Faster Than Normal – ADHD Brain

Real Life Resilience

Your brain on ADHD is a Lamborghini, you just need to know how to drive it! Peter Shankman has discovered how ADHD can be a gift and shares that wisdom in his book: Faster Than Normal.

The Gift of ADHD

Highlights from the interview:

• Peter came by his expertise with ADHD by growing up with it. But it was called sit-down-you’re-disrupting-the-class-disease. He didn’t realize his brain was just looking for that extra dopamine that it wasn’t getting.
• ADHD is a superpower that he uses to his advantage. He figures out ways to channel that energy to do what he needs to do.
• His book, Faster Than Normal, focuses on the ADHD brian and that it is a benefit and not a curse to have it. People without ADHD can follow these rules and get more productivity. He has a podcast called Faster Than Normal and interviews other people who are taking advantage of the ADHD mind
• One day, he decided that the people out there that would judge him were not paying his mortgage, so he just told his story.
• He was very socially awkward as a kid and young adult. Not until his 30’s was he able to control his faster brain. He has been working as an entrepreneur since his 20’s because that fits his personality and his brain.
• He wrestles with ADHD every day. But he makes sure he has very specific life rules to make sure he treats his brain the right way.
• For instance, he made an agreement with himself to get up and exercise before he does anything else because he knows his brain needs exercise for him to have a good day. It’s an absolute requirement. You have to understand and accept that.
• He wrote Faster Than Normal, usually a tedious process, on a flight he booked from New York to Tokyo. He brought his laptop, a power cord, headphones and a sweater. He wrote chapters one through five on the flight to Tokyo. He landed in Tokyo, went through immigration, turned around and wrote chapters 6 through 10 on the flight home – a total of 31 hours to write his book. It works for him. Writing on planes is his zone of focus.
• Many people label ADHD as negative. Peter has made ADHD a positive thing. Typically people label “different” as bad, but he celebrates the differences and uses them to his advantage. His goal is to teach people that it’s not a death sentence to be different. You want to be different.
• The key is to understand your own brain and how it works.
• Another thing Peter does is to eliminate choice as much as possible. For instance, his wardrobe is divided into two sections: 1) Office and Travel and it has t-shirts and jeans, 2) Speaking and TV and it has button down shirts, jackets and jeans. If he had to get up every morning and decide what to wear, he would never be able to decide.

Listen to the episode for the full story.

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Stacy’s Journal

Welcome to Stacy’s Journal! In this segment, I let you peek into my journal as I share my thoughts on a topic or resilience resource. I loved Peter’s contracts with himself to make sure he does what’s right for his brain. I think we can all learn something from that. I know for me, I can’t take that first bite of bread or a cookie because I’ll eat till I’m beyond full. I’m also a huge procrastinator, so I have to schedule my time and stick to my commitments to myself in order to get things done. I once heard a business guru recommend we schedule our lives just as if we are in school. When the virtual bell rings, at [9:00] you do one thing, at [10:00] you do another and so on. That makes sense because time definitely fills up what we give it. So I’d like for you to think about contracts that you need to make with yourself. What is it in your life that you overindulge, avoid, procrastinate, or need to put parameters around? What contract could you make with yourself that would ensure your success. Find your trigger, and then plan a contract with yourself to avoid that trigger. I’d love to know what you planned. You can share it with me over on our Facebook page.

That’s all we have for today. Last episode, Jeanette White shared her story of resilience through infertility and miscarriage – so if you know of anyone who has been through or is going through this, be sure to share that episode with them. Next week, we’ll interview Sharon Roth-Lichten who talks about finding peace and joy in the midst of adversity.

I love interacting with our listeners on social media. We’re on Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and just about anywhere you can hold a great virtual conversation. Plus, I answer all my emails personally, so feel free to email me: stacy{at}stacybrookman{dot}com.

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100 Most Important Memoirs of the Past 200 Years

This week’s memoir is: Night by Elie Wiesel

This amazing book was written in 1956. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and Congressional Gold Medal, Holocaust survivor Wiesel offers an unforgettable account of Hitler’s horrific reign of terror. The tragic tale unfolds through the eyes of 14-year-old Eliezer with a heart-wrenching inevitability. This enduring classic raises questions of significance for all future generations: How could man commit these horrors, and could such an evil ever be repeated? Check out Night and all the memoirs on this list at stacybrookman.com/100memoirs.

Click on the graphic to learn about this memoir and all of the most important memoirs of the past 200 years…

About: Peter Shankman

Peter Shankman is a spectacular example of what happens when you merge the power of pure creativity with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and a dose of adventure, and make it work to your advantage. An author, entrepreneur and corporate keynote speaker, this “worldwide connector” is recognized worldwide for radically new ways of thinking about customer service, social media, PR, marketing, advertising, and ADHD.

Peter is best known for founding Help A Reporter Out, (HARO) which in under a year became the de-facto standard for thousands of journalists looking for sources on deadline, offering them more than 200,000 sources around the world looking to be quoted in the media. HARO is currently the largest free source repository in the world, sending out over 1,500 queries from worldwide media each week. HARO’s tagline, “Everyone is an Expert at Something”, proves over and over again to be true, as thousands of new members join at helpareporter.com each week. In June of 2010, less than two years after Peter started HARO in his apartment, it was acquired by Vocus, Inc.

Links:

Website: https://www.shankman.com/

https://www.fasterthannormal.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/petershankmanspeaks/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/petershankman