Why ADHD may be a Good Thing

We have all heard about the list of famous CEO’s and corporate exec’s with ADHD. Walt Disney, Michael Jordan, Will Smith, and JFK just to name a few. We know that while students may struggle to complete daily life tasks (i.e. taking out the trash and homework), they also hyper focus. This hyper focus can be a rocket ship to success!

Having ADHD allows you to tune out the boring and focus on what motivates you. Kids with ADHD can sit down and play video games for 4 hours straight, yet they cannot sit for 10 minutes to do a worksheet. The key difference being they are not internally motivated by the worksheet. As kids with ADHD get older, they eventually learn how to harness this hyper focus into their careers. This often means they can spend 8 hours functioning at full capacity. When most of us can maybe perform for a few hours after our coffee at full capacity.

So how can people with ADHD increase their focus. One key finding throughout the literature is EXERCISE! A consistent and regular exercise routine can combat many of the significant symptoms of ADHD.

“ADHD limits the amount of dopamine your body produces,

and dopamine helps you focus. Exercise boosts that dopamine

back up again. Think “runner’s high.”- Peter Shankman

Check out Peter’s Market Watch article on how ADHD helped him be even more successful:

Peter Shankman is the author of ‘Faster Than Normal: Turbocharge Your Focus, Productivity, and Success with the Secrets of the ADHD Brain.’ He is also an entrepreneur, CEO, runner, skydiver, podcaster, Ironman triathlete, and a dad. He’s the founder of HARO (Help A Reporter Out); ShankMinds: Breakthrough, a private, online entrepreneur community, and The Geek Factory, Inc. a boutique social media, marketing and PR firm based in New York. Shankman sits on the NASA Civilian Advisory Council, and is a media pundit on national print and broadcast platforms.