START WHERE YOU CAN, WHEN YOU CAN!
Is there nothing more ADHD than deciding to start a blog about supporting people with ADHD and not being able to start? I don’t think so.
I had this idea for some time. I knew that it was a good one. I had ideas about what I wanted to share. AND…when it came down to putting fingers to the keyboard. To write the first entry. To make it official…NOTHING.… There was always another reason to do something else. I needed to do. I thought I should do. I wanted to do. I MUST do.
I thought about the big picture. I thought about the smallest details. I created lists. I tried to organize my thoughts into a cohesive structure for the long haul. All of this is really important.
AND… at some point, it was my procrastination. Needing the timing to be right. Needing this to be perfect. Needing to feel good about this. Needing to start at the “beginning.” PREVENTED ME FROM STARTING.
When I was honest with myself. When I labeled my procrastination. When I thought about what I would say to myself if I were my client, I realized sometimes the best way to start something we are avoiding is to START WHERE YOU CAN, WHEN YOU CAN.
So here I am. Starting this. It’s not perfect. It’s not timed amazingly. It’s not an incredibly logical beginning. I am not even sure I am posting this to my socials to share. IT’S JUST STARTING. If I had waited for everything to be perfect and organized, I am sure that this would not have happened. And in this moment, I am not guaranteeing anything that happens afterward. Only that here, and now. I STARTED.
Before this point, I shared my idea with others, to great success. I created the actual blog space. I started generating a list of ideas, topics, themes, and whatnot. I identified my supports and resources. I PROCRASTINATED!
So here is what ACTUALLY helped me get started.
I labeled and acknowledged my procrastination. Naming it for what it was helped me to own it and to identify where it was coming from.
I embraced the curiosity. In the shower (no place better for reflection), I found that I was asking myself why it was so difficult for me to start writing about ADHD. Laughing at myself.…. It’s BECAUSE of my ADHD… duh.
I looked at what was right in front of me and reminded myself what I would say to someone else in a similar situation. Starting is starting, and better than not starting. There is nothing more authentic for someone with ADHD to understand than having difficulty starting a task.
I accepted that perfect can be the enemy of good. An old cliché for sure, yet still true. Had I continued to strive for perfection, this would not have happened. Accepting this truism helped me embrace that this does not need to be perfect. The only goals I am trying to meet in this post are to do it, share something about me, and share some information that might be helpful to someone else. If this post doesn’t fully align with others, isn't the greatest jumping-off point, and is less pertinent than it could be, I'll accept that.
I committed to a specific day and time. Once I decided what I was going to do, I needed to hold myself accountable. I need to do this soon; otherwise, another reason not to do it will arise. I committed to writing this post TODAY (knowing I had some flexible time) and to posting it before I signed off at the end of my day, knowing I had a few more flexible hours today. Sure, I had other important things I needed to do. Some may have been just as important, or even more important (in someone else’s valuation). And sure, I was creating this deadline, no one else. However, I know that without this commitment, this would not have happened.
After all is said and done, sharing How I started. How I overcame my procrastination. How I mastered my ADHD (in this moment) seemed like a pretty authentic beginning.
So this is me starting. This is me sharing my story and experience navigating and supporting people with ADHD and other mental health issues. Helping us all not only to understand, unmask, and life-hack, if you will, our Mental Health and ADHD, but to find our ADHD SUPERPOWERS and overcome our challenges.