One of the most pervasive myths about ADHD is that people with ADHD are just lazy. If they would just “try harder”, they would suddenly have enough willpower to get things done.

But ADHD motivation doesn’t work like that.

Our biggest motivational struggles often look like us just sitting on the couch staring at our phone. While in our head, we scream at our brain:

It can feel like we’re captives in our own brain, unable to move into action. And worse, when we’re completely stuck in place, our thoughts will often devolve into the negative messages we probably heard as kids.

And so on.

The truth is, people with ADHD want to the right thing. We desparately want to just do the thing. But there’s a blocker in our brain. Differences with our neurochemistry mean we have deficits in our executive function, aka the management system of the brain.

While we are likely trying harder than most, we may appear to be doing the opposite because of that disconnect from our brain to our actions.

All of this can have some devastating effects on someone with ADHD, particularly if undiagnosed:

• Immense shame and self-blame for the difficulties you face that only compounds over the years

• Lack of any support, thinking it’s a problem you need to somehow solve on your own

• Delayed diagnosis and/or treatment

One approach to overcoming this is embracing what I call the 4 Cs of Motivation: Captivate, Create, Compete, Complete.

Rather then trying to rely on that elusive “willpower” or just “trying harder”, instead focus on how to make a task more interesting (Captivate), creative (Create), competitive (Compete), or urgent (Complete).

(In my book, Extra Focus, I dive deeper into how you can apply the 4 Cs of Motivation and why it works for people with ADHD)

While this myth can be incredibly damaging, by sharing our experiences and helping to educate those who know us best, we can help to dispel this harmful myth.

How has this myth affected your life? Have you found any other strategies that help you overcoming difficulties with motivation and moving intentions into action?

Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments, they could be incredibly valuable to others in the ADHD community struggling with similar challenges.

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Stay curious,
Jesse J. Anderson

P.S. I’ve been thinking about starting something I’m calling Project Sidequest (cuz everything has to have a fun name).

Essentially, it’s a list of goals that have no real bearing on my career, income, etc, but are just things I’d like to have completed to become the person I want to be. Goals that “build character” in a way, or encourage me to take action toward something I’d like to do.

For example, one goal might be “take my daughter on a trip, just the two of us”, because we don’t vacation much but I want to be the kind of dad that takes his kids on trips. Or “Watch every film in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies” because I love movies and want to grow my appreciate for the history of film.

Jesse J. Anderson 1d me: I have difficulty with [thing] because of my executive dysfunction. them: Oh, well have you tried fixing that by [using executive function]? me: … 10 3

Jesse J. Anderson 4d ADHD symptoms be like: annoys teachers hard to parent not great at jobs kinda creative? too quiet too loud too sensitive too much 29