Richard Russell Coaching

ADHD Coach

I split my time between Luxembourg and London.
Available for NED and Fractional Hybrid roles also.

Product Leadership Coach

Whether you’re scaling a product-led company or transforming how you work, I can help you move faster, with less pain *

* There's always pain. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.

But we can make the pain worth it.

My product and engineering background from Google, Amazon and my exposure to countless startups and corporates means I understand where you're coming from.

My experience across every function (marketing, strategy, partnerships, operations, customer service and more) and in many industries (SaaS, Consumer Internet, Retail, Travel, Logistics, Banking, Insurance, MedTech, Crypto, Media, etc) means I know where you want to go.

The key for most of my clients is helping them empower themselves so they can empower their teams. This means transforming from tactical and functional to strategic and cross-functional, developing courage to take the right risks, and balancing the need to hold firm on some topics while disagreeing and committing to the rest of the executive team on others.

If this sounds like you, book a free chemistry call and we can get to know each other and see if there is a fit.

Scaleup Leaders

I host a video podcast and write a newsletter for and about leaders who are scaling up.

Creator & Host

Amazon

Two roles, firstly driving pan-European technology projects to improve the European customer experience, and secondly in consumer localization, where we translate and localize millions of product listings each day across all Amazon’s marketplaces

* Acting Director for Consumer Localization from Jul-Nov 2015 with multi-discipline team of 100
Leading 2016 planning with 2.5x revenue growth (goal met in October 2016), and 2017 planning with 2x revenue growth

* 2015 Q4 Localization output exceeded previous seven quarters combined, and 2016 year end goal met during 2016 Q2

* Cut the time to launch new languages by six months (50%), without affecting revenue or customer experience

* Led “language of preference” program for global consumer websites, delivering second language experience on multiple marketplaces (e.g. Amazon.de and Amazon.co.jp in English), and a program of ongoing expansion to new market segments

* Proposed and secured funding for a broad technology transformation program covering hundreds of interdependent services to allow Amazon’s consumer websites to use non-latin languages

Senior Manager Product Development

High Street Labs

Developed Wlcome (yes, welcome without the e) a mobile loyalty app for brick-and-mortar stores, using geo-location to automatically check a customer into a store location to provide personalised service, loyalty rewards, and payments.

I developed the proof of concept, then product managed ongoing development with offshore dev team. I launched pilot in two coffee shops with 60 weekly actives after 1 month. I learnt a huge amount about marketing and innovation - the hard way!

In November 2013, after becoming a father, I took an interim role as Chief Product Officer at MoPowered, a listed mobile commerce startup.

MoPowered provides a SaaS solution to online retailers, enabling them to sell on the mobile channel. I took on management of the R&D division (Engineering, Product, QA, UX and Security).

- Implemented an agile transformation, accelerating release cycle from quarterly to weekly

- Halved merchant integration costs, reduced maintenance cost per issue from days to hours

- Implemented UI overhaul to enable metrics-driven user experience improvements, increasing basket size and conversion rate for our customers, and enabling improvements across multiple clients at once

- Created a hiring pipeline, set up recruiting process, and trained team on interviewing techniques, doubling team size from 8 to 18 people in 4 months.

- Proposed strategy to reduce cash burn, reducing locations and headcount, bringing key functions in-house, and focusing on product development, implemented by new management after I left

Founder

Google

I was part of the engineering team reporting through the sales division. Over four roles, I was responsible for: delivering Google AdSense technology to European partners including search engines (eg Ask Jeeves, Seznam.cz), portals (AOL, Yahoo), publishers (eg El Pais, De Telegraaf, Le Monde), and broadcasters (eg Channel 4, Sky); developing eCommerce payment partnerships for Google Checkout (eg Kiddicare, eBuyer); negotiating partnerships for global public transport agencies (eg TfL London, Deutsche Bahn, and MTA New York) to put their data on Google Maps; and managing a client solutions team supporting advertising agencies (WPP, Publicis, Omnicom) buying ads through DoubleClick BidManager.

- Recruited and managed a team of 5 in London and Paris offices, receiving a 94% rating as a manager from my team, representing top quartile performance across the business

- Built tools used by DoubleClick Bid Manager Sales & Services teams saving >20 FTEs globally

- Executed EMEA Bid Manager upgrade project, exceeding US counterpart team on all key metrics

- Developed tools to enable scaling of map data operations, launching 4x faster with 50% fewer FTEs

- Product managed european Checkout features including VAT, Chip-and-PIN, and Contactless Payments

- Managed AdSense Broadcast, Publishing and Portal partnerships worth £100M/yr with 80% YoY growth

Senior Engineer & Manager

Deutsche Bank

Ran a team which would now be known as DevOps, managing the build and deployment process and environments for Deutsche Bank’s market-leading online wholesale foreign exchange, bonds and derivatives trading platform, Autobahn, working with traders from DB and white label clients.

- Promoted to team lead, developed release process and launched new product 3x faster than before

- Planned and executed the first successful Business Continuity Test in Global Markets eCommerce

Lead Deployment Engineer, Global Markets eCommerce

Yellow Goanna PTY LTD

IT Infrastructure Consulting - clients included The RSPCA South Australia, The South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service, Austrics (Trapeze), a Satellite ISP Startup, and a B2B Accounting Startup
- Deployed a Satellite ISP and Education CDN in schools around rural South Australia
- Consulted for an online accounting startup, advising on technology strategy
- Developed and run a diploma level IT course for TAFE SA

Systems Administrator and Consultant

Department for Environment and Water

Managing production, development and testing Solaris server environments for mission-critical services for Department of Environment and Heritage (DEH), a preceding agency of DEW.

Systems Administrator

Trapeze Group

Developing a new user interface for a public transport management product.

Programmer - AUSTRICS (Acquired by Trapeze)

Helping leaders do more with less | OKRs & Leadership | ex Amazon & Google

* There’s always pain. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.
But we keep it to a minimum—and make the progress worth it.

You've read the books.
You're working harder than ever.
But the changes aren't sticking, and you're slipping behind.

Ever felt like that?

The three usual suspects:

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Teams pull in different directions
𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐆𝐚𝐩𝐬: Decisions stall in deadlock
𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Bold slides, but nothing ships

If you don't change, you’ll miss opportunities, exhaust talent, and watch faster players overtake you.

And it will keep getting worse.

I help you break that cycle — fast.

I’ve led large teams at Amazon and Googl, helped 20+ startup executives navigate these challenges successfully and worked with corporates up to Fortune 500 scale. I love helping leaders like you bridge the gap between technical excellence and business leadership.

These challenges show up differently for every leader, but here are some recent results:

🔥 Series C CEO – Unblocked strategy, shipped a scalable fix in weeks, then raised a Series D.
🔥 Series A CEO – Broke the decision bottleneck, strengthened delegation, and cut attrition.
🔥 Series C VP Eng – Beat impostor syndrome, shaped strategy, and stepped up to CTO.
🔥 GM, Traditional BU – Shifted a 70-person product org from tech-focused order-takers to customer-centric empowered teams.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

Here's how I can help:

✅ Focused coaching, one-to-one or with your leadership team, to get you unstuck fast
✅ Facilitated strategy, OKR, planning and review workshops to create momentum
✅ Develop proven leadership habits to help you maintain progress
✅ Targeted training to upskill teams

As an individual, this will help you:

👉 Move from functional leadership to company-wide impact
👉 Build alignment across growing teams
👉 Navigate relationships with co-founders and stakeholders
👉 Transition from BigTech or Corporate to Scaleup leadership

For your organisation, this will help you:

🎯 Build your management operating system
🎯 Develop clear vision, strategy, and goals (OKRs)
🎯 Create cross-team alignment and buy-in
🎯 Build execution and review cadences that drive consistent results

Message me to explore if we're a good fit.

Why I'm Pivoting to ADHD Coaching

You've probably noticed that I'm talking about High Performance ADHD a lot lately. You'll see me talking more about this in the future.

Here are a few reasons why:

1. I have ADHD, am a High Performer, and have learnt a lot about High Performance ADHD in the past two years.

2. Writing about it gives me the excuse to learn more and keep working on myself.

3. I love to help people — it gives me energy — so if I share what I learn and what works for me, it's going to help you if you have some of the same challenges and strengths (and many of you do!).

Over the next month, I plan on writing and creating videos about ADHD, Productivity, and Leadership, and how these topics combine.

My mission is to help ambitious leaders with ADHD become unstoppable powerhouses — without burning out — by building a virtuous cycle that turns ADHD into their unfair advantage.

Join me on this adventure, and let me know if you have any questions along the way!

I'm excited to start sharing what I know online.

Richard Russell

ADHD & Product Leadership Coach | I help product-led scale-up and transformation leaders move faster — with less pain * | Coaching, Consulting, and Training

No idea who the original creator of this was, but credit to him or her!

Resonates so hard :-)

Performance Coach for ADHD Leaders | Business Coach for Product and Scaleup Leaders | I help you move faster — with less pain*

No alternative text description for this image

Who are the best creators for ADHDers you know of?

Here's my top picks:

Alex Partridge (founder of UNILAD & LADBible) hosts ADHD Chatter Podcast, a great set of interviews with leading experts, celebrities, and psychaiatrists.

Peter Shankman (founder HARO, Sourced Of Sources, Mental Capital) hosts Faster Than Normal podcast, and wrote the Faster Than Normal book. He interviews successful ADHD Entrepreneurs.

Mande John (ADHD Life Coach) writes great practical advice and informative posts abou ADHD here on LinkedIn.

Moonlake Lee (Founder Unlocking ADHD) celebrates people who have made their ADHD into their strength.

Jessica McCabe creates the "How to ADHD" YouTube channel, which is great fun and super-accessible.

Charlotte Forbes 🌻 hosts a club for ADHDers, and writes about ADHD especially for the creative industries.

⭐️ Kim Raine ⭐️ specialises in women entrepreneurs with ADHD, and writes great content about business and ADHD.

Rosie Turner hosts ADHD Untangled podcast and writes inspiring posts here.


Who have I missed? 

Tag them in below.

3 Things Preventing ADHD Leaders From Succeeding.

Work with me: richardrussell.co/adhd

"We're all a bit ADHD"
Yep, that's why it's called a spectrum.
You see, I'm a lot ADHD.

Here's the thing:

Most people struggle are a bit distracted, a little impulsive, or a tad hyperactive at least some of the time. They can apply a bit of self-discipline, a few simple methods, and a little focus, and get back on track. They just need to know what to do, and decide to do it.

People with ADHD can't.

We know what to do, but trying harder doesn't work. We've been trying harder than most people all our lives. But we can't get back on track through trying harder. And the negative consequences build up in our lives despite our efforts.

Did you know that untreated ADHD can reduce life expectancy by as much as 13 years?

That part of our brain that turns knowing what to do into the action of doing it, that shuts out distractions and focuses on what's important, which controls impulsive behaviour, or which directs energy towards what we decide to direct it towards just doesn't work very well.

And it doesn't work very well because we have less dopamine, that neurotransmitter that drives the brain's reward system, and enables executive functions like planning, organizing, time management, emotional regulation, starting and completing tasks, working memory, and self-monitoring.

Yep, we're all "a bit ADHD", just like we're all "a bit deaf", but some of us are more than others, and those people may need some help to live at their best.

Their best happens to be pretty damned good though!

#ADHDAwarenessMonth

I’m learning a lot about the business of coaching as I build my ADHD coaching practice.

I’ll share some of these learnings in occasional weekend posts — partly for public accountability, partly because it may help others on the same path.

Here are my top three so far:

1️⃣ Nobody buys “coaching.”

Coaches spend thousands learning how to coach — because it works.

But people don’t buy coaching. They buy a change they want: a solved problem, a realised dream, a transformation. Coaching is how we make the sausage, not the sizzle on the grill.

💡 Talk about the pain your clients feel, the obstacles they face, the transformation they seek, and the outcomes they want — not the process.

Because I’ve lived the life of a high performer with ADHD for almost 50 years, I know those pains and obstacles well. That gives me confidence I can speak directly to my clients’ struggles and aspirations — and attract the right people as I practice.

2️⃣ Every marketing channel works.

Coaches succeed on YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Substack, Twitter, podcasts, books, talks, networking — even one-on-one conversations.

Every strategy works for someone. The question is: which one works for you?

You’ll only learn by experimenting.

💡 Try a few channels, see what feels natural and sustainable, then double down on that.

My strength is talking rather than writing, and I love YouTube — so that’s my focus. I’ll repurpose that content for LinkedIn (using AI), but won’t invest much energy there. LinkedIn tends to burn me out.

3️⃣ Do it with company.

Ironically, for a people-centred profession, building a coaching business can be lonely work.

You need peers, guidance, and yes — coaching.

You might find it among classmates, fellow coaches, or trusted thought leaders. Beware of snake oil: the “coach the coaches” space is crowded. The best I’ve found include Taki Moore, Christie Mims (Coach Pony), and books by Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin.

💡 Gather peers who share resources, insights, and accountability, and find the thought leaders who resonate for you.

I’m part of three groups: a monthly call with my training cohort, a weekly peer group from LinkedIn (run by Maya Caplette), and an ADHD entrepreneurs community on Skool (ADHD Harmony by Jim Ebbelaar). These keep me grounded, motivated, and accountable.

There’s still so much to learn, but this is a start.

Big takeaway: a coaching business is still a business.

If you want to make an impact, you need to get good not only at coaching, but also at marketing and selling the transformation it creates.

Done well, your marketing can have as much impact as your coaching — simply because of its reach.

Are you building a coaching business too? What have you learned?

#BuildInPublic

Are you a fast-brain leader (C-level to PM) had enough of wasted potential?
Tired of the burnout-or-blow-up loop?
Of weeks that start full throttle and end in frustration?

Imagine instead:

Reliable focus that lasts past Tuesday
Consistent weekly wins you can point to
Clear headspace to think strategically again

That’s the work I do in 1:1 coaching for ADHD executives.
It’s practical, fast-moving, and built for the way your brain actually runs.

We rebuild your personal operating system
So you get reliable focus, weekly wins, and real headspace again.

If you want unstoppable momentum without burning out, DM me.

I've got a limited number of slots still available this year.

ADHD makes us different.
Then we burn out trying to be “normal”.
Don’t do that.

Be more different.

Don’t adapt to the world, adapt the world to suit your differences.

Own it.

You rock.

1 Habit All Successful Leaders With ADHD Have In Common

If you wait to feel ready, you’ll never start.

Every successful leader I’ve met with ADHD shares one habit:

They start before they’re ready.



If you've got ADHD, you probably get stuck often enough waiting for perfection: the perfect clarity, the perfect plan, the perfect motivation.

But our brains don’t work that way.

We don’t get focus before we start. We get focus because we start.



When Richard Branson launched Virgin Airlines, he didn’t have all the details sorted. He took a risk, chartered a plane, and figured it out in motion.



Momentum creates motivation.



The same goes for the leaders I coach: the ones who succeed aren’t the ones who plan endlessly; they’re the ones who take one small, scrappy action that makes taking the next one easier.



Yeah, it's good advice for everyone, but for ADHDers:

* Action creates dopamine. You get the chemical boost that fuels motivation.

* Momentum creates clarity. Once you move, the fog lifts and you can see what matters.

* Progress creates confidence. Each micro-win builds belief that you can handle what comes next.



Next time you’re stuck waiting for motivation, don’t fix the plan, start the work.

Send the message. Open the doc. Sketch the idea.

You’ll be amazed how fast “not ready” turns into “in flow.”

And by the way, this is where AI comes in really handy. Ask it to make a first draft, then start editing. That's how I wrote this post. It's still me, but AI helped get me started and gave me structure.

Because the secret isn’t planning.

It’s starting before you’re ready and trusting that clarity will catch up.

Ready to take action? Send a DM.

What is a successful coaching business?

For me, it's three things:

1) I'm helping my clients in a way that makes them want to recommend me.
2) I'm making enough money to support my family plus a bit spare.
3) I'm having fun, getting more energy than I'm spending, and growing.

And the biggest unlock for all of this who you're serving.

I've found my sweet spot. I'm not successful by this definition yet, but I'm on the right path. Here's how I know:

1) New clients are coming ten times faster than ever before - and it's mostly from referrals, whether from my network or from existing clients.

2) Not there yet, but with the rate of new clients and referrals, it won't be too long.

3) I am having so much fun coaching, I finish every coaching session full of energy, and I'm learning so much about myself, my clients, coaching, ADHD, and business.

If you're an ADHD leader and have been thinking about coaching, there's still time to work with me at my "early bird" rates. Send a DM.

Once I'm booked out, the rates go up.

3 Things I'm Hyperfocussed On

Since my ADHD diagnosis two years ago, I've been hyperfocusing on three things:

Health And The Mind-Body connection

I used to think my body was just a machine to move my mind around.

But in reality, everything about my body and health affects my mind deeply. When my body is tired, poorly nourished, or lacks exercise, my mind is weakened and distracted. Caring for my body is how I create a healthy mind and express love for myself in a really tangible way.

There's more work to do (you don't undo 47 years of neglect in a few years), but as I care for myself more, I feel so much better mentally.

Productivity Tools For ADHD

I've tried every productivity tool over the years, and most didn't really work for me.

After my diagnosis, I realised that most of them are designed for people whose brains are "importance based". Mine is "interested based". It's no wonder that these toosl didn't work for me -- I need a different approach, to solve a different kind of problem.

As I find tools that work for me, I prove to myself that I'm not lazy or dysfunctional, I just have to learn how to operate myself better.

Finding My Ikigai

For most of my life, I've been dependent on my weaknesses.

When I fail, I hyperfocus on the weakness that led to the failure, so I work on it, struggling more. This gets me down. What I've learned is that when I do things that depend on my strenghts, the opposite happens, and I get stronger, more successsful, and happier.

My move into ADHD coaching is part of this.

Are you into what I'm into?

Would love to hear what you've been learning, and where you're finding challenges -- whether you are diagnosed or self-diagnosed ADHD, or just find yourself dealing with some of the same topics.

Why do so many successful entrepreneurs, product managers, and entertainers have ADHD?

ADHD causes distractibility, impulsivity and hyperactivity - not things associated with success!

But:

The flipside of distractibility is CURIOSITY

The flipside of impulsivity is CREATIVITY

The flipside of hyperactivity is DRIVE

The exact characteristics that create success in these fields.

The question is how to harness the positive side of ADHD, because when you do, you're pretty much unstoppable.

Just ask:

* Bill Gates (Microsoft)
* Paul Orfalea (Kinko's)
* Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA)
* Nelly Furtado (Musician)
* Sir James Dyson (Dyson)
* David Neeleman (JetBlue)
* Justin Timberlake (Singer)
* Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas)
* Jamie Oliver (Celebrity Chef)
* Lilly Allen (Singer-songwriter)
* Greta Gerwig (Director, Barbie)
* Richard Branson (Virgin Group)
* Anita Roddick (The Body Shop)
* Michael Phelps (Olympic swimmer)
* Howie Mandel (America's Got Talent)

And Ned Hallowell (Psychiatrist) and Alex Partridge (LADBible), who discussed exactly this on Alex's podcast, ADHD Chatter.

And hundreds of successful people in my personal network.

11 Low-Friction Habits for Leaders with ADHD to Build Energy and Follow-Through, So You Show Up Reliably Without Willpower:

High performers with ADHD don’t fail from lack of ambition — they fail from energy leaks. Every plan looks great until you wake up tired, distracted, or already behind. Willpower won’t fix that. But a few small, low-friction habits will.

Here are 11 habits that quietly build the energy, focus, and follow-through your ADHD brain craves — no rigid systems or 4 a.m. routines required.

1. Morning Reset Walk: Start every day with 10–20 minutes of movement and sunlight. Dopamine, rhythm, and fresh air wake up your brain better than caffeine.

2. Protein First: Eat a protein-rich breakfast (eggs, yoghurt, anything substantial). It smooths your blood sugar and stops the mid-morning crash that kills focus.

3. Coffee Curfew: Cut caffeine after midday. Poor sleep sabotages tomorrow’s energy — not today’s productivity.

4. The Daily One-Pager: Plan your day on a single sheet: time blocks on one side, to-dos on the other. Throw it away every evening. ADHD brains thrive on clean slates.

5. The One Thing Rule: Write one must-do task at the top of that page. If you only finish that, you’ve already won.

6. Hemingway Bridge: When you stop mid-flow, leave a half-finished sentence or thought. It makes restarting frictionless next time.

7. Reset Ritual: When you stall, play one song, stretch once, and take one deep breath. Two minutes later, you’re back in motion.

8. Body Battery Check: Before switching tasks, ask: am I depleted, distracted, or good to go? Then rest, reset, or dive in. It prevents mindless thrashing.

9. Not Now List: When new ideas pop up, park them instead of switching tasks. Review once a week. It protects your current focus.

10. Automate One Thing a Week: Preset recurring groceries, meetings, or reminders. Each automation frees bandwidth for real work.

11. Celebrate Wins: Write them down, tell someone, or fist-pump silently — your brain runs on visible progress. Give it fuel.

Reliability doesn’t come from trying harder.

You don’t need discipline to live at your best — you need momentum. Momentum comes from energy, clarity, and reward loops that work with your brain. Start with one of these habits this week. Let it compound.

It comes from designing a life that doesn’t make you fight yourself.

What's one habit that works for you?

I’m building a community for Leaders with ADHD.

If you’re a Leader with ADHD, which name would you be most likely to join and happiest to refer to yourself as?

ADHD Leaders - simple, direct

Fast Brain Leaders - positive, a bit like Kahneman’s book

Hunter Type Leaders - positive, maybe obscure

Hyperfocus Leaders - positive, but maybe also negative?

What should a community for Leaders with ADHD be called?

The gap is real.
High performers with ADHD have a big gap between their strengths and their weaknesses.


Their strengths set expectations we call “potential”.

Their weaknesses prevent them from reaching it.


This gap causes all sorts of problems. Stress, guilt, and shame. Burnout from trying harder.

Spend more time working on the weaknesses and you get stuck in a doom loop, powered by intense emotions, creative thinking and hyperfocus.

Ignore them and you disappoint people and feel like you let yourself down.

Instead, find ways to double down on strengths and actively minimise weaknesses.

Spend more time working in your strengths, and the same powerful cycle can create an unstoppable upwards momentum that gets stronger every day.

ADHD isn’t a curse, it’s a difference.

Be more different, lean into it, own it.

You rock.

I'm planning a Fast Brain Leaders Bootcamp for 10 ADHD Leaders to Get Real Momentum in 90 Days Starting Jan 2026

Are you a fast-brain leader — smart, driven, ADHD-wired — but still stuck in the same cycle?

Brain Fuzz. Productivity Paralysis. Square Peg Syndrome.
The harder you push, the more inconsistent it feels.

If that’s you, the Fast Brain Leaders Bootcamp is built for you.

In 90 days, we’ll install your personal Fast Brain Flywheel so you can build Unstoppable Momentum — Focused. Consistent. In Control.

You’ll work through 3 projects in each area:

🧠 To get you Energised Every Day – Sleep Like a Weapon, Move Like You Mean It, Eat Like It Matters

⚙️ To get you Action On Demand – Rituals That Run You, Get-Sht-Done Systems, Engineer Your Environment*

🎯 To get you Life-Brain Fit – Own Your Strengths, Design Your Workflow, Invent Your Future

What you get

Private online community – small cohort of 10 ADHD execs
Weekly group coaching calls – focused, practical, accountability built-in
1:1 coaching sessions – personal setup and troubleshooting
PDF cheat sheets & tools – simple, usable, fast
Clear structure, no fluff, measurable results

By the end of 90 days you’ll have:

Reliable focus that lasts
Consistent weekly wins you can point to
Clear headspace for strategy again

Only 10 seats for this first cohort - and the price is going to be much lower than in future (with an amazing guarantee).

If you want to start 2026 with a system that actually matches your brain, DM me, and I’ll send you details and we can see if it’s a fit.

I'll link a video that walks you through the nine components we'll work on to build your Fast Brain Flywheel in the comments.

The ADHD Leaders' Gap, and why it exists.

Ever wonder why most #productivity systems don’t work for you?

They weren’t made for your brain.

Most systems are built for importance-based minds:
	•	Do what matters most.
	•	Eat the frog.
	•	Start with the hard thing.

And that works—for them.
They get a dopamine hit from doing what’s important.

But if you’ve got a fast brain (like #ADHD), your attention works differently.

We’re wired for interest-based attention:
	•	Novelty.
	•	Urgency.
	•	Challenge.
	•	Fun.

So the trick isn’t to “try harder.”
It’s to start where the dopamine is.

Do something interesting first.
Get the engine running.
Then you’ll have the momentum to tackle the tough stuff.

Want to learn how fast-brain leaders stay focused, consistent, and in control?

👉 Follow me here
(Or just drop a 🔥 if this hits)

When I first started to learn about ADHD, I had a hard time figuring out where to start.

There's so much content out there that it can be overwhelming. What's more, some of it can be counter-productive. For example, Russell Barkley is one of the leading authorities, but his books tend to focus on the negatives, and can get you down. So I don't recommend starting with him.

I've compiled my top three in-depth resources that I I've found authoritative, practical, and inspiring -- one book, one video, and one podcast.

Resources to Start With:

Read This Book: "ADHD 2.0" by Ed Hallowell and John Ratey. This is a great introduction with practical guidance, an easy read, and grounds you in your strengths while helping deal with weaknesses.

Watch This TEDx Video: Failing at Normal by Jessica McCabe (from the excellent How To ADHD YouTube Channel). Super-accessible and highly relatable, and quite entertaining.

Listen To This Podcast: And if you really want to go down the rabbit hole, listen to ADHD & How Anyone Can Improve Their Focus by Andrew Huberman. It's long and technical, and Huberman promotes his own supplements, but you'll learn a ton.

What next?

Learning from these and more helped me a great deal.

But what made the biggest difference was taking action. The hardest part about having ADHD is not knowing what to do in any area (we tend to hyperfocus, go deep, and learn everything we can), it's actually doing it. And what helped me most was coaching.

If you'd like to talk about coaching, send me a message.

#ADHDAwarenessMonth

There are a lot of books about ADHD.

In typical ADHD fashion, I hyperfocused and read most of them. And in typical ADHD fashion, the book I love the most changes frequently, probably because what is most relevant to me changes over time. Right now, I'm loving "How to ADHD" by Jessica McCabe, yes, the same Jessica from the How to ADHD YouTube channel.

It's great for beginners, but I'm still getting great value from it.

Here's why:

1. It's super-relatable. She shares her personal experiences, and many experiences from her community. This helps me identify, understand, and normalise my own experiences.

2. I learn things. She's collected a lot of research, and presents it in a way that really sticks - it's like a distillation of all the stuff we want to know, but presented in easy mode.

3. It's practical. Every chapter has a toolbox of things to try in my own life, and because I've just read the experience (the why) and the research (the what), I'm really ready for the instructions (the how).

4. It's full of catchy ideas. Sometimes I read a book which is great, but I don't remember anything. Jessica names things and talks about them in a way which sticks in my mind.

5. It's so quotable. For example: "I’ve never been great at meeting basic expectations. I could, however, exceed them." ... yep, that's me in a nutshell!

6. She's positive and realistic. Yes, she talks openly about the struggles ADHD brings, but in a way which doesn't get the reader down, and which leaves you feeling optimistic and positive.

7. Brains and Hearts. She refers to people with ADHD as "brains" (because that's what makes us different), and the people who love them as "hearts" (because that's why they are learning about ADHD even though they don't have ADHD). I love this framing.

If you are at all interested in ADHD, I can't recommend this book enough.

(And if you've read it, do you agree? What other book would you recommend as a starter?)

Taplio

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