Harnessing your
ADHD in business


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If you've ever felt like your business journey is more of a winding path than a straight line, I get it.

I was 54 when a new understanding of myself clicked into place – that’s when I received my ADHD diagnosis that shed new light on my life's slightly crazy tapestry of twists, turns, and array of directions.

Looking back, the whirlwinds of self-doubt, the impulsive changes in my business focus, and the weight of imposter syndrome now make profound sense.

There’s such a “before” and “after” contrast

I’m not an ADHD coach, but I am a fellow traveller on this unique path. My expertise as an accredited strengths profiler, my rich background in strategy development, and my studies in positive psychology are the lenses through which I view our shared experiences, both before and after our ADHD discovery.

I combine this with a self-leadership orientation that has helped me to navigate the world of ADHD, turning what might be seen as hurdles into what I believe can become some of our greatest assets, now that we know what we’re dealing with!

I'd love to help you too.

The Potential Gap
Our Space to Grow.

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While the world often talks about the 'pain gap' we need to close – all the things we need to fix and correct about ourselves, I prefer to focus on the 'potential gap' – the space between where you are now and the all the new possibilities that are waiting for you.

ADHD isn’t a permanent detour or re-routing of your journey; it's a part of the map itself, and I know without a doubt there are hidden treasures to be found because I’ve excavated some of them myself!

My approach – Strengths, Self-leadership and Positive Psychology

The majority of women I’ve worked with over the past 20 years have been business owners who want help developing a business strategy that resonates with them and get results. I love this work as it uses so many of my strengths (eg: ideation, growth, synthesis, curiosity, and more) and is anchored in my values (including connection, positivity, and meaningful work).

I blend strengths profiling, self-leadership, and positive psychology together into a unique support structure that wraps my clients in unwavering strategic and emotional support.

And I now understand why I’ve always been great at seeing the big picture, connecting the dots, closing the gaps, and finding the opportunities so quickly – that’s classic ADHD divergent thinking at play!

After my diagnosis in 2022 and recent interviews on the ADHD for Smart-Ass Women Podcast, The ADHD Women’s Wellbeing Podcast, and the Late Stage Diagnosis Podcasts, I’ve begun to be contacted by newly diagnosed women.

Many of these are business owners, but quite a few aren’t.

They’ve simply found my ADHD Diagnosis Cycle, strengths, self-leadership and positive psychology approach resonates with them.

Perhaps it does with you too?

The ADHD Diagnosis Cycle
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The benefits of
knowing your strengths

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Redesigning my business to leverage my strengths was one of the most transformative moves I made after my diagnosis.

A strengths approach to ADHD has many benefits

Discovering your strengths is like being handed a personal blueprint that guides your steps and reaffirms your innate potential. When you know what you excel at, you're not just working smarter; you're working in harmony with your true self.

This self-knowledge is a lighthouse, steering you away from rocky self-doubt and putting you back on track with confidence and clarity and a tonne more energy.

Just a few of the benefits I’ve discovered.

  • Elevated Self-Confidence: Appreciating your strengths reinforces your belief in your capabilities, and that helps to quiet the inner critic that seems to be a mainstay of the ADHD experience.
  • Personal Growth: With a clear understanding of your strengths, you can design your own personal and professional development plans that align with your natural talents – progress feels far easier when you’re amplifying your strengths rather than trying to fix your weaknesses
  • Tailored Business Strategies: Leveraging your strengths allows you to create business strategies that accommodate, elevate and capitalise on what you do best
  • Higher Productivity: When you align your tasks with your strengths and create an environment that suits your cognitive style, you’ll find you have better focus and productivity, getting more done with energy to spare
  • Goal Achievement: You’ll begin to set and reach goals far easier when you play to your strengths because you’re reducing the friction and frustration that often plays out when you’ve adopted goals that just don’t fit you
  • Reduced Stress, anxiety, and self-flagellation: Understanding and working with your strengths feels like a far more grounded and less stressful approach to business because you’re no longer working with one hand tied behind your back!

Recognising and harnessing your strengths is about aligning your work with your heart, and that creates a sense of purpose and delight that resonates way beyond the bottom line – though I’ve definitely seen that improve as well!

I am an accredited Cappfinity Strengths Profiler and a Strengths Assessment and debrief is always a part of my work, but you can get started for free on the VIA website here.

A Self-leadership lens
can transform your perspective

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I’ve found (retrospectively) that one of the central challenges of ADHD is a lack of self-trust, which manifests itself in believing someone or something “out there” has the right answers for us.

The role of Self-leadership in managing our ADHD

It is said that undiagnosed ADHD’ers have had to develop a whole host of strategies to manage our minds and lives, and that’s even more true of those of us who have not been diagnosed until later in life.

Perhaps this is why I’ve instinctively and steadily developed a self-leadership lens through which to view the world over the past few years.

Self-leadership is essentially the shift from seeking external validation to learning how to trust our own inner authority as we anchor ourselves with our strengths and values.

My framework has 5 principles that I infuse into the business strategies I co-create with my clients, each of which also helps us to proactively manage our ADHD.

  1. Self-Knowledge
  2. Flexible Thinking
  3. Emotional Intelligence
  4. Internal Action and
  5. Vitality Cultivation

You can read more about Self-leadership on this page and even take a free assessment here and download a comprehensive guide.

A Self-leadership orientation delivers so many benefits to us, here are a few from the first principle - Self-knowledge - just for starters:

  • Gaining insight into our personal strengths so we can leverage them to overcome business challenges and carve out a niche based on our natural talents makes being in business more enjoyable
  • Clarifying our core values so we can use them to guide our decision-making helps make sure our business practices align with our personal beliefs and ethics makes our businesses more sustainable and fulfilling
  • Seeing our ADHD diagnosis not as a deficit but as a different cognitive approach allows us to appreciate the unique abilities we bring to the table for ourselves and our clients.
  • Our new-found self-awareness helps us to develop strategies that transform ADHD traits into advantages, such as using periods of hyperfocus to complete demanding tasks or leveraging our creative bursts for innovation.
  • Cultivating a deep understanding of how ADHD-related challenges, like fluctuating attention spans and hyperfocus, can impact us and learning how to anticipate and mitigate the potential downsides allows us to plan ahead

And the unique challenges we often face that stem from symptoms such as Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD), impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation? They can become less burdensome when we view them through the lens of self-leadership - we can recast them as opportunities for growth and personal empowerment when we identify as a Self-leader.

The power of
Positive Psychology for ADHD'ers

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This science fosters a growth mindset, empowering us to cultivate our inherent strengths and develop personal strategies that align with our dynamic thinking patterns.

Embracing ADHD Through the Lens of Positive Psychology

In 2022 I completed a Diploma in Positive Psychology. I had no idea I had ADHD when I started this field of study, but I’ve since discovered how helpful it is for myself and my clients, neurotypical and neurospicy alike.

Positive psychology offers a refreshing and practical approach to ADHD, especially for women entrepreneurs, as it shifts our focus from deficits and impairments to possibilities and strengths.

Here are just a few of the benefits I've seen Positive Psychology providing to us:

  1. Strengths as Superpowers: Positive Psych has a strengths-based approach, which unlocks the potential for us to see our ADHD traits (like hyperfocus and rapid idea generation) as unique superpowers for innovation and creativity.
  2. Resilience Amplification: It's a "science of wellbeing" and one huge benefit of this is how the skills we learn build our resilience by reframing challenges as opportunities for growth and learning - this perspective definitely leads to greater emotional and business resilience.
  3. Enhanced Self-Esteem: We can cultivate a far more positive self-image by acknowledging and valuing the unique perspective and contributions that come with our DHD, building healthy, positive self-regard - a nice change!
  4. Improved Motivation: You'll feel more inspired and motivated because of the higher engagement and sense of satisfaction we feel when we’re working in our personal zones of genius
  5. Mindset Shift: The approach encourages a growth mindset, and this transforms the way we approach sometimes age-old habits and challenges, shining a light on a new way of being. What I have learned has really opened my eyes to areas where I can stretch myself - I love being a lifelong learner!

I’ve adapted several of the main theories and exercises for my work including positive goal setting and the broaden and build theory. There's so much to share that helps us, I find the whole field immensely exciting.

Angela Raspass - A Strategist and Self-leadership Coach for businesswomen

What next?

If you'd like to explore how I can help you to grow yourself (and your business), pop over a book a time for a chat so we can see if my approach feels like a good fit for you.

I'd love to connect!

 

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