I was diagnosed with ADHD at the ripe age of 25. I had successfully gone through grade school, university, and was in my second major job during the peak of COVID. I sat (or rather, didn’t sit) day after day waiting to lose my job because I couldn’t pay attention to the tasks at hand and even though I knew I had to, I couldn’t force myself to do what I needed to do. All alone in my apartment I questioned what was wrong with me, until I realized that what I was experiencing were the hallmark signs of ADHD. Everything in my life up until that point suddenly made more sense.
Now as an entrepreneur, I realize that having ADHD has led me down this path, understanding why this self-propelled career makes more sense to me than any full-time position ever did. Although my ADHD is not how I identify, I understand it’s a driving force for entrepreneurship and my fulfillment in life.
A staggering amount of leaders and entrepreneurs would tell you a story with the same undertones as my own: unfulfillment, questioning if something is wrong with them, the intense need to create their own path, the idea machine, the struggle to motivate, the joy when you find the thing that lights you up, the boredom…
It seems like entrepreneurship and ADHD go hand-in-hand, yet there are difficulties that can undoubtedly arrive that can be detrimental to one’s career if they don’t get it under control.
Having ADHD can be a massive superpower, especially in the world of working for yourself. Here’s how to harness the power of this neurodivergency, emotionally regulate, and be a leader in whatever path you’re forging.
Why ADHD Is So Prominent Amongst Entrepreneurs
So why is there such a massive correlation between ADHD and entrepreneurs? If you understand what ADHD is, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, it can become apparent quickly.
Some of the typical symptoms of ADHD include high energy, inability to sit still, hyperfocus, and impulsivity. Which actually makes sense why this goes well with self-employment and creating your own work.
This career path tends to require an overgeneration of ideas and energy, the ability to shut off the thinking mind and just do what needs to be done and take the chance (or the risk), and of course, the focus to make it all happen.
Hyperfocus vs Hyperboredom
The neurotypical population of people with ADHD at some point or another has experienced both hyperfocus and hyperboredom, some likely experience both on a daily basis. Having ADHD can often feel like you’re living in a world of constant chatter, things constantly trying to fight for your attention and no direction on how to prioritize it all.
When the internal thoughts and feelings are aligned with external actions and opportunities, the ability for someone with ADHD to hyperfocus and go into the flow state can be quite incredible. This is sometimes classified as what’s known as “ecstasis,” as if they’re tapping into a source of energy outside of themselves where they lose track of time and get lost in the activity or task they are involved in.
Plato described the term “ecstatis” as “not only an enlightened state of being, but also as a state of deep euphoria and stronger intellectual capabilities.” (Pilgrim Soul). When this altered state is aligned with the entrepreneurial passion, it can lend to a beautiful unfolding of work that seems effortless.
However, when there’s misalignment with internal feelings and external actions, this can lead to a full stop and the inability to self-motivate out of it. Making simple (and often necessary) tasks feel nearly impossible to overcome which can affect the direction of your entire day and well-being. This state of hyperboredom can mean the entire system comes to a screeching halt, and even the tasks you might enjoy doing are not getting done because of the blockage that exists between them.
It’s fascinating just how much contrast exists between these two states and how they can completely impact the way someone feels about their self-worth. Self-employment really begs for the hyperfocus, but certainly there are going to be tasks that arrive that are not going to align, meaning if there’s no plan to navigate it, it can be detrimental. Unfortunately no one can cheat their way out of taxes, filing documents, and the not-so-fun part of entrepreneurship.
Impulsivity and Risk Taking
People who have ADHD experience difficulties with impulse control. This can take a lot of different shapes and sizes ranging from talking over people to making big decisions without thinking them through.
Impulsivity isn’t necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can lead to some brilliant and otherwise not explored decisions and innovations that can be prosperous and rewarding for someone who’s trying to start their own business. The saying “jump first, think later” becomes hyper-relevant for this population, especially in the context of entrepreneurship.
The impulsivity as it correlates to self-employment is likely the gateway for people with ADHD to start exploring.
Visionaries
If you or someone you know has ADHD, then you know that the term ‘visionaries’ is a perfect application of the term. The endless stream of thoughts and the ability to have all the tabs open at once as things are happening around them is what makes those with ADHD such idea generators.
If you have ADD, your brains work fast, quickly processing everything that is happening around you, which means you likely have a keen sense of awareness and problem-solving skills. This mind exploration process (although sometimes debilitating) and creativity is what can dredge up idea after idea.
The idea-generating flow state is how innovation takes place, it’s just a matter of how long you can hold their attention on each idea to bring it to fruition.
Entrepreneurs with ADHD might be the visionaries, but they need a bit of help grounding into the ideas to make them happen – so having processes in place and other people to help them delegate can be huge for their success in entrepreneurship.
Emotional Stability and ADHD
You understand what ‘symptoms’ of ADHD lend well to entrepreneurship, but understanding how to emotionally regulate throughout all of these symptoms is even more crucial to making these dreams a reality.
Emotional Regulation is Essential to Staying on Task
“Emotional dysregulation can be defined as an inability to modulate one’s emotional experience and expression, which results in an excessive emotional response” (Thriving with ADHD).
A lot of the ADHD battle exists in the inability to appropriately experience emotions – it’s common to experience overwhelming emotional reactions and feel hypersensitive to everything that’s happening around them. This makes sense, if we go back to the idea of having all these tabs open and being hyper-aware of what’s around them, managing all these feelings and energy can be too much to handle.
Emotional dysregulation has compounding negative effects, as soon as these ideas start to be fed with the endless thought patterns (another common symptom of ADHD) then very suddenly the situation can get out of control and lead to an inability to extract oneself from the emotional waves that are drowning them.
As all this is happening in real-time, the world doesn’t pause until it’s over, it keeps going, which then can be even harder to jump back into without feeling like everything has become insurmountable.
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) doesn’t operate in the same way as individuals who don’t have ADHD. The PFC works to hold attention from a “top-down” perspective as it relates to goals and plans. It can hold attention even when there are long pauses between stimuli (NLM). In a neurotypical individual this process works as is, in some neurodivergent individuals, or people with ADHD, the prefrontal cortex struggles to regulate attention.
Additionally, the PFC also is a key player in the regulation of emotions. It’s common for the development of anger issues to happen, where frustration becomes so heightened and without impulse control, can’t be managed. Self-soothing is also difficult in these instances, and finding a secondary emotion to anchor to might not even be a thought in this heightened state which can have a snowball effect.
Coupling Emotions to Tasks
Neurodivergent people have a tendency to couple emotions with certain tasks. If there’s a task you know you need to get done but you’re dreading, soon it’s as if you can only see the task with dread and suddenly it’s even more difficult to get yourself to do it.
This can happen with any emotion like having difficult conversations and crippling anxiety. The tendency is to avoid it at all costs so the emotion doesn’t need to be experienced. Since emotional regulation is not a strong suit for people with ADHD all the emotions that are feared are amplified. To the neurotypical person, this is just par for the course, the emotion may not feel great, but it’s not crippling. For the neurodivergent, this is nearly impossible to face.
How to Regulate Emotions with ADHD
Learning how to self-regulate your emotions when you have ADHD is how you can set up safety nets for yourself when you start to fall into the patterns that distract you from the mission.
Have a physical health routine
Getting adequate sleep, exercising regularly, and clean eating has heaps of benefits on your physiology and psychology, so finding a routine that works for you is imperative to keeping yourself in calm waters.
This is a great way to have a grounded routine as well that you can go back to again and again to stay anchored and recenter your energy. Those who struggle with neurodivergency find a lot of relief when they’re on top of their physical health and experience fewer episodes of overwhelming emotions taking the wheel.
Focusing on your overall physical health can do wonders for your mental health as well, the effects can trickle into all areas of your life.
Finding coping strategies
It’s vague, but finding coping strategies to manage your emotions is imperative to self-regulation and dealing with the symptoms of your ADHD. As everyone is different, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, so explore all the options until you find something that works well for you.
My personal coping strategy involves sensory anchoring. I have been able to prime my brain through the habit of meditation and lighting palo santo incense to condition myself to calm down whenever I smell palo santo. When I’m feeling the overwhelming feelings start to brew, I anchor in with this sense and I can already feel my nervous system recalibrating.
Another sensory anchoring technique that can be helpful is the 5-4-3-2-1 method where you name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. Taking your time to do this helps you regain centeredness in the present moment, which can stop the thought loops from taking over.
Simply breathing is an effective strategy for some people as well, or taking deep breaths when you feel the emotions start to turn within you.
Whatever your coping strategy is, make sure you practice it often and let it be a tool in your toolbox that you can turn to when you need it.
Be insatiably curious about your experience
Being emotionally reactive to our own emotions only makes them worse. Here’s the reminder to be curious about what your experience is, rather than neglect it and wish it away. When you notice the emotions coming on, see what happens when you just let them run.
Ask yourself:
- What’s your body trying to tell you?
- What’s your mind telling you?
- Is it true?
- Should I act on these emotions?
- How might I disengage them?
Sitting with the emotions can be a coping strategy in and of itself, some people can really benefit from just letting whatever needs to come up come up without resistance. If this is something you choose to do, make sure you do so safely and in a place that allows you to express the way you need to.
Emotions are data points to what’s going on internally, when you get curious about the emotions, you give yourself a better opportunity to understand what they’re really trying to convey, and you might find that you get more out of it than you would have if you shut them down.
Plan something daily that makes you happy
No matter what it is, having something that you dedicate time to daily that you know will make you happy can not only give you something to look forward to, but also be a great displacement of energy when you’re feeling emotionally overwhelmed.
Make this a non-negotiable in your day and use this to motivate you to get things done or as a fall back when you don’t want to do anything. The dopamine hit could be the reset you needed to continue your day on a positive note and redirect your energy into a more focused and calm state of being.
Try Microdosing LSD or psilocybin to manage your ADHD symptoms
The research for microdosing is only growing as psychedelics become a more mainstream way to treat mental health. If you’re not into taking stimulants to manage your ADHD symptoms, then microdosing can be a great alternative for you.
Depending on the route you take, these entheogens can help you tap into focus and productivity in the case of LSD while psilocybin is great for creativity and finding calmness.
Microdosing is subtle and meant to be integrated into your daily life slowly, helping you uncover and get to the root of what might be causing your triggers and emotional activations to take over. This is different than taking a macrodose, where you might experience something that’s profound but not as tangible and easily integrated.
People often report feeling more compassion for themselves and others when they start a microdosing protocol which can have downstream benefits for well-being and contentment with life.
This can help you show up in your business and in your relationships with more presence and intention – the ability to emotionally regulate and recenter might just be your ticket to some symptom relief of your ADHD
Harness your ADHD as your superpower as an entrepreneur
If you’re an entrepreneur with ADHD, consider yourself a lucky one! You have all the components necessary to accomplish the goals you have set for yourself, it’s just a matter of knowing how to use them to your advantage.
Learning how to discern between the emotions and feelings you’re having that are in your control versus out of your control is a game changer. So is learning emotional regulation and self-soothing practices.
Sometimes the hardest thing to overcome in the world of business is our own mind that holds us back, so understanding how your mind works and how to work with it is your ticket to success.
Harness your ADHD as if it were a true superpower, change your perspective on it, learn how to work with it with more flow and ease, and watch how everything can change.
