Embracing This ADHD Life
For almost two years, I've struggled with split branding. I was fully aware that splitting my company into multiple "brands" was not only confusing, but a ton of work. Recently, I came to the realization that living* This ADHD Life is what I want to talk about, what I want to help people do, and what I do each and every day. In addition, I came to the conclusion it's ok for a person to have a brand, it's not something that describes a person's character.
A Note About Branding
Accepting that *I* could have a brand was its own difficult process. Evidence of this is shown in how instinctually I put the word brands in quotation marks above. Brands are associated with large corporate enterprises, not individuals. Brands tarnish the reputation of the person. Anyone who is branding themselves is inauthentic, insincere, and just out for self-promotion.
Or so I thought. I was wrong.
Those thoughts of mine are a good example of something we coaches call, "Limiting Beliefs". The beliefs we hold, sometimes limit what we allow ourselves to do. Indeed they often limit our success in various areas. Beliefs are an expression of our confidence that something is true, whether or not it is; they are not facts. We can analyze our beliefs, challenge them, and ultimately choose to change them, if we'd like.
I challenged my belief about brands, and now understand that each and every one of us has a brand. It's who we are on social media, with our families, in our careers, at the grocery store, and even as we go to sleep at night. Our identity is our brand, and our brand is our identity. Why not decisively choose our brand?
Changes
Before I bore you with the "why" behind my sudden clarity, I'll discuss some of the things that will be changing. While I realize what I'm about to disclose may seem to provide too much detail, or seem over thought, I am writing this post in support of my desire to be both authentic, and transparent. My hope is this post helps at least one person that is facing their own decision fatigue.
I've started using ThisADHDLife.com as my primary email domain. Most of my client-facing communication will come from my "coaching" account, while my volunteer and professional interaction with use "Keith". Emails to my YourLifeCoach.com, EFLCoaching.com, and KeithGriffin.me domains will continue to be reach me, but I will do my best to reply from ThisADHDLife.com.
Business
EFL Coaching, LLC continues to be the legal entity used for my coaching practice. While you will receive email from me through thisadhdlife.com, all coaching services are provided by my LLC.
Websites
Oddly, I have been using ThisADHDLife.com as my primary web presence for the past two years while using eflcoaching.com, and then yourlifecoach.com** as my primary email domain. Confusing for sure; I apologize.
In support of my new found clarity, I am embarking on a bit of a website redesign. I'd like to update the color scheme, implement some neat content design features, and generally "clean the place up".
While I'm polishing up this website, I'll slightly rework the cover pages I use for my other domains.
Content
Famous Last Words
A newfound energy has overcome my days since deciding to consolidate my efforts here. I'm excited about This ADHD Life and what it can become. Suddenly I feel free to write, record, and talk about anything without feeling constrained by the feeling that everything must be "professional and helpful".
My intention is to start posting*** more videos on YouTube (links will always be posted here), revive the podcast, start writing articles for other publications, and maybe even start on a book. I fully understand the novelty of my discovery impacts my excitement and that excitement will likely wane. When it does, I'm sure I'll record a video about the experience.
My fingers are likely typing "checks I can't cash". Nonetheless, I'm encouraged by the clarity that has come, and the excitement that followed.
Why
I'd like to tell you there was a series of deliberate thoughts that lead to my newfound clarity around branding. There was not. As happens many times, I found myself one day struck by a need to simplify. Shortly after, I realized that not only am I literally living This ADHD Life, in a way our entire world is living what seems to be ADHD-like symptoms.
Many times I have spoken some form of the following: "I believe that what we as ADHDers are experiencing today, is what the general population will experience in 30 years. Likewise, what the general population is experiencing now, is what we experienced 30 years ago."
You Don't Have to Have ADHD to Experience ADHD Problems
That statement is not meant to trivialize ADHD, but to acknowledge our ever-changing world is impacting everyone. As an ADHDer, I know I am more impacted than someone that doesn't have the condition, but that doesn't mean problems with focus, attention, procrastination, rumination, distraction, social anxiety, etc., can only be experienced by someone that has been diagnosed with ADHD.
It hit me that this website is my outlet for sharing how I interact with day to day life as an adult with ADHD. Some of the thoughts, strategies, solutions, and tools I use to help me live a successful life are likely of interest to not only fellow ADHDers, but to people who are struggling with one or two of the many things we as ADHDers find ourselves battling.
Suddenly the words I type, the sentences I speak, and the videos I record became free of constraint. Their purpose is to authentically capture my experience, both lived and learned, with the intention of helping others. I don't have to be the expert, I just have to be me. As someone who has ready nearly 100 (maybe more) productivity books, received specialized training about ADHD, and successfully implemented with coping mechanisms there will likely be a knowledge in what I speak that helps others in coping with their own ADHD symptoms. But I no longer feel it necessary to post something only when I've deemed it "worthy" (helpful).
Timeline
I expect the transition to be completed by the end of February 2018, hopefully sooner. Changes to this website will be ongoing as I love self-imposed change and tinkering. The major work on the website will be done on the same timeline.
The Asterisks
* One day while I was recording a video for Awareness Month 2017, I ended by saying "living this adhd life." Immediately I realized that might cause folks to think my domain was livingthisadhdlife.com. I promptly registered it. #yaydhd
** Early on in my coaching practice I began to worry about whether folks without ADHD would want to visit a website devoted to ADHD. As a credentialed ADHD Coach I am qualified to coach anyone but I feared those without the condition would avoid me simply because of my domain name. It seems silly now, but it was a very real belief for a period of time.
*** As I was typing this post, I thought I'd hop on Twitch and do some live streaming. Turns out the latest update to my Mac's operating system broke compatibility with the audio interface I use to record stuff. New content may be delayed until I find a new interface.