Last updated: December 22nd, 2019

Note: This article was originally intended to be published as a short book. But, I’m now releasing it on ADHD Boss 100% free of charge. This article is a gift to my readers who have been amazing over the years. I love you all!

Introduction

ADHD Secrets is a beefy article that’s designed to give you a fresh perspective on how anyone can start living a fun, meaningful, and happy lifestyle with ADHD in just 30 days.

If you’re willing to absorb the information in this article, and act on it promptly, then you will experience positive results. I can promise you that.

I’ve used the exact information in this article to go from a depressed and directionless college student, to a successful business owner with more fun, happiness, love, and freedom than I ever could have imagined.

Of course, my predominantly inattentive ADHD has created big challenges for me at times.

But, if you’re willing to take action in spite of the challenges that ADHD creates for you, then you will go far.

I genuinely hope that you take this information to heart, and apply it to your life.

Because, by reading this article, you’ll enjoy the following 8 life-enhancing benefits:

• Find out why you have a legitimate medical excuse for living a fun, crazy, and adventurous lifestyle that 90% of people won’t understand

• Understand why you must create a vision for your life right now (before it’s too late)

• Learn how to craft a strategy that leads you to your ideal life

• Find out how to be productive most of the time (my personal favorite rule)

• Learn how to stop ADHD from impeding your personal growth and professional success

• Know why you must do whatever it takes to enter an “upward spiral” and start winning

• Get my personal thoughts on ADHD medication, natural remedies, & other “lifestyle enhancers”

• Learn how to apply this information to your life over the next 30 days, and achieve a lifetime of success with ADHD

Let’s get started with a high-level overview of your life…

Why you have a legitimate medical excuse for living a fun, crazy, and adventurous lifestyle that 90% of people won’t understand

If you have ADHD, then you were never supposed to “fit in” or live a normal life.

Having ADHD means that your brain is biologically different, and doesn’t produce enough dopamine by default.⁽¹⁾

So, the normal rules of society don’t apply to you. Of course, the laws of society obviously still apply…but that’s a different story.

Here’s what I mean by this:

Because you have ADHD, you also have a unique prefrontal cortex that demands extremely high levels of stimulation and novelty.

You need plenty of action, adventure, and excitement in order to truly engage your mind.

Therefore, living a monotonous lifestyle isn’t going to mesh with your brain chemistry in the least bit.

For example, I bet that you feel like you’re at your personal best when you have a lot of things going on in your life.

When you’re busy with friends, family, travel, adventure, and life in general, this is what your ADHD brain absolutely loves.

People with ADHD thrive under chaos.

But, the people who don’t have ADHD aren’t going to understand this. And that’s completely fine.

It’s important for you to acknowledge that your ADHD brain requires frequent stimulation, because this will help you carve out a lifestyle that works with your ADHD brain, rather than against it…

When you embrace your brain’s need for constant stimulation and novelty, you’ll find ways to make your life with ADHD something that resembles an adventure.

• Like to embark on weekend getaways? This extra stimulation is perfect for your ADHD brain

• Want to run a “side business” after your day job? Your ADHD brain can probably handle it

• Feel the need to travel? Traveling is one of the best “ADHD gifts” that you can give yourself

Start viewing your life as an adventure today.

Because, this is how life with ADHD is truly meant to be lived.

Why you must create a vision for your life right now (before it’s too late)

Now, you know that life with ADHD is meant to be lived differently.

So, I want to help you get specific about the vision that you will create for your life.

But, to help you understand why you must create a vision for your life, I have to put things in perspective for you…

The average American lifespan is 78.74 years.⁽²⁾ This is equal to 28,740 days.

So, the average American will experience about 30,000 days on this Earth, give or take.

Depending on your age, a decent chunk of those days have already been spent.

I don’t say this to scare you.

Rather, I want you to get excited about the prospect of taking action, and living your ideal lifestyle before time flies by, and you’re 78.74 years old.

By that time, it will be too late.

But, assuming that you’ve been on this planet for 78 years or less, I have good news for you…

You still have time to create a vision for your life, and make an impact for your family, friends, and most importantly…for yourself.

So, here are some questions that will help you create an authentic vision for your life:

• Where are the places that you want to go?
• What are the things that you want to do?
• Who are the people that you want to surround yourself with?
• What do you want your life to look like in a few years?

You have to answer these questions for yourself.

Because, if you don’t answer these questions for yourself, then other people will be happy to answer these questions for you.

In other words, if you don’t decide what you want to get out of your life, other people will make those decisions on your behalf.

Trust me when I say that you don’t want other people to dictate what your future will look like.

It’s up to you to create the vision that you want for your life, and then pursue that vision with all of the energy that you have.

So, if you haven’t done so already, please take a moment to imagine exactly what you want your life to look like.

• What kind of lifestyle do you want to have?
• Do you want to live by the ocean, in the city, or in the countryside?
• Who do you want to wake up next to?
• Is ADHD going to be a limiting factor in your life, or an obstacle that you overcome?
• What will you be doing on a day-to-day basis?

Just about every successful person understands the immense power of visualization.

You have to be able to see your future in your mind’s eye, in order to make your life’s vision a reality.

Once you have a clear visual understanding of what you want your life to look like, then you’ll be ready to craft a strategy that leads you to your life vision.

How to craft a strategy that leads you to your ideal life

I hope that you’ve taken a few moments to think about and visualize what you want your future to look like.

Because, once you’ve created a clear vision for your life, your next step is to formulate a strategy that actually leads you to your destination.

To create a successful strategy that leads you to your life vision, there’s really just one important question that you have to consider:

Are your actions leading you closer to your life vision?

Some people think that you can just visualize your ideal life, and then allow the “law of attraction” to do all of the heavy lifting for you…

Unfortunately, visualizing your perfect life only makes up one aspect of the “success with ADHD” equation.

Yes, you have to visualize your ideal life. This is important.

But, you also have to take the relevant actions that move you closer to your life vision.

Here’s a very simple example of what I mean by this.

If it has always been your dream to purchase a small condo by the beach in Hawaii, then spending too much time in Nebraska could actually hurt your chances of achieving your life vision.

But, if you start taking small actions that move you closer to your life vision, then you’ll eventually get to where you want to be.

There’s almost no way that you can fail using this formula.

We live in a free society that allows you to achieve just about anything that you want, as long as you’re willing to do the work (assuming you live in America, or any other Western country).

So, in our hypothetical scenario, you could perform the following relevant actions to eventually purchase a small condo by the beach in Hawaii:

• Update your resume, and ensure that your resume portrays you as a great job candidate

• Search for relevant jobs in Hawaii

• Apply for jobs in Hawaii

• Get a job in Hawaii

• Save money for 5-10 years while you work at your new job

• Purchase a small condo by the beach in Hawaii

This is obviously an extreme oversimplification. There are literally millions of different strategies that you could use to purchase a small condo by the beach in Hawaii (for our hypothetical scenario).

But, the main idea should be clear.

When you break down your life vision into small, actionable chunks, your dreams no longer seem unattainable. Even if you’re struggling with ADHD.

If your life vision is something completely unrelated to living by a beach in Hawaii, the same principles still apply:

1. Visualize what you want your life to look like
2. Think about the specific actions that will move you closer to your life vision (I recommend writing these actions down and referencing them regularly)
3. Execute your plan (be patient, because this could take some time)
4. Be willing to overcome the obstacles that will inevitably arise (stay focused on your life vision)

I find that most people with ADHD are extremely capable of visualizing, strategizing, and executing a life plan.

Keep in mind that you can achieve just about anything that you want in life.

ADHD is not a limiting factor in the sense that it will stop you from living out your dreams.

ADHD will create challenges for you (like it has done for me, and millions of other people).

But, with enough patience and persistence, you will eventually get to where you want to be in life.

When you begin to doubt yourself (it will happen), don’t forget to ask yourself the magic question:

Are your actions leading you closer to your life vision?

If the answer is “no” – then you need to make adjustments until you’re back on track.

If the answer is “yes” – then you just have to keep pushing forward.

My personal favorite rule: “What’s the most productive thing that I can do right now?”

So far, it should be clear that you must do a few things in order to transform your life with ADHD.

You need to:

• Have a clear vision for your life (know what you want to get out of life)
• Adjust your actions accordingly, so that your actions always lead you towards your life vision
• Carry out your plan in spite of the obstacles that ADHD creates
• Try your very best to enjoy the process, and have as much fun as possible during your life’s “adventure”

That’s the basic formula that leads to success with ADHD in 99% of cases.

However, there will be some major setbacks that you encounter during your journey. And, I think it’s important to talk about these setbacks.

Because, the truth is that ADHD creates some serious difficulties that can occasionally stop you from living the life that you deserve.

For example, the most difficult aspect of the “success with ADHD” formula involves carrying out your life plan despite the obstacles that ADHD creates.

It’s easy to visualize an amazing life, and create a plan that leads you to your ideal life.

The hard part is actually carrying out your plan for a number of weeks, months, or even years…

To add to this difficulty, many people with ADHD have made quitting a habit due to factors like:

• Life-long shame
• Guilt
• Repeated failures
• Limiting beliefs
• Negative self-talk

I’ve dealt with all of these problems that often come with ADHD.

But, there’s one question that always brings me back to center, and helps me focus on performing the specific actions that lead me closer to my life vision…

The question that I frequently ask myself is:

“What’s the most productive thing that I can do right now?”

If you repeat this question to yourself enough, and truly internalize this question, it will serve you extremely well throughout your lifetime.

Asking yourself this question is so powerful because it forces you to consider all of your possible options, and then perform the single action that provides you with the best results.

You might want to ask yourself this question when you’re creating your daily to-do list.

Because, here’s a pretty harsh (but necessary) reality check:

Our time on this Earth is extremely limited.

I want to make the most of my very limited time on this Earth, and perform the actions that will have the greatest possible impact for humanity, and my own life.

This is why I obsess over productivity during the work week.

If you hope to live an amazing life with ADHD, then you might have to adopt a similar mindset.

For inspiration, here are some examples of genuinely productive actions that you can take every single day:

• Single-tasking – Focusing on just one important project at a time
• Performing “high-leverage” activities – Which actions account for your biggest results in life?
• Outsourcing distracting tasks – Like cleaning, cooking, or doing taxes
• Exercising – Because investing in your health should always be your #1 priority

Keep in mind that you should always do the most productive thingthat aligns with your life vision.

So, if you catch yourself binge-reading Wikipedia when you know that you should be working on an important project, you can think about how you’re actually moving in the opposite direction of your life vision.

On the other hand, if you’re focused on doing the most productive thing all the time (during normal working hours) then you’ll eventually find procrastination to be painful, because you’ll realize that procrastination isn’t helping you get to where you want to be in life.

Here’s an important caveat:

Sometimes, doing the most productive thing has nothing to do with work at all.

If you’ve worked your butt off all week, then your brain absolutely needs a few days of rest and relaxation in order to recharge.

So, if you’re a hard-worker with ADHD, then you’ll find these activities to be just as productive as work:

• Massages
• Spa days
• Drinking red wine with friends
• Going to a comedy club
• Having sex
• Booking vacations in new cities (this stimulates your prefrontal cortex)

I find that women are the best about setting aside time for self-care.

Women absolutely love soaking in the bathtub, hitting the spa, and splitting a bottle of wine with friends.

Men usually skip these activities for whatever reason (this isn’t a good thing).

Either way, practicing self-care is highly-productive, because taking care of yourself makes for a healthier, happier, and all-around better life with ADHD.

How to stop ADHD from impeding your personal growth and professional success

Let’s talk about how you can “freeze out” ADHD from negatively affecting your life.

First of all, it’s worth noting that people with ADHD can enjoy amazing personal growth and professional success in life.

But, you have to understand something important about how your ADHD brain works.

Most people still don’t realize that ADHD is actually a disorder of control.

ADHD affects your executive function, and makes it difficult for you to control your actions and emotions.⁽³⁾

This is why people with ADHD often do impulsive things, chase bright and shiny objects, and feel distracted all the time. This is also why people with ADHD often find it difficult to start on tasks, and focus on the relevant actions that move you closer to your life vision.

So, how exactly are you supposed to stop ADHD from negatively impacting your life?

Well, here’s a simple formula that eliminates a lot of pain and uncertainty from your life:

Winning Systems + Dopamine = Success with ADHD.

I’m a big believer in building “winning systems”.

And, I’m an even bigger believer in the fact that people with ADHD need to produce dopamine in a healthy way (remember that your ADHD brain lacks dopamine).

When you combine winning systems with healthy dopamine production, you get a beautiful formula for absolutely crushing most of the obstacles that ADHD creates.

I’ve already written an entire article about how you can build winning systems with ADHD.

But, I’ll give you a brief summary of how you can build winning systems with ADHD right here…

Basically, I believe that setting goals doesn’t work for people with ADHD, and for most people in general.

This is because goals make you feel bad whether you achieve them or not. Just think about how bad goals make you feel. Goals generally put you under immense pressure to live up to unrealistic expectations.

I don’t like setting goals.

And, I’ve personally achieved much better results from executing simple systems that work. I would feel like a hypocrite if I recommended goal-setting, when goal-setting doesn’t even work for me.

Systems work for ADHD. I promise.

Creating a system simply means that you have a loose routine that you perform every day which moves you closer to your life vision.

When you have a system that works for you, then you shouldn’t have to think about it too much. You just execute your system, and it gets you positive results.

When you have ADHD, your goal is to create as many successful systems as possible. You essentially want to automate your life, so that your ADHD doesn’t create problems for you.

Here are some examples of winning systems:

• Do 40 push-ups every morning before you shower (health system)
• Create art for 30 minutes before you sleep (creative system)
• Write two pages every day for your book (“side hustle” system)
• Meet up with friends every Thursday & Saturday night for drinks (social system)
• Attend Toastmasters every Tuesday to improve your public speaking skills (personal development system)

The key to building winning systems with ADHD revolves around knowing the specific actions that you need to take in order to move closer to your life vision.

Your systems should ideally be unique to you, because your systems will depend on the unique vision that you want to achieve for your life.

There’s absolutely no need to “set goals” when you can create winning systems that move you closer to your life vision.

Building winning systems removes a lot of the pain that comes with ADHD, because you no longer have to deal with hesitation, uncertainty, and performance anxiety.

When you think in terms of systems, you already know what you need to do in order to make small daily strides towards your life vision.

Here’s the only tricky part:

You still need to feel motivated in order to execute your daily systems.

So, this is where dopamine comes into play. Your ADHD brain needs dopamine in order to function properly.

Getting the dopamine that your brain craves is an extremely important part of having the energy and drive to carry out your daily systems.

Luckily, it’s actually pretty easy for you to get the dopamine that your brain desperately needs, so that you can feel motivated and energized to carry out your daily systems, and ultimately move closer to your life vision.

You have plenty of dopamine-boosting options to choose from, such as:

• Exercising (specifically cardio)
• Novelty-seeking (travel / adventure)
• Eating healthy dopamine foods
• Using ADHD medication (low therapeutic doses are ideal)
• Racking up small wins (I’ve written much more about this below)

You have to remember that your ADHD brain lacks dopamine by default. So, you must find healthy ways to get the dopamine that your brain craves.

Dopamine is what motivates you to seek rewards, and experience pleasure.⁽⁴⁾ So, it’s extremely important for you to replenish your brain with dopamine in a way that’s safe and healthy.

Once you’ve built winning systems that move you closer to your life vision, and you’ve satiated your brain with dopamine, then you’ll feel almost unstoppable in life, despite having ADHD.

Just make sure to remember the formula:

Winning Systems + Dopamine = Success with ADHD.

By using this formula, you’ll be able to limit the downsides of ADHD, and set yourself up for an abundance of personal and professional success.

There’s just one more thing to keep in mind.

If you want to experience the absolute greatest natural dopamine high of your lifetime, then you’ll need to do whatever it takes to start winning.

Why you must do whatever it takes to enter an “upward spiral” and start winning

I spent a decent chunk of my college career in a negative, destructive spiral.

I was directionless, stuck in student loan debt, and severely depressed at different points throughout my college career.

I wouldn’t wish the pain that I experienced on anyone.

But luckily, I always maintained hope. I always knew that I would find a way to scrape and claw my way out of the bad situation that I was in.

So, after working on my health, relationships, internet businesses, and mindset for a number of years – I eventually came to a place in my life where I became optimistic.

Finally, I was excited to wake up in the morning, and make the most of the life that I had been given.

I essentially came to a point in life where I started winning, and this took away 99% of the depressing emotions that I had been dealing with.

Have you ever noticed that the people who are making tremendous progress in multiple areas of their life rarely have time to feel sad or depressed?

This is because winning puts you into such an addictive upward spiral – to where you pretty much only feel positive emotions all day, every day.

Believe it or not, there’s something called “the winner effect” which is a real-life biological phenomenon.⁽⁵⁾

Here’s a brief explanation of what the winner effect is:

In biology, it’s been shown that animals that win fights against weaker opponents typically go on to defeat stronger opponents over time.

And as you know, humans are simply an advanced species of animal. We benefit from the winner effect just as much as other animals do.

So, here’s how this applies to your life:

Winning small battles in life leads to experiencing bigger and better wins over time. This has actually been proven by biology. Winning has even been shown to change your brain chemistry, because winning increases dopamine and testosterone.⁽⁶⁾

Remember how people with ADHD lack dopamine? Well, winning is one of the best ways for people with ADHD to acquire dopamine in an extremely natural and healthy way.

This is why you have to do whatever it takes to start racking up small wins for your life.

Here are some examples of small wins that you can pick up starting this week:

• Pay for someone’s coffee at Starbucks (make someone feel good, and you’ll feel even better)

• Compliment a stranger

• Negotiate a lower monthly bill for your cable, internet, or wireless phone service

• Go on a run for one or two miles (if you haven’t done cardio in a while)

• Create a mind map of potential business ideas that you can start (Google “mind map” if you need help)

• Tell a family member that you love them (especially if you haven’t done this in a while)

It doesn’t matter how bad you currently have it in life.

I know that you might be dealing with some terrible pain in your life.

But, if you can just force yourself to start picking up small wins, this will lead you down a path of positivity, happiness, and success.

If you’re going through a depressing and chaotic time in your life, then you’ll just have to scrape and claw your way into a positive situation.

If you can start picking up small wins (regardless of how bad your situation is), then you will benefit from the winner effect, and your momentum might even carry you into amazing success, positive emotions, self-confidence, and happiness.

I’ve seen this happen many times in my own life, and in the lives of other people.

There’s the old saying that “the rich get richer.” This saying is true in the sense that winning leads to more winning in life. So, you absolutely have to do whatever it takes to start racking up small wins for your life.

Scrape, claw, and climb your way out of the deep dark hole that you may be in.

I’ve been there before. And, it’s hard as hell to climb your way out sometimes.

But, with the support of friends and family members, and confidence in your own abilities as the most advanced life form on this planet, you will start winning and enjoying life again.

My personal thoughts on ADHD medication, natural remedies, and other “lifestyle enhancers”

I realize that using ADHD medication is a controversial concept to many people.

So, I can only speak about what has personally worked for me when it comes to using ADHD medication.

I used ADHD medication for a period of one year, and it worked extremely well for me during that time in my life.

Because, there was a time when my website (ADHDBoss.com) was essentially kicked offline. I had forgotten to pay my web hosting bill. I was also trying to pass my college classes at the same time. And, I ultimately didn’t have the motivation to accomplish much of anything. I was overwhelmed with everything that was going on during that time in my life.

In comes ADHD medication.

When I used ADHD medication for the first time, I immediately knew that I had been given a “lifeline”.

The year that I used ADHD medication was by far the most productive year of my life.

I used ADHD medication to:

• Create a solid foundation of content on ADHDBoss.com

• Enjoy the smoothest college semester of my life

• Take on multiple clients for my freelance copywriting business

• Eat healthy

• Exercise

• Go out with friends and socialize

ADHD medication worked extremely well for me during the year that I used it.

So, I absolutely believe that using ADHD medication can help you “escape” a difficult situation in life, if you happen to be in one.

Many successful people use ADHD medication. Don’t let them fool you. You just aren’t hearing much about these people in the media, because ADHD medication is generally frowned upon in the mainstream.

Normal people think that taking ADHD medication is like cheating.

In reality, using small, therapeutic doses of ADHD medication just helps you manage your ADHD symptoms. Taking ADHD medication is a lot like “leveling the playing field” of life.

If you feel like you need to try ADHD medication, then I urge you to chat with a physician who you trust.

Because even if you don’t like ADHD medication, then you can always stop taking it.

Fair enough, right?

When it comes to using natural remedies:

• Exercise is one of the greatest things that you can do to amplify your overall quality of life

• You need lots of high-quality sleep in order to feel creative and energized every day

• You should integrate a high-quality diet into your lifestyle (Paleo / intermittent fasting is ideal)

If you can focus on exercise, sleep, and eating a high-quality diet – these are the three most important “natural remedies” that will have the greatest impact on your ADHD.

After you’ve mastered these three areas of your life, then you might choose to experiment with some helpful natural supplements, such as:

• Pure fish oil (great for improving brain health and ADHD symptoms)

• Magnesium citrate (excellent for taking before bedtime)

• Raw turmeric mixed with black pepper (turmeric fights brain inflammation)⁽⁷⁾

• Probiotics (there’s a connection between your gut health and mood)⁽⁸⁾

• Black seed oil (all-purpose “cure” for various ailments)⁽⁹⁾

• Ashwagandha (helps lower cortisol and improve energy levels)

You can visit the ADHD Boss Resources Page to see many of the natural supplements that I personally use.

But, let’s stay focused on the big picture here.

With a solid exercise routine, high-quality sleep, a healthy diet, and just a few essential supplements – you’ll have just about every natural advantage that a person with ADHD can achieve.

How to apply this information to your life over the next 30 days, and achieve a lifetime of success with ADHD

By now, you should have a good understanding of the 8 key concepts that will take your life to the next level while living with ADHD.

To make the most of this information over the next 30 days, I encourage you to print this article, and stash it somewhere that you can always reference it.

This way, you’ll always be able to refer back to the following key takeaways:

• You deserve to live an awesome, fun, and adventurous lifestyle, because this is what your “unique” prefrontal cortex requires

• Spend some time visualizing your ideal life (create an authentic life vision)

• Create systems that move you closer to your life vision

• Always remember: “Are your actions leading you closer to your life vision?”

• Always remember: “What’s the most productive thing that I can do right now?”

• Do whatever it takes to gain some positive momentum in your life, and start winning

• Take advantage of healthy sources of dopamine that your ADHD brain will love

• Use ADHD medication and natural remedies as often as necessary

I hope that you’ve enjoyed ADHD Secrets.

You should now have a great overview of my entire philosophy on living an amazing life with ADHD.

I know that you have big things in store for your future.

So, please make sure to apply this information to your life.

If you can do that for me, then I’ll be one happy guy.

Because at the end of the day, living an awesome life with ADHD is 100% attainable.

You just have to keep your life vision in mind, create winning systems that move you closer to your life vision, and execute your plan despite the challenges that ADHD creates for you.

I hope to speak with you soon.

To your success,

ADHD Boss

Sources

⁽¹⁾ http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanpsy/PIIS2215-0366(17)30049-4.pdf

⁽²⁾ https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN

⁽³⁾ http://www.russellbarkley.org/factsheets/ADHD_EF_and_SR.pdf

⁽⁴⁾ https://www.news-medical.net/health/Dopamine-Functions.aspx

⁽⁵⁾ https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-57255-0_3

⁽⁶⁾ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-psychology-of-winning-and-losing/

⁽⁷⁾ https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/10/13/turmeric-curcumin.aspx

⁽⁸⁾ https://www.drdavidwilliams.com/why-mood-disorder-treatment-should-begin-with-gut-bacteria

⁽⁹⁾ https://draxe.com/black-seed-oil-benefits/