWired Team live on Zoom and ask your ADHD-related questions!

In this episode, you’ll get answers to questions about entrepreneurship, getting unstuck, learning from failures, setting boundaries, how coaching can help, systems as an artistic process, and more!  

You can even get an uninterrupted listening experience of this episode and all ADHD reWired episodes when you become a Patron at $5.00 a month or more by going to adhdrewired.com/Patreon! You might even catch some extra questions when you become a Patron and tune into the Patreon-only private podcast feed! 

Questions/Topics:

• [00:01:10] Introducing today’s panelists!
• [00:02:45] A listener, who was diagnosed in February 2023 and works in education, asks the panelists about using their skills to help others - specifically those with ADHD.  What advice does the panel have to get unstuck and get started?  
• [00:05:46] Eric asks what the listener would do if they were asked the same question.
• [00:12:08] Brian chimes in about struggling to find time to launch a business outside of work.
• [00:16:01] “How can I find more clarity and do something that’s going to be really powerful so I can follow that instead of doing way-too-many-things?” 
• [00:18:19] Faisal talks about values and short-term goals. 
• [00:21:35] Laura discusses the differences between excitement, overwhelm, getting overwhelmed from being excited, and feelings of boredom. 
• [00:26:25] A listener, who is also a mom of two young children, is having difficulty “getting back into the groove” of their freelance work.  What strategies do the panelists have to bounce back, and could the listener have time for group coaching? 
• [00:28:51] Eric asks about self-care strategies. 
• [00:30:56] Kristin talks about the impact on parents who have kids with special needs and medical needs. 
• [00:34:13] Laura addresses how the coaching groups can help. 
• [00:35:59] Eric asks about having boundaries around work-blocks and self-care. 
• [00:39:09] A discussion about our inner critics and gardening! 
• [00:44:02] “Can [ADHD reWired’s coaching groups] help people uncover what their goals/wants are? I think not knowing what I want and indecision are my biggest issues.”  
• [00:45:37] Laura talks about people-pleasing, going with the flow, finding out who we are, and uncovering what’s truly important to us. 
• [00:47:01] “Group is an experiential learning experience… Our biases [don’t] allow us to see how we’re doing these things that [aren’t] making it easier for us to move towards success.” - Faisal 
• [00:48:58] Kristin addresses bringing life to group-coaching to integrate tools and strategies. 
• [00:50:22] Brian talks about the differences between individual coaching and group coaching. 
• [00:53:01] Kristin asks about creating systems.
• [00:55:40] Systems as an artistic process.
• [00:58:07] Closing thoughts.

Resources & Honorable Mentions:

• ADHD reWired Episode 309 with Russell Ramsay: Rethinking Adult ADHD (Click Here!)

🌟 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 and want to take your ADHD management to the next level? 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!

In today’s show, Caroleen Verly joins Eric on the podcast!  Caroleen is a former data analyst turned business owner and financial coach who loves spreadsheets, numbers, problem solving, and data!  She also loves working with clients to find order in the chaos of their financial lives.  Caroleen has a degree in economics from Yale and spent the first 12 years of her career doing data analysis and data visualization.  In addition to her business, Caroleen is also a mom to three young children! 

• Check out Caroleen’s website UntangleYourMoney.com (click here!)
• Learn more about Caroleen at her website (here)
• Find UntangleYourMoney on Instagram at @adhdmoney (click here!)

Questions/Topics: 

• [00:01:10] Introducing Caroleen! 
• [00:02:26] What does it mean to create good systems that work by default? 
• [00:03:55] A discussion on automation, bills, payments, resistance, and safety nets
• [00:07:32] Dedicating accounts, savings, and putting money in the right spots for different purposes
• [00:16:57] Banking and ADHD-friendly interfaces 
• [00:18:37] Caroleen tries the Qube Money app (click here!)
• [00:21:30] A discussion about credit cards and managing them successfully 
• [00:25:02] Impulsive spending and the impact of credit scores 
• [00:27:57] “The cheaper option is not always cheaper!”
• [00:38:27] Ways to start saving in the midst of debt and living paycheck to paycheck 
• [00:41:30] Cutting costs vs. making more money: Which one is better?  
• [00:45:56] Resources & closing thoughts

Resources & Honorable Mentions:

• Book (and Editor’s choice!):  I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi (on Goodreads)
• Website:  I Will Teach You to be Rich at IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com (click here!)

🌟 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 and want to take your ADHD management to the next level? 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!