My favorite saying about ADHD is “we build our parachute after we jump off the cliff”. I mean that ADHD adults have a habit of starting things before thinking them through.
We get an idea; often just a glimmer of something. And, before you know it, we’ve jumped right in. Figuring out what we’re up to as we go.
In other words, careening towards earth and building a parachute as we fall.
As the earth nears important details become clearer. We get more productive, too. Building faster. Paying more attention. Getting it all done before we crash.
You probably have oodles of examples of in-flight parachute building. I know I do.
It’s how I became a professional organizer what I did before becoming an ADHD Coach. On the fly at a networking meeting. “Sure I can help you organize your office”, I told the woman.
And, I did it. In the blink of an eye, I started an organizing business without thinking it through. I just knew I had the skills.
Yes, my parachute was a rough design. But, it held. I didn’t crash. And, that was the leap that got me to where I am today. Teaching essential ADHD-friendly symptom, organizing, and time management skills to overwhelmed ADHD adults.
When I do it right, jumping before building my parachute is a smart approach. Of course, it can be stressful. Of course, things don’t always work out as I imagined. But, in my life, the best things have happened because I jumped and then built my parachute.
The ADHD Success Club is one of those best things.
Of course, The Success Club wasn’t my first jump at trying group ADHD coaching. It was my third. But, I wasn’t quite happy with the way the first groups happened.
Too much information compacted in too short a time. Too expensive, as well. So, I jumped again.
That third time is charming! I’m thrilled to report that the ADHD Success Club works.
- A supportive, genuine community of ADHD adults. (This one is a big surprise for most members. Learning from each other and encouraging each other is the best!)
- Members are learning ADHD-friendly skills from the inside out and taking control of chaotic ADHD lives.
- Accountability helps get things done.
- Members get coaching and personal support from me at an affordable price.
Most of the inaugural Success Club members who started last May are still going strong. Some have stopped. New members have joined. It’s designed to be an ongoing program with no long commitments. I want people to try it, and if it doesn’t work, stop.
There’s been a problem, though. When the Success Club started many people couldn’t join because of the time of day we meet. 6:30 PM on the East Coast isn’t a great time for many. Smack dab in the middle of family and dinner.
That’s why I’ve got my parachute building supplies out again. In January, I’ll be offering a morning session of the ADHD Success Club.
Our non-ADHD friends (folks with ASS aka Attention Surplus Syndrome) consider our ways impulsive and risky. They just don’t understand.
In next week’s ADHD Success I’ll tell you all I know about the right way to build an in-flight parachute.
Until then, I’d love to hear your stories about leaping and then building your parachute. If you want to share go ahead and post a comment below so we can all benefit.
To Your ADHD Success,
PS – Registration isn’t open yet for the Morning ADHD Success Club. I’m still building my parachute. Shoot me an email if you’re interested. You’ll get first crack at a spot. I do know it’s Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:00 AM Pacific Time. 2:00 Eastern starting January 17.
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My parachute story is when I agreed to take on a teacher aide position, when the head of a renowned college prep high school asked me to help out in a physics class with a group of 13 at-risk students. He had brought them in as a sort of experiment for underprivileged students, to bring up diversity, or to save the football team.
“Sure,” I said, having no idea how I would be of any help (Physics was my worst subject!). I felt like this was from God (in His sense of humor, as I had just joked with a physicist at church the day before that I remember almost nothing from physics class except F=MA). I figured God would equip me and He did. The principal asked what would be my favorite thing to teach…I said history and writing and so I ended up teaching two sections of World History, focusing on historical essay writing.
I was having terrible sleep issues at the time, and life with my own struggling teenagers was crazy enough- especially with my husband working 6 hours away, but God was my parachute. He equipped me to somehow make a difference in these students’ lives. I am not sure who was leading who, but we all survived that year of school. They graduate in June! So many things hold us back with ADD, but I’m glad I took that leap of faith.
And that is how I came to be informally named as MVP of the football team of one of the most prestigious high schools in the country.