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I think it may be time for me to come clean with you guys. I’m a little nervous because I haven’t really talked about  this in a big way and it’s kind of personal.

But I made a commitment this year to be as authentic as I can be, and it’s becoming more and more difficult to do that  without letting everyone — my friends, my family, people I work with, my clients, people who follow me, and you — know about something that’s becoming more and more clear to me every day.

(I feel like I should be standing up at a podium, starting out with, “Hello, my name is Marcia, and I’m  . . “)

So here it is, straight out: it appears I have strong ADD tendencies.

I haven’t been diagnosed, but many of you know I’ve been working with ADHD coach Jacqueline Sinfield on a program for entrepreneurs with ADHD and ADHD tendencies. Honestly, when I started down this path, I had no idea I was talking about myself.

Marcia Hoeck & Jacqueline Sinfield

I got into working with Jacqui because I noticed that some of my entrepreneur clients had ADHD or ADHD tendencies, and she was noticing that more and more of her ADHD clients were business owners, so we did a few teleclasses together, and they got some good feedback. As I started to share my business strategies with the group, Jacqui kept commenting that they were very ADHD-friendly techniques. Soon she was saying, pretty regularly, “Marcia, that’s so ADD!“

Long story short, what I had, for all these years, thought of as my “quirks,” are really ADD tendencies — and I have spent my entire career doing “workarounds” in my business, retooling business strategies to work for me, which just so happens to make them work for people with ADD. Who knew??

For almost everything I’ve ever learned, I’ve had to deconstruct it and simplify it so I could understand it and make it work for me. In my business, I’ve had to learn the same things over and over — just ask my former controller (right, Suzanne?). When I was younger, I used my sister as my memory — it was so comforting being able to just ask her what foods I didn’t like, how to do certain things I already knew, and when Mom’s birthday was. When I got to college she asked me to stop calling her, and said it was time for me write a few things down. My husband has taken over as my memory today. He gets very tired of telling me the square footage we have in our house, and finds it incredible that I was able to build the successful business I did without knowing how to lay out a spreadsheet in Excel.

Why am I telling you this now? Because the more I learn about ADHD, ADD, and ADHD tendencies, the more amazed I am at what people who have it can do — and how creative they are. Many of the world’s most successful people, like Sir Richard Branson, Albert Einstein, Ted Turner, and both US Presidents, George HB Bush and George W Bush, all have ADHD.

Stephanie Calahan

And, because I want to invite you to sign up for a special interview I’m doing on Monday, April 4th, with Jacqui Sinfield, as part of our regular “Ask Jacqui and Marcia Anything!” series. On Monday, we’re interviewing productivty and organizing expert Stephanie Calahan, of Calahan Solutions. Stephanie works with many entrepreneurs with ADHD and has a unique understanding of the challenges of working, and being productive, when you have ADHD.

Please join us by signing up here.

Thanks for reading my story!

Marcia

P.S. If you have questions ahead of the call, email them to jacqueline@untappedbrilliance.com, or just add them in the comment section below — thanks!

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If you’re thinking it might be really easy to be one of the “gurus” out there — because once you make the big money and everyone knows who you are, all your worries are gone — think again. Gurus are people too, though it isn’t often one of the big names will get down and tell you about the things that still scare them. Most of them are too afraid to show their underbellies to you.

That’s why I was so impressed with this post by big time internet marketer Kevin Nations. By all appearances, Kevin makes the big money. He can pack a big ticket event. He has million dollar launches. He hangs around with, and is recommended by, other big name internet marketers.

So when I read what he goes through, all the time, to make it look like he’s not frightened to death of talking to people he doesn’t know, I just had to tell you about it.

Read Kevin’s post, “I’m coming out in a big way . . .”

You’ll learn you’re not the only one with fears and insecurities. Big names have them, too.

And don’t miss Kevin’s tip about using fancy shoes as conversation starters!

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It sounded like a great idea to start my second blog, PowerSmarts, for Q&A, when I came up with it. Lots of people have more than one blog. And I liked the idea of having one separate spot for answering questions.

But every once in awhile, like now, I feel torn between my two blogs — like I kinda want to keep my “family” together. In one place.

Today, I answered a question about the “Boss Myth” — the myth we all buy into about what it’s like to be the boss, before we actually become one, on my other blog.

That would have been a great post here. *Sigh.*

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It’s easy to put things off — everyone does it. Ha! I just started this post with one of the excuses you use to procrastinate, didn’t I? It makes you feel better to know you’re in good company, so you can let yourself off the hook — again.

The thing is, procrastination in itself is an effort — it takes energy. You use energy just holding a part of your brain aside, knowing this thing isn’t complete yet and having it nag and remind you of that fact, and in coming up with more and more excuses for not doing it. It also takes time and energy just in feeling bad about not doing the work, which can eat away at the positive energy you need to surround yourself with as a business owner.

If you put all that energy you spend on procrastinating towards the work that needs to be done, and do it right, you can turn the negative drag of procrastination into the positive lift of inspired action.

So let’s talk about how you can do that.

Step #1: Dump the excuses.
There are lots of excuses we use to procrastinate, to name a few:

• not knowing where to begin
• fear of failure
• fear of success
• the work is boring
• it’s something you’re not good at
• it’s something you just don’t like to do
• there are “more important” things to do
• it will take too much time
• everyone procrastinates, so it’s okay

and I’m sure you can think of some other good excuses as well. Can we agree, just for the moment, that they’re just excuses, and not let them have any weight? Just wipe them from your mind, pretend they don’t exist. Especially the one you’re holding onto for that particular project — you know the one I mean. Dump it, stop standing behind it. Got it?

Step #2: Accept the possibility that it may take less time to actually do it than it does to keep worrying about it and thinking about how you’re putting it off.
This may sound totally wrong, but when you apply it to a particular situation, you may find that it’s really true, and that if you dig in and just do the thing, you can get it behind you really quickly. This may be a big relief to you and motivation enough to just dig right in and do it.

Step #3: Break the thing down into smaller chunks, or do the “Sticky Note” process to wrap your brain around it.
There now, it’s not so bad, is it? You can do it in chunks, and you can do the smallest, easiest parts first, to build confidence and momentum. It may help to set a timer for some of the chunks, telling yourself you’ll only have to work on it for 20 minutes today — and at least that way you’ll get 20 minutes closer to your goal. You’ll be surprised how much you can get accomplished in 20 minutes! Timers really help, because they give you a stopping point, and permission to leave the task after having accomplished something.

Step #4: Think — what are the worst repercussions of not doing what you should do?
Many people are motivated by the negative. You may or may not be one of them, but you should really know the effects procrastination has on your business. Think this through for each thing you’re procrastinating on, and write it down.

Step #5: Think — what’s the best thing that could come about because you actually did the thing you’re putting off?
Really think about this. There may be some opportunities you’re missing, and procrastination in this area may really be holding you back.

Step #6: Do the thing!
If you’re not ready by now, you may need someone to take you by the hand and guide you. I’ll be happy to help, for the sake of your business.

Now, let us know how you handle procrastination. What has worked (or not worked!) for you?

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Did you know that people with ADHD are 300% more likely to start their own business than someone who doesn’t have ADHD?

300%! That’s a lot.

And because ADHD is under diagnosed in the adult population, there are probably many more entrepreneurs with ADHD who aren’t included in that percentage.

I had no idea how prevalent ADHD and ADHD tendencies were among entrepreneurs until Jacqueline Sinfield and I started comparing notes.

The more we talked, the more she noticed that a lot of her clients, adults with ADHD, are entrepreneurs. And the more I noticed that a lot of my clients, entrepreneurs growing their businesses, have ADHD tendencies.

So we decided to dig deeper into how we could help both of our client groups to work with their ADHD tendencies, not against them.

And we came up with the idea of a complimentary teleclass for entrepreneurs with ADHD and ADHD tendencies.

I love talking to Jacqui about this subject, because she understands not only the challenges adults with ADHD have, but she also knows what it’s like to be an entrepreneur (since she is one!) and the challenges that being a business owner represent. When the two of us start matching our strategies, we always find many similarities.

Being an entrepreneur is a very creative, yet solitary venture. We entrepreneurs are different from “normal” people, and we have our own quirks and funny stresses, just from the nature of the beast. Adults with ADHD also find themselves outside of the norm on many things — and when you put entrepreneurs + adults with ADHD or ADHD tendencies together, a lot of fascinating things happen. By focusing on the positive aspects of both and learning how to minimize the negative, entrepreneurs with ADHD actually have an advantage in growing strong businesses.

If this sounds like you, be sure to check out the class.

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I did a teleclass back in March with a friend and colleague, Jacqueline Sinfield of UntappedBrilliance.com, an ADHD expert and coach, who is also participating in Connie Green’s 30-Day Blogging Challenge with me. Jacqui and I got a terrific response to the call, which was titled “The Surprising Similarities Between Entrepreneurs and Adults with ADHD.”

(You can sign up for the BizTips Teleclass Series and get access to the recording of that call.)

What Jacqui and I found is that there are many entrepreneurs with ADHD as well as many with ADHD tendencies, and lots of similarities between the two groups. We think we know why, and we think our combined expertise can help people in these groups to build stronger businesses. So we’re joining forces again.

Is this you?

If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re probably very creative. In fact, you probably have a note pad by your bed to write down the ideas that come to you as you fall asleep and the ones that wake you up in the middle of the night — you just can’t stop them from coming! And that’s probably also the main reason you started your own business, because you’re so full of ideas that a regular 9 to 5 job can’t contain you. Guess what? Ditto for adults with ADHD.

If you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve probably got “bright, shiny object syndrome” — meaning, of course, that every new and exciting thing that comes down the pike grabs your attention and can take you miles away from your current projects, sometimes causing you to abandon important projects altogether. It seems like nothing ever gets finished. Guess what? Ditto for adults with ADHD.

Many famous business people have ADHD.

Did you know that Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Airlines and several other mega-successful companies, is an adult with ADHD, as well as a fabulously accomplished entrepreneur? In his autobiography, Branson talks about never being able to master the art of reading and understanding contracts — and can you imagine the number of contracts that guy has to negotiate, with all of his business dealings? He, like many other idea-crazy business people, worked around that by ignoring the mumbo jumbo contract language and learning to read the body language of the people he made deals with, figuring he’d get a good take on who was sincere and trustworthy that way. Pretty creative, huh? And it seems to be working for him.

There are a lot more interesting similarities between entrepreneurs, like you, and adults with ADHD, and Jacqui and I want to share more about them. It’s so fascinating, and so helpful, too, because as an expert on ADHD (you can buy Jacqui’s book, Untapped Brilliance, How to Reach Your Full Potential as an Adult with ADHD, at Jacqui’s site or at Amazon.com), Jacqui brings practical, easy, and useful tips to the discussion. And I know lots about entrepreneurialism (take a look around this site) and how to build a strong company. Together, our goal is to help you, whether you have ADHD or just ADHD tendencies, to focus on the positive aspects of the way your brain works and to unload the negative — so you can be the best you can be for your business.

Sooooo, stay tuned for more information about our free teleclass at 2:00 pm Eastern on May 27. We don’t have a sign-up page even up yet, but if you want to make sure you’re on the advance list to be notified, sign up for the BizTips Teleclass list and you’ll be the first to get an invitation.

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If you’re anything like me, there are times in your business life when you feel like anything but a genius. Certain aspects of your business flummox you, over and over, each time you think of them. There are things you think you’ll never learn, don’t understand, can’t put together. They make you feel stupid, useless, and not at all like a leader — it’s frustrating and embarrassing, quite frankly. I mean, we’re entrepreneurs, for crying out loud!

Sometimes these things can bring you down pretty hard. And stop you in your tracks.

For me, it’s spreadsheets and working with large amounts of numbers. Nothing can make me feel quite as frustrated and monkey-brained as a large spreadsheet full of columns of numbers. My eyes take in the information and the thinking part of my brain just shuts down. Even if I do understand what I’m looking for in the data, I have to be very patient with myself to be able to find it and interpret it. Ask my former controller or any accountant I’ve ever had and they’ll tell you it’s true — after they roll their eyes in disbelief at how many times they’ve had to go over things with me. (Ouch, feeling stupid again just telling you about this.)

I have to remember my genius.

For some of my clients, it’s sifting through the large amounts of information they’ve gleaned from all the workshops and teleclasses and coaches they’ve gone to, and figuring out just how it all relates to their businesses. What works for their business and what doesn’t? What do they really need and what can go by the wayside, or wait awhile? It feels overwhelming.

For others, it’s just the idea of setting up a business at all — how do you do it? How do you position it to grow? How to you begin to build a team that will work for you? What about systems and processes? How does the whole thing work together?

Sometimes people get so hung up on not being good at these things that confound them that they lose sight of their genius, and even, maybe, doubt their suitability as a business owner.

One of the things I love to do with my clients is remind them, when they’re feeling very un-genius-like because of some aspect of their business that has them flummoxed, of exactly what they’re so wonderful at. Sometimes it surprises them for me to say it, even though they know it’s true.

So the next time this happens to you (and you know it does), pretend you’re my client for a moment — and hear me saying these words to you:

“Do you know how wonderful you are? You’re a genius at ABC, that’s your thing. There isn’t anyone who can do what you do, and people need to learn this from you. You’re the guru, you’re ‘it,’ the one person who knows this, from that vantage point, better than anyone else. That’s what people come to you for. That’s your genius! No one cares if you can do XYZ or if you understand MNO. Someone else can do that for you. Your gift is ABC. Your genius is ABC — I see it so clearly in you.”

You’re a genius!

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This 30-Day Blogging Challenge is making me absolutely crazy — thank you, Connie Green! I feel like my brain, my body, and my psyche are all being pulled in a hundred different directions. Maybe that’s supposed to happen around Day 9, I don’t know, but I’m in the thick of Blog Challenge FogMania, for sure.

It’s not like I don’t already have enough to do. I knew it would be a challenge, for sure, but I didn’t know it would literally take me over like it has. My internal conversations go something like this:

“I’ve got to write a blog post I’ve got to write a blog post I’ve got to write a blog post. But I’m not inspired now. It doesn’t matter just write something don’t get behind again now’s a good time to get it out of the way but I don’t write well first thing in the morning I’ll do it later I’ll do it later gotta get some client work done first get that proposal out the door maybe walk the dogs or pay some bills. But I’ve got to write a blog post I’ve got to write a blog post what can I write about? maybe it won’t be interesting I might write a bad one I’ll write it later I’ll think about it later I’ll do it later dammit! I’LL DO IT LATER! But I can’t do it later it won’t let me do it later I’ve got to do it now or it won’t let me rest just do it now write it now get it out of the way now so I can move on okay I’m sitting down now I’m going to write my blog post now I’m going to write my blog post now I’m going to write my blog post now I’m at the dashboard and there’s that nice clean screen in front of me waiting for some words but I think I’m hungry now maybe some cookies will help and now Connie says I have to monitize the process and oh the pressure because I know she means I can’t just jump up on the table and scream “Hire me! Hire me!” so now it’s not just write all these posts write all these posts which in itself was a challenge but now I have to make some actual sense with them and try to invite readers to other places or things or to hear me on my teleclasses and I haven’t really ever linked my blog to my teleclasses before even though I’ve done lots of them so now I’m sort of paralyzed but I’ve got to write a blog post I’ve got to writ a blog pst I’ve gpt to write a blob pst i’v got ti wrk a blig post ivl igokn ofi ‘df i  fai em f’e fed el kgo guoeit sl”

How many more days do we have left?