I’m 35 and own my own chiropractic business. On the outside people think I’m successful, but inside my inability to focus and be organized and meet deadlines feels like it’s gonna kill me, my relationship, and my business.
Everyday, my wife would get frustrated with me for zoning out while she was talking. Or for being on my laptop writing a report or doing marketing or playing games while she was talking. I also drove her crazy for having to be on my laptop doing something or writing on papers or exercising while we watch a movie.
To this day, it amazes me that I made it through school. Like everyone else I’ve read about, I could never sustain my attention in class. Grade school was torture, and even in grad school I had to be drawing or reading another book so I wouldn’t fall asleep.
Even if the class or seminar were really interesting, I couldn’t help my head bobbing into sleep!
And following rules and deadlines just killed me. Especially sitting through staff meetings when I was a teacher, or when I worked in another doctor’s office, would be absolute torture.
Worst of all, even at a concert, or on vacation, or an amusement park, whatever, I found myself with this anxious feeling that I needed to be somewhere else, especially somewhere NEW.
The only time I could do anything was when the impossible was asked, when a deadline was imminent, or when extreme situations occurred.
Example: I once pulled 3 people from a burning car. While everyone else screamed and panicked, I felt a deep sense of calm and focus. In fact, I felt like time slowed down and I knew exactly what to do while ‘normal’ people froze or panicked.
Another time as a team doctor, we had 3 medical emergencies at the same time. Again, total calm and focus. Prior to the emergencies, when the game was just ‘regular’, I couldn’t focus on the conversations I was having with the people on the sidelines.
My mom tells me that when I was a baby and they would try to read to me that I would try to rush to finish their sentences. To this day, I cant stand to be read to because it takes too long!
Anyway, to the point at hand, I have a busy office, but could never get focused enough to do billing, create clear guidelines for employees, or follow up on leads. Even though I knew that it could bring me a lot of money, I would just blow things. I’ve always felt like an underachiever.
Since reading materials and getting organized, even organizing my diet, and my exercise, things are finally changing. In fact, I feel that ADD can really be an advantage when we learn how to harness it, because we can easily create and achieve things that others think are impossible.