S2E4 - How to Figure Out Your ADHD Needs [Career Edition]
S2E4 - How to Figure Out Your ADHD Needs [Career Edition]
Transcript
Speaker: Liora Natania
Is this going to help? Am I gonna be able to follow through? Is this gonna be worth it? And then we just get stuck because now we have spent energy on researching all these options. We still don't really know what's gonna be supportive.
The ironic part is when you most need support is when it is the hardest to seek it out, to look up those support needs and figure all of that out.
Hello my friend, and welcome back to another episode of the Colorful Futures Podcast. I'm your host, Liora Natania, a neuroqueer HR consultant, executive functioning and career coach, and the founder of Colorful Futures.
Have you ever been in a circumstance where you want support with something, you want help with something, but you don't know what kind of help you need or what that would look like? Or you're worried that even if you do get help, that it won't actually be supportive or help you solve whatever problem you're facing? Or that you will get support, but that you will still have trouble following through even with that help. For me, sometimes I worry about getting help that just ends up being something else that ends up on my to-do list. Like maybe it's a program or service or something and I'm like, oh, well now that's one more thing I have to worry about.
Or something that I've experienced and I've seen in folks that I've supported that we feel overwhelmed by everything on our plate. we know that we can't figure it out alone, but we still don't know where to start or what that support could look like or what would be most supportive.
I think sometimes we think that we have to just figure it out on our own, or we have to commit to something huge, like invest a lot of money in something or invest a lot of time in order to get that help.
There's also sometimes an underlying belief that asking for help means you failed that there's something wrong with you or the way that you're doing something.
And just to be clear, asking for help does not mean you're failing. In fact, you are doing incredible by asking for support and leaning on folks for help.
Sometimes folks reach out to us at Colorful Futures and they know that they want support with something. They're not exactly sure what. They just know the experience that they're going through, whether it's an emotional experience or just kind of feeling lost. And they might not know where they're going, but they know at the very least that they can't do it alone.
And sometimes they might think that they need to be at a certain level of readiness for coaching, like whatever that means to them. And sometimes we don't know what that means, but it's like, oh, I'll, book with you, or I'll reach out when I do X, Y, Z
When you are overwhelmed, when you're struggling to complete something, or when you are having a hard time working through a process, it can feel impossible. It can feel like another task to worry about to even research and look into what support might look like, or figure out what kind of support you need.
And then add on decision fatigue where you're presented with a bunch of options and you don't know which one to pick, and now you're comparing all these things and like weighing the pros and cons or like the features of everything or like what makes the most sense, what would be worth the investment of money or time or resources.
And then all of the other things are weighing on that too, like, is this going to help? Am I gonna be able to follow through? Is this gonna be worth it? And then we just get stuck because now we have spent this energy on researching all these options. We still don't really know what's gonna be supportive.
The Ironic part is when you most need support is when it. Is the hardest to seek it out, when it takes the most out of you to look up those support needs and figure all of that out.
At Colorful Futures when we have folks who are considering working with us, especially one-on-one, we do a free vibe check. It's a call, it's like 25, 30 minutes that allows one of our career coaches to meet with the person to meet with you, and find out what your situation is. Just have a conversation and see what might be the most supportive for you.
So we get to have an objective view of what you're going through, what you're experiencing, and look at what our support options are, and what might make the most sense for your circumstances. I really love vibe checks from a decision making standpoint because it reduces the amount of research and decision making that you have to do.
All you have to do is show up, talk about what it is that you're going through, and we get to share how we can help you.
I had a client that went through a vibe check, and during her vibe check, we'll call her Katie. It's not her real name, we'll call her Katie. So Katie was working full-time. She was really overwhelmed by looking for a new job. And then on top of everything else, just with day-to-day life, everything was feeling really overwhelming.
She really wanted help, but she was worried about the time investment and the budget and what all of that would look like. She even said to me that she knew that there are things in theory that she could do herself in the job search. So that also made it hard to justify spending money on this type of help.
But what we identified in the vibe check was that even though these were things that she could do, her circumstances of working full-time, having a very busy and draining work situation, and then day-to-day personal life, made it so that she didn't really have capacity to do her job search activity and, and get all of that sorted out, even though she did know what to do, what those steps could be. Our vibe check in our conversation helped her realize that she didn't need long-term support. She needed just like kind of a bit of a tuneup, needed a couple sessions to get expert advice and just to get that head start.
For Katie, it was a relief that she could get the support that she needed without committing to a long-term plan.
What she was really looking for that we learned in the vibe check was that she was motivated to make changes and in, in some ways, she did know what steps to take and how to take them. She just needed help in a specific part of the process to make sure that her efforts were as effective as possible. And she ended up signing up for our mini pack, which is three consecutive weekly sessions.
In a different situation with a different client, we'll call her April. Again, not her real name. So April was kind of stuck between needing a job now and having a desire to build a business that she had a little bit of experience in, but she wanted to kind of formalize it so that she could be self-employed.
She was stuck between the question of, do I need coaching right now on how to better like prep for interviews for the jobs that I'm applying for? Or do I need to change my plan together and focus on building a business?
In our conversation, in our vibe check, what we realized was that she really needed someone to walk the path with her, instead of just getting tips, actions, things that she could implement right away. She wanted long-term support so that she could navigate. Potentially a career pivot while also leaving space for job search support, you know, as needed as that came up.
So the three month program was ideal for her, and April did end up signing up for that three month program where we, you know, started the foundations of a job search so that that could remain an option. And we helped build out business activity and, and getting kind of that stuff set up as well.
So the truth is we all need guidance and support. We all need help at some point in our lives, especially when there's things that we really desire, but there is some resistance. It can be very helpful to have someone who isn't emotionally invested in it, I mean. I'm gonna be real. We are emotionally invested in you.
All of the CF coaches are, but we have an objective you, 'cause we're not in it with you. We get to have a fresh take and zoom out and use our experience to help guide you through it and keep you motivated throughout the journey.
So support doesn't have to be all or nothing. I actually recommend if you're not sure where you need to go or if you're not sure what support would look like for you, or you're not sure just how much you can commit to any type of program or anything like that, you can start small, meet yourself where you are.
I give you permission, not that you need it, but give yourself permission to meet yourself where you are.
You don't have to be ready for coaching. Sometimes coaching helps you get ready. It's okay to start with what feels manageable right now. And then support can be scaled to match your capacity and your needs.
Here at Colorful Futures we have support options for every situation. When you have time and energy to go through things and implement them on your own, but you want proven strategies and templates, that's where things like our self-paced resources come in handy. Like our job search strategy for ADHDers training where it's a, a video and worksheets that you follow on your own. Other courses that you could complete. So kind of the DIY path.
We have a single intensive session. So this is great when you have a specific problem and you just want expert eyes on it.
We have our mini pack, which is three weekly sessions. This is when you want focus support with a little bit of structure, a little bit of accountability over just a couple weeks, and then you can kind of keep up that momentum on your own.
And then we have the three month program when you want someone walking alongside you through maybe a bigger transition. I like to say it's like, I'm taking your hand and I'm holding your hand, and we're walking through the path together, and I'm with you every step of the way.
I've also lately been getting a lot of referrals from therapists who are working with their clients and are recommending that they add coaching into their program as well. So that's been really cool.
Therapy is often the perfect compliment to coaching work. Careers can bring up a lot. And there's a lot of baggage and trauma and history that impact how you navigate your job search and how you navigate your career- especially for multiply marginalized people.
So as a coach, the way that I can support you in your therapy journey is to keep you accountable, to bring topics to your therapist. While I and the coaches at Colorful Futures can help you with the forward movement, the goal setting, the actions, and steps to work towards your goals and desires and anything that comes up that becomes resistance to those processes or that is like a, a deeper, inner experience, then we get to support you in bringing that to your therapist so they can very much work hand in hand.
So start with what feels accessible, build from there. You can always add more support later, like you can start with a self-paced resource, a DIY resource, and then move to an intensive session. Here at Colorful Futures, we allow you to roll things over. So if you enroll in an intensive session and you decide you want a mini pack, just let us know.
We can credit you and you'll be able to continue and finish off two more sessions for the mini pack. If you start with a mini pack and you decide that you want to keep going for a couple more months, we can roll you over into the three month program.
It's not about finding the perfect option, it's about finding what can work for you right now, or just finding something that is some level of support for you right now. And then you can always add on moving forward.
So there are some tips of figuring out which program might be for you. I'm going to be referencing some of my notes here. So if you see me looking down, that's why.
But some signs that you might be ready for self-paced or like DIY resources, like our job search strategy for ADHDers training, is that you have time and energy to work through things methodically on your own. You learn well from video trainings, templates, other structured resources.
You prefer to move at your own pace versus having scheduled sessions. You want access to proven strategies, but you don't need personalized guidance right now. Budget might be a primary concern and you're willing to do the work independently. Or you're not in a rush, and, you can implement strategies over time. If any of that applies to you, it might be good to start with some self-paced resources.
Signs you might be ready for an intensive session or a single coaching session, are if you have one specific, maybe urgent need, like a resume review, interview prep, or you just want some help figuring out career direction and you wanna start there. You might be clear on your direction, you might be clear on where you wanna go. You just want a little bit of expert advice, or expert input on how you can execute that. You want quick, actionable feedback you can implement immediately. You are self-motivated and you're good at taking feedback and running with it and implementing it. You just need someone to look at your stuff and say, here's what to fix, and just give you the list and then you can go do it.
Maybe you've done some work on your own and you just want some professional input on what to do from there, some next steps. All of those might mean that an intensive session, a single session could be good for you.
signs that you might be ready for a mini pack- three weekly sessions. You may have a few interconnected goals, so you might. Want to update your resume, your LinkedIn, and then get some tips on how to more effectively interview. You want some level of accountability, some level of check-in some level of ongoing support, but not a really long-term commitment.
You are willing to do homework between sessions, in those three weeks. And you're willing to kind of have a more intensive process where for those three weeks you're really focusing on that activity. You know roughly what you want, but you want guidance on the how, the how to get there. Or you want focus support for a short timeframe, kind of like my example with Katie. Um, you can implement feedback and you want to build momentum really quickly. Those would all be a great reason to get a mini pack.
And then signs that you might find a three month program supportive. You might feel lost about your career direction overall, and you want deeper exploration, and then guidance on executing that and having that actually form into your resume, job search, et cetera. You want someone walking the path with you through the entire process, from figuring out what your path is to the resume, to the interview, to the applying part, and everything in between.
You might be building something new. You might be changing careers. You might be interested in building a business or freelancing or doing something different than before, and you want sustained guidance. Guidance that will be there with you to keep you following the steps, to break things down, to help you with all the executive functioning decisions and everything that is involved with that.
You have capacity for ongoing work and regular check-ins. You want unlimited support between sessions for three months for any questions that come up or anything that you might want additional support with.
And for us at Colorful Futures, that is pretty flexible, we could be answering questions for you.
I have helped people respond to emails, like I don't literally go in their inbox and respond, but I will, um, help them form their reply, negotiate offers, prep for interviews, things like that. Or you're making a big transition and you want comprehensive support, kind of like April's situation where she was considering job searching and wanted some support with that, but also wanted support in building out a business.
I have also met with folks who aren't ready for coaching, and have some more things that they need support with internally, often through therapy. So that might be things like if you are having a hard time receiving any form of feedback without feeling activated or defensive. If you are in crisis or you're experiencing deep depression and anxiety. If you're stuck in all or nothing thinking patterns.
If you need to work through trauma or other major blocks, that's where I would recommend ensuring that you have therapy support before you work with a coach.
So things that you can ask yourself to work through this is what is the smallest step that would feel helpful right now? Do you want someone telling you what to do or do you wanna figure it out with a little bit of guidance?
How much handholding versus independence do you need and desire? What is your capacity for doing some work on your own, like homework between sessions or implementing things between sessions? Are you looking for some quick fixes or sustainable long-term changes or evolutions? Do you learn better and implement better when you have accountability, or when you're self-directed and doing things on your own?
And almost most importantly, what can you realistically commit to right now? Whether that's what, watching a 60 minute, one hour replay of a workshop, getting on a call for an hour with a coach or more ongoing support, like three weeks of sessions in a row or three months of support.
And if you go through all of that and you're still not sure, that's where the vibe checks really help. You get to talk with one of our coaches and we get to talk with you and learn all about where you are and provide our suggestions for what might be the most supportive for your capacity right now.
So this week's quick tip of the week is inspired by something that I started doing a couple years ago, and sometimes I get outta the habit of doing this, and then I get back into it. I'm like, all right, that's why I really like this.
What I like to do is I listen to like empowering or positive, like affirmation style music. I have this playlist called "High Vibe, it's songs that like some of them are, are almost like meditative, like chill music with like almost poetry like affirmations.
Some of them are more like pop music that just have a more positive, empowering message to them. Like Ariana Grande's "Just Like Magic." But what I really like to do is in the morning I'll listen to this, or maybe while I'm showering, I'll listen to it and I always have songs stuck in my head. So what I think is really cool about this is that when these songs get stuck in my head, they're like little mini affirmations that I'm repeating to myself throughout the day.
You could even create different playlists for different moods. Like you could have one for the morning. That's like morning motivation. You could have one for before bed, that's like more chill and like calming. You could have one that's like focused on confidence or creativity. You can get, like you could have a lot of fun with with building out your high vibe, music playlist.
You could also play it during specific moments. Like for me, when I get ready in the morning, it sets my day off in a really good mood when I'm showering, whatever. You could play them while you're applying to jobs. If you are like prepping for an interview or things like that, you could do that for a little confidence boost.
But what is happening is you're kind of letting the lyrics become these like positive thoughts that repeat in your head throughout the day. Your brain is going to have thoughts in it. Your brain, if you're anything like me, is going to have song lyrics in it and they're gonna be running through your mind anyway all day. So we might as well add some good ones to the mix.
That's all we have this week for you, my friends. And if you have any questions about the resources that Colorful Futures can provide in working with our coaches, feel free to reach out. You can DM us on Instagram.
You can send us an email. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next time.