Career coach Shell Mendelson, author of 'Unlock Your Career Path', discusses how ADHD impacts careers, importance of childhood experiences in career direction, identifying preferences and must-haves in jobs, and key factors for adults with ADHD in career paths.
Identifying childhood interests can provide valuable insights into one's career path and passions.
Understanding and prioritizing must-haves in a career is essential for building confidence and ensuring long-term satisfaction in the chosen career path.
Deep dives
Understanding the Impact of ADHD on Careers
ADHD can have a significant impact on one's career. It can lead to being put on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), facing distractions, boredom, impossible deadlines, micromanagement, job hopping, and even being fired. ADHD individuals may face challenges in communicating their diagnosis effectively to employers and being misunderstood by coworkers. It is essential to recognize that being in the wrong job or career does not mean there is something wrong with the individual. It is about finding the right fit and understanding one's must-haves and red lines.
Exploring Childhood Experiences as a Guide to Careers
Childhood activities can provide insights into one's career path. Some interests or passions from childhood carry over into adulthood in various ways. By examining these activities, preferences, and interests from a young age, individuals can gain clarity on what aspects of work align with their true selves. Childhood memories and experiences provide clues that can contribute to identifying a fulfilling and meaningful career.
The Importance of Recognizing Must-Haves in Careers
The term 'preferred' may not adequately capture the significance of must-haves in a career. Instead, these must-haves can be seen as red lines or non-negotiable aspects that individuals need to thrive and find fulfillment in their work. It is crucial for individuals to identify and prioritize these must-haves, as they are the foundations for building confidence, making the right career decisions, and ensuring long-term satisfaction with their chosen career path. Must-haves can evolve over time, and regularly reviewing and reevaluating them is essential.
Achieving Confidence and Transformation in Careers
Recognizing that it is not the individual, but the situation or job that may not be the right fit is vital for building confidence. The process of understanding oneself and identifying must-haves in a career is both empowering and fun. The journey toward self-discovery and alignment with one's strengths and interests leads to increased confidence. It also equips individuals with the knowledge and clarity necessary to take control of their career, make necessary adjustments, pursue new opportunities, and navigate the working world with a sense of purpose and fulfillment.
If you are an adult with ADHD looking for career advice, this is a great episode of Overcoming Distractions. Whether you need to change careers or jobs or just need some adjustments in your current workplace, Shell Mendelson will give you some advice.
Shell Mendelson is a career coach for adults with ADHD and the author of the new book Unlock Your Career Path: A Course for ADHD Adults and Teens.
Shell and Dave discuss her recent book and start out by talking about how ADHD can impact our careers including some examples listeners can relate to. One area some adults with ADHD can relate to is when placed on a performance improvement plan at work which as Shell puts it can be a soul crushing situation.
When forging a new career, Shell talks about how many childhood experiences including things we like and hobbies could be an indicator as to our career direction.
Shell also discusses why she's used the word preferred many times in her book. She says it is important to understand preferences and must-haves when analyzing your career. Those include:
· Working conditions
· Knowledge
· Geography
· Accommodations
· money
And Shell and Dave wrap up by talking about some of those must haves that adults with ADHD need to consider in their career path. They include clarity, learning more about yourself, owning your career path, building confidence and being ready.
**Do you want to work with Dave one-on-one? Go to www.overcomingdistractions.com and book an introductory Zoom chat. Or go directly to Dave’s calendar; https://calendly.com/davidgreenwood1/15min
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