Have you just been thrown into the world of ADHD and are trying to navigate a new diagnosis? Are you looking for ADHD resources to support your health and well-being to improve your life and manage your symptoms using a variety of simple strategies?
Living with ADHD can be frustrating but there are things we can do to support ourselves to be the best we can be, and it is possible to reduce our symptoms because I’m living proof of it! And the best thing about it, most of the strategies I suggest and do myself, are free! They don’t cost anything. They just involve avoiding certain things, adding some things in, and tweaking what we are already doing. I’m also a Special Education Teacher of 20+ years so I offer a unique perspective on the condition that is now affecting so many people.
So let’s take a look at what I do to improve my well-being and how I have successfully navigated the ADHD world!
absorbing all the new information
When we get a new diagnosis, there’s a lot to take in! It can be overwhelming and hard to comprehend just where to start. But what I’ve found over the years, is that I am my biggest advocate and it’s my own research that’s helped me.
Whether this is because I’m a teacher or just love to research stuff, I don’t know. But what I do know is that I have to take control of things myself because no one is going to do it for me.
So whether you’re facing this yourself, or trying to support a loved one, we can never have too much info and knowledge is power! The more we know about ourselves, the easier it is to help ourselves.
We also learn off others so I guess that’s why I like to put down what I’ve learned and share it. What I’ve learned is that we are more powerful when we work together. I try to make my resources as user friendly as possible so they don’t overwhelm as this is a common trait us with ADHD seem to suffer from.
impulse control
Yes, we all suffer from poor impulse control but what I’ve learned over the years, of abusing my body with food and things like smoking, is that it’s not worth it. We either pay for good health now, or we pay for it later. Trust me, it’s better to put your money into your health and well-being now as it’s bloody expensive (and painful) to do it later.
The only way to control our impulses is to learn how to manage them successfully. No, I’m no counsellor so there are a whole host of strategies out there to help us with that, but I found I needed to rely on myself in times of impulse control.
In other words, we are the only ones in the moment that can control the impulsive behaviour. We have to learn to deal with it ourselves because there isn’t going to be someone standing over our shoulders telling us not to do something or to stop doing something. Being completely honest with ourselves and our behaviour is a good place to start. I know I’ll cop a lot of shit for saying this as the ADHD community get really peeved when I mention this sort of thing.
Now the reality is, if we don’t take responsibility for ourselves, who is? Yes, it’s confronting. And yes, you might say, but I can’t do that, it’s my ADHD and I can’t help it. Well, my response to that will be ‘YES YOU CAN’! I’ve learned that the only person who is going to save me, is me!
I now use environmental strategies to help me navigate the ADHD world, where I tweak what works, and get rid of the stuff that doesn’t. It was overwhelming at the start but it does it get easier. The more you can learn from others along the way, the easier it gets. Check out the post on ‘Thriving with ADHD’ for more info.
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environmental strategies
If we are constantly looking for things outside of our body to solve our problems, then that is what our body is going to be conditioned to. Whether this is a pill, alcohol or something else, our body and our mind learn how to cope through these measures.
Now there are things we can do and use in our environment to help us. Leaving toxic environments is the first place to start. This reduces the emotional load on us and can improve our well-being almost instantaneously. The same goes for not consuming toxic food – yes – put down that McDonald’s cheeseburger because it’s crap! And when you eat crap, you’re gonna feel like crap! We can go back to that old saying ‘you are what you eat’.
Once I got off all this crap food, my whole life changed. It’s addictive! More addictive than drugs I reckon. And because of that, it’s more dangerous because it’s available everywhere we go. At the corner store, the supermarket, the fast food outlet on the corner, the mall etc etc…
Ditch the toxic stuff in your environment and feel better instantly. But this takes courage and it’s so much harder to change than to stay stuck in the same place. But it is possible.
empowerment - learn to empower yourself
Learning to empower ourselves is critical to personal development and navigating the ADHD world. Learning to uncover our talents isn’t really something we’re taught but essential to our progress. No one is going to do it for you – at least that’s what I’ve learned so taking charge of lifting ourselves up will not only help reduce symptoms of helplessness, it will help us with resilience when challenges arise.
While we can reduce the negative symptoms of ADHD by empowering ourselves to make better choices about our lives and situations, ADHD is a life-long condition. And although life-long, it doesn’t have to be disempowering – it’s only disempowering if we choose it to be!
aim to be self-sufficient with managing your adhd symptoms
A way to start to manage your symptoms is to know yourself. We have to learn what our strengths and weaknesses are because if we get a good handle on this, we can choose to either avoid or increase certain things, situations, events or people. Getting to know ourselves can be challenging and confronting because when we learn more about ourselves, there might be certain things we know we have to change. Change is hard (remember if it were easy, everyone would be doing it). So changing our behaviour is probably one of the hardest things to do. It takes a concerted effort to examine ourselves, and then swap or exchange certain behaviours for something else.
This is where gaining as much knowledge as we possibly can comes in. Learn, learn, learn, and then keep learning! If you find visuals work better for you, use them. If you’re into journalling, do more of that. If you are surrounded by people who aren’t good for you (and I’m thinking of addiction issues here), reconsider your relationships so you can focus on yourself. A change in circumstance can have a dramatic effect on ADHD symptoms – particularly anxiety-related ADHD or depression. Learn what makes you feel better and calm, and then do more of that.
work with your strengths
Find what you’re good at and start tailoring your life around that. If this means doing a job that’s not your thing but pays the bills in the meantime, do it. Creativity and ADHD seem to go hand in hand but often jobs that rely on creative expression don’t pay great. It’s important to remember that the job you have now does not mean it’s the job you will have for a lifetime. Everything is temporary except maybe our strengths 🙂
But in order to find your strengths to even begin working with them, you have to take the time to discover them. This means you may have to give up doing something that distracts you like gaming, mindless scrolling, Netflix binging etc…. These are all time-wasting habits that once you reduce or get rid of them, you’d be amazed at how much time you have to spend on the things that actually matter to you.
But you’re only going to realise this if you take the time. Don’t wait. Don’t put it off another day! You have one life (well this lifetime right now) to do something amazing. And if your strength involves helping or supporting our humanity to evolve, then it’s a win-win!!! Be part of something great and don’t worry about what others think of you.
learn to regulate your emotions when navigating the adhd world
If we can learn to regulate how we feel and how we respond to certain situations or events, we can learn to navigate our symptoms. This might mean bringing in different coping mechanisms if the ones you currently use are either destructive or not working. I like to think of things as if they are either benefiting me or hindering me. If they are hindering me, I ditch them. I no longer want to engage in destructive behaviour. It just me feel worse. It’s like a temporary fix but the long-term ramifications were just not worth it.
You may have seen this infographic on Pinterest as it’s one of my top-performing graphics. But these self-regulation strategies have worked well for me and that’s why I share this type of content. We don’t have to be into everything on this list because we are all different, but if there’s something that resonates with you, give it a try. It can’t hurt!
build your resilience to help you navigate the adhd world
There are ALWAYS going to be issues. It doesn’t matter how much or how little money we have, there will be problems of some sort. It’s learning how to cope with those issues as they arise and be able to carry on is the key. It could be problems at work, issues at home, a job loss, a health scare and so on. There will always be something so learning how to face problems head on is something we can teach ourselves to do.
I believe resilience can be learned and that this is something we can model to those around us, especially children. ADHD does bring challenges that seem to be amplified. Whether this is because we get overwhelmed easily, or have trouble regulating our emotions, I don’t know. But what I do know, is that we are capable of learning successful ways of managing crises when they are presented. We have to take matters into our own hands because no one is going to build the resilience for us – it’s down to us, and only us!
bottom line
So if you’re sick of just meandering through life feeling like a victim at every turn, please realise you don’t have to feel this way. We are all capable of change and I’m a prime example of this. I can’t say it’s been easy because it hasn’t. It’s taken years of fine tuning my strategies but I’m really proud of myself and what I’ve accomplished which is why I share my work and what I’ve learned with others.
If you’re wanting to create change in your life, you can start right away. You don’t need anything fancy. Just some courage and the mindset that it’s ok to go slowly because small changes add up to something really big overall.
I’ve bundled up all my knowledge so far into my ‘Navigating the ADHD World’ bundle which I sell in my Etsy store. Take a look and I wish you every bit of success on your journey to health and well-being freedom as you navigate the world of ADHD!
Click the image to go straight to the product.
