LIFE

Creativity is one hallmark of ADD — and another of the reasons I call ADD/ADHD a gift. The best part is that creativity isn’t limited to the arts! Creating something new, be it for science, technology, gardening, cooking, music, acting, sculpting, or painting, is creativity. Creativity is the ability to generate new or better ways of doing things, connecting “dots” that weren’t connected before, and thinking outside the box to solve problems. That’s a big part of what entrepreneurs are fueled by.

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The videos shot in the last week of May addressed how you cast yourself in your life. They addressed how proactive you are in your life and the way you play your role. How do you cast your life?

An analogy I’ve come up with for how we deal with our lives is how we deal with our body parts when they get weak. Casts support your body when you break a bone. Orthotics are devices that support your body when, for this discussion, you get a weak joint. When is that support enough and when is it too much? The attitudes we develop and maintain in our lives may be like the casts and orthotics; when are they enough and when are they too much?

Observing discussions on the Camino forums I see that everyone has a different idea about what the right footwear is and whether walking poles (or sticks) are important to use or not. People are as passionate about what’s right on their feet. And they often think that’s what right for them is right for everyone. Those beliefs most likely roll over onto how they live their lives, too.

I’m no different, I guess. I believe in being as support-free as I can be. I cherish my independence. I take pride in my strength. I also am learning to ask for help when the situation is bigger than I am, to get support. One question I have for myself is Do I ignore support when I should accept or seek it? Hhhmmmm……

Do you seek support when things are rough or you’re feeling weak, or do you seek to build the “weak muscles” so you don’t need support? That’s not to say all support is bad or unnecessary, it’s the way you approach it and use it that makes it healthy or a crutch.

For me, I walk without arch supports, high top boots for ankle support, and walking poles. It’s my belief that by going barefoot and without arch orthotics I have strong arches and don’t need support. In fact, I feel that if I were to wear an arch orthotic my arches would weaken and I’d start to need the support. I’m independent and don’t want to “need” anything. My attitude about ankle support to my attitude about my arches is similar, not to mention my ankles don’t like rigid things to rub against and get raw or blistered. Walking poles they are foreign to me. I’ve walked long distance for years without poles so they seem a burden. I can see that on steep inclines they might be nice for extra support, or after a really long day of walking when you are getting tired poles might be nice for extra stability. But, other than that, they seem like something to inhibit my natural arm swing one more thing to keep track of.

For those who have rarely run barefoot and have long worn arch supports, going without is painful. That’s probably the same with their ankle support and use of poles too; the more support the better. Would their physiology be better in the long run if they strengthened their muscles, ligaments and tendons? In my opinionated and biased perspective I think they would be better off with a stronger body. There are some reasons beyond being weak from lack of use that demand support. But even then, if you don’t use it you lose it.

That’s true of our emotions and psychology too. We can use supports to get through situations or we can build those “muscles” and learn to manage on our own.

The kind of support I see people rely on emotionally include anger or hate, alcohol or drugs, laughter, tears, walls, resistance, pity-parties, and sarcasm. There are lots of ways people handle emotional situations that may help them get through the situation, but those approaches may not serve the people in the long run. Those approaches don’t help people build their “emotional muscles”.

Here are the last five videos of my 40-day Facebook Live Stream challenge that discuss some of the ways you might support or hinder growth.

How do you cast yourself in The “You Show”? [An afterthought to the idea of how we use crutches — or casts — to protect ourselves, to hide from ourselves. I see it in everyone, and I’m seeing it in slightly different ways within the ADD community. ADD Crutches]

The Bumps and Dips Along Your Path:
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Read & View: The Bumps and Dips Along Your Path

It’s Too Hard!
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Read & View: It’s Too Hard!

Lessons From My 10-Day Detox Challenge
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Read and view: Lessons From My 10-Day Detox Challenge

It’s A Lifestyle
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Read & View: It’s A Lifestyle

Walkin’ On
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Read & View: Walkin’ On

How you live your life is all in your head, right? And what does that mean, anyway? To me that implies that life is just a game, or that you can trick your head into any number of things. It does seem that some of the suggestions you get in life can feel like trickery or even slight of hand.

Could there be more to living a great life than tricking your brain — your head — into guiding you through a wonderful life? Is high performance living the result of a game you play with yourself, or is it the result of training that opens your heart and mind to better ways of living?

It seems to me that you can reach high performance living by learning to understand what’s holding you back, keeping you stuck, where your blind spots are, and what’s in your heart. That’s what my intention has been with my videos — to help you learn and understand more about yourself and how you can be more of who you want to be in this crazy world we live in.

This week’s articles and LIFE Live Streams cover these ideas (see the links below). I’ve summarized each of the articles, which are essentially the transcripts of the videos, so you can more quickly see which article/video is what you need right now. Let’s check them out….

From the comments and complaints by people in my life, and observations of others I get to watch, giving your power away is a common problem and reality. When you give your power away you don’t get to live your life. Others live your life for you with acceptable results or not. It’s time to reclaim your power and show the world what you have to give. Get out there and act on your strengths and passions. When you live on your terms — by your rules and standards — you grow in confidence and courage. That’s the way to conquer the world and enjoy yourself.

I’m passionate about helping people get their mojo — power and purpose — on so they can contribute to making the world a better place through the increased energy mojo gives us. That’s a big part of high performance living. This Stream video is a review of my 30-day challenge success and where I’ll continue working. Let me challenge you to a 30-day self-coaching to higher performance living and have you report your successes.

Stress is omnipresent in our lives. Are you staying mindful of ways to manage it so that it doesn’t overwhelm you? Do you track what increases or decreases its impact in your life? Unmanaged, stress will wipe you out like a tsunami. How do you recognize stress in your life?

It takes courage to recognize what your dreams are, what you heart wants. Do you have the courage to take a look and feel what your heart is seeking? It’s selfish of you to deprive yourself, and the world, of your gifts. When you don’t follow your heart and dreams you are depriving others of the talents and passions you have, and of course you are depriving yourself of a life well lived. Courage isn’t all that hard to develop. Are you ready to find your courage and start living your dreams?

Life is not the race for power and riches that we are lead to believe. When you follow your heart and make contributions to the world that are in integrity with you riches and power may follow. When you only pursue power and riches you may get to the end of your great adventure and realize you missed the point of life. It’s the pursuit of love and laughter that leads to a life of no regrets. Spend more time with friends and family, and with yourself, so that you do truly get more out of life.

Be careful of what you think. Your thoughts can be tricky and send you down a slippery slope of negativity that you don’t deserve or need. To live a healthier life it’s up to you to tame your automatic negative thoughts (ANTs). Those with ADD can really suffer from this symptom. I teach a framework to help you learn to tame those stinging thoughts.

Learning to which events and situations to accept in your life and which to let go can be tricky without the right tool. I give you the Decision Filter. Quit wasting your time and energy on the things you can’t change. Instead, focus that same time and energy on the things you can change so you can make your difference in the world. You’ll be more content for the effort and results.

Is life a head game? I guess if you play at life for the wrong reasons it is a game. But, when you take charge of yourself life is a great way of being.

Here’s the list of this week’s videos and transcripts.
1. View:

Read & View: Whose Life Is It, Anyway?

2. View:

Read & View: Who’s the CEO In Your Life?

3. View:

Read & View: How Do You Recognize Your Stress?

4. View:

Read & View: Follow Your Heart And Dreams

5. View:

Read & View: Live A Life Of No Regrets

6. View:

Read & View: Thinking Thoughts That Thump….you in the head

7. View:

Read & View: Acceptance Action

All I can say is that it’s a good thing I adore puzzles. Why? Because getting through life is like a large puzzle — you pick the type of puzzle and it works. Is your life all together, or is it a puzzle too? Are you moving forward to the best you that you can be and growing in any number of ways? Or, are you settling for the life you have? Asking questions of yourself is one great way to figure out what’s holding you back so you can move past that speed bump or wall. You can grow too by Puzzling Life Out.

This video also has its own page where you can watch Puzzling Life Out

Demonstrating how asking questions can help you puzzle your life out was a different approach for me to these live streams. Some interesting answers came to me the next morning, allowing me to share Clarity Of Self For Growth to build on your growth pattern.

This video also has its own page where you can watch Clarity Of Self For Growth.

One AD/HD characteristic is having negative thoughts run rampant through your brain. And not just any negative thoughts — automatic negative thoughts. At the very least they put a huge damper on your life and bring you down. More often they cause trouble that can be quite damaging. Do You Have An ANT Problem?

This video also has its own page where you can watch Do You Have ANT Problesm?.

You know I’m on a growth path. Surprise! Along the way there have been mistakes and slip-ups. If you treat your growth path as a Learning Curve rather than a win-lose contest you’ll make greater progress with greater joy.

This video also has its own page where you can watch Learning Curve.

Along that learning curve you may have to Push Yourself Around to form new habits and reinforce old ones that may be getting a bit weak. It doesn’t hurt one bit to bribe — I mean celebrate and reward — yourself in the process either.

This video also has its own page where you can watch Push Yourself Around

Having fun as you learn and grow makes for greater success and satisfaction too. Game-ifying High Performance Growth could be the ticket for your best results.

This video also has its own page where you can watch Game-ifying High Performance Growth

Life throws curve balls at us and places speed bumps or walls before us. As bamboo better survives a wind storm than an oak, so the amount of Flexibility For Life you have the better you survive.

This video also has its own page where you can watch Flexibility For Life

Life’s path will undulate before you. Period. Will you be prepared?