By Jeff Copper, MBA, PCC, PCAC, CPCC, ACG – July 5, 2021
What’s the value in having someone who knows how to use a hammer and hits the right spot? Do-it-yourself sounds good, but there is a cost. I call it tuition at the school of hard knocks, in other words, EXPERIENCE. That’s what I want to share with you here. ADHD is very much a challenge. If you’ve got ADHD and have been struggling to manage it, I encourage you to find a professional who’s got the insight to accelerate your learning. After all, if you get the diagnosis and you get some help, you can really live a fulfilling life.
Don’t wait till everything hits rock bottom as some people do before they show up on my doorstep. It’s really unfortunate for them, because they didn’t need to go through that. My point is this: If you’ve got ADHD, getting help from a professional can be a real benefit to you, whether it’s from a therapist, a coach, a tutor, whatever. I’m sharing this with you because all too often, I run into people with ADHD that have been trying to do it on their own for many years, and it’s not until they have nowhere else to go that they actually look for some help.
Watch my video for more understanding of knowledge with insight. https://youtu.be/1xy5ihANRHc
Transcript:
Welcome, everybody, to this edition of Attention Talk Video. I’m your host, ADHD and attention coach Jeff Cooper. Ned Hallowell has once said, “If you have ADHD, and you get the proper diagnosis and the proper treatment, you can live a fulfilling life.” Conversely, if you don’t get the diagnosis and you don’t get the treatment, your life can be very challenging. And there’s a bunch of not so pleasant stories in lives that have gone awry.
What I’m here for today is to try and talk about, when you’re going out there, I often find people with ADHD need to get an education and awareness and that you often forage for information. What I find too often is a lot of people with ADHD go the do-it-yourself route. They search for information, they forage for information, and they struggle.
Information is not action. They are two different things. I’ve said this before on my channel, I’ll say it again, I read a book on how to play guitar, multiple books on how to play the guitar. But when I picked it up, I couldn’t play it. Why? Because I had to practice it.
Now, it’s a hobby for me. I had a couple lessons a few times, but I really would have learned a hell of lot faster if I would have gotten with a professional who would give me some insights and really knows the tricks of the trade. I know years ago in high school and college, I was a backstroker. I was a nationally ranked swimmer. A backstroke start is one where you put your feet up against the wall and you do a back dive. Well, usually pools have a tile there that’s very slippery. Being a backstroker with some insight, I understood that. I learned over the years that, if you put your feet pigeon toed instead of flat, you get more surface area of your foot on the wall, and you’re less likely to slip. That’s an insight. It can really help that process of learning.
There’s a little parable I want to read that really gives a little punch to that. A ship engine failed. No one could fix it. Then they brought in a man of 40 years on the job. He inspected the engine carefully, then reached into his bag, pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped a spot. Immediately, the engine rocketed into life. It was fixed. Seven days later, the owner got a bill for $10,000. “What?” the owner exclaimed, “He scarcely did anything.” They asked for an itemized bill. The bill came later. His response, “Tapping with a hammer $2. Knowing where to tap, $9,998.”
Now, the $10,000 is a little bit absurd, but I think my point really is, that if you’ve got ADHD, getting some help by a professional can really, really help you sometimes, whether it’s cognitive behavioral therapy… a therapist, coach, tutor, et cetera. I’m sharing this with you because, all too often, I run into people with ADHD who have been trying to do it on their own for 10 years, and it’s not until they hit rock bottom that they actually look for some help.
ADHD is very much a challenge. And I encourage you, if you’ve got ADHD and you have been struggling for a period of time, find a professional who’s got the insight to accelerate your learning, because, after all, if you get the diagnosis, and you get some help, you can really live a fulfilling life. As opposed to, again, people have showed up on my doorstep where everything’s hit rock bottom at that point in time, and it’s really unfortunate, because they didn’t need to go through that.
I hope this has given you pause to think. Please subscribe to our channel by hitting the subscribe button if you’re not a current subscriber. We release a tip each week, like this and others. And please leave comments. What are your thoughts on this? Do-it-yourself sounds really, really good, but there’s a cost. I call it tuition at the school of hard knocks, and that’s tuition of experience. What’s the value in having somebody who knows where to hit with that hammer to make it happen?
Again, I hope this has given you pause to think. I hope you’ve enjoyed this edition of Attention Talk Video. Take care.