ADHDers Can't Win Goals Without Losing First (unless you do this)

The one focus that is necessary for goal completion:

Specificity.

You haven't read this sort of breakdown anywhere else.

(And you won't hear me talk about SMART goals)

Trust me

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Does the phrase "manage your goals" put a sour taste in your mouth?

Most people with ADHD describe it like this to me.

There's a 2-part issue with this phrase.

One.

What does 'manage your goals' mean?

Two.

What's the right goal for you?

But there's a more important issue beneath all of this.

And one that you need to take care of today.

You're in a competition

Most standard Olympic outdoor tracks have 8 or 9 lanes for runners.

And these tracks are home to one of the most popular races:

The 100-meter dash.

Olympic athletes train for years to win this race.

And with 8 or 9 world-class sprinters, you can bet the competition is fierce.

Now every 100-meter dash race has a winner of course.

Which means there are 7 or 8 losers.

And losing a race like that feels like a lost opportunity.

This brings me to the ADHD mind.

With a brain like yours, most goals feel like 100m dash:

• you move very fast
• you want to win

The issue here is that your brain sees your goals like the runners.

All the runners that is.

The idea there can only be one winner makes you sick.

Because you want every runner to win.

You want all your goals to work out.

Or at least the right goals to work out.

And it doesn't work like that.

Not in a single race.

You need the one thing you hate

Nobody cares about the 7 or 8 losers in these races.

They focus on the one winner, after the fact.

But you have many goals and can't wait for the finish line.

You want to know which goal is most important.

You want to know which goal is correct.

And now you're back to the 2-part issue:

• what does goal management mean?
• which goal is the right one for me?

The focus doesn't need to be on managing many goals at once, like wanting all your runners to win first place.

The focus isn't deciding what goal is the right one because you'll always be fighting yourself the more you think about that.

The focus needs to be specificity.

Specificity by definition means, "The quality of being specific."

Specific means "clearly defined or clarified."

Clearly defined means "distinct and accurate perception."

And that's what you really need here.

You need to be so accurate and distinct on a single goal that you no longer pay much attention to the other goals.

And most first-place runners win this way too.

They don't put on blinders to block the competition.

They don't hope that 2nd or 3rd place will tie with them.

They put all their energy into one goal:

The finish line.

That's their distinct and accurate perception.

And this means letting go of other goals for the time being.

Perhaps this image can help get my point across:

You'll notice that you need two hands to try and manage multiple goals.

You'll also notice you need one hand for one goal.

Yes, this does mean sacrificing the others, but that's what it takes.

And with so much specificity on a single goal, the mind is less scattered.

And now you're more focused in putting your energy in one thing.

Specificity gets you all you want

Just as all runners can't win first place at once, all your goals cannot be achieved at once.

So you've got to get specific instead.

You've got to go further than treating the symptoms aka "Which goal is the right one?"

Answering that question will keep you going in circles as you change your mind from goal to goal.

And you'll never be satisfied.

And you end up losing every single race. On repeat.

This is the ADHD mind.

You need to get to the root of all this madness.

The root is this following formula:

Meaningful goal + ___________ = Taking a specific step

All those gurus out there will tell you they have the answer to meeting your goals.

That's the blank line in the formula. (the gripping hook)

I purposely left it blank because that's exactly what it is. Nothing.

To meet meaningful goals requires taking a specific first step.

That's it. Plus a few more microsteps:

• Then you ask yourself how you did that.
• Next, you evaluate if that step got you closer to the goal.
• Then you take your next specific step.
• Now you're in movement

So the actual formula makes sense now:

Meaningful Goal = Taking a specific step

And yes, there are other layers to this.

Like creating successful deadlines.

Having a new type of accountability.

And you can't forget consistency.

But winning the race of goal completion means getting very specific about that one goal you are wishing to achieve.

And the best part?

Once the main goal is complete, you can move on to the second place goal, then third, and so on.

Remember, this isn't a post to discourage having many goals.

It's a reminder to get specific, take action, complete, and then on to the next.

This is what true goal management looks like.

This is what having the right goal looks like.

Getting specific. Take a single step.

You can do this

With ADHD, you have many aspirations and goals.

You don't want to stifle ideas, but in order to get what you want you have to get specific.

After you sacrifice one goal, the others shine brighter.

Sacrifice enough goals until you can get specific about one.

That's when you take a step forward, with confidence.

Confidence that your other goals will be there when, or if, you decide to go back.

Make sure you complete that first goal though.

Trust yourself with that.

TL;DR

1. Your goals are like runners that are racing
2. There can only be one winner, one goal
3. Get specific about that one goal often
4. Decide to take a single step forward
5. Complete the goal and move on

A complimentary gift for you:

100 Life Hacks ADHD Swipe File

25 Dopamine Hacks without Medication