ADHD BUSINESS BURNOUT & BREAKTHROUGH DAY 2 VAL NICHOLS

The reason why you feel like you are failing in your business, the reason why you're in burnout, the reason why you aren't getting that level of success that you truly desire and that you truly deserve, because you are believing these myths about ADHD and burnout. What's up everybody? We are here for day 2 of the ADHD Business and Burnout Masterclass. If you're just Jumping on for the very first time and meeting me. Hi, I cannot wait to connect with you. My name is Val Nichols. I am a business coach for heart-centered, purpose-driven entrepreneurs just like you, and I love to work with ADHD entrepreneurs because they are so creative, innovative, and amazing. We have these brains that are so incredible. I am a neurodiverse ADHD woman myself, late diagnosis. What I didn't know was that I had ADHD and I had been masking and overcompensating my whole life. I still do it, you guys. This is going to help you so much if you are experiencing the burnout. When you hop on, say hi so I know that you're here. Today we are going to talk about the ADHD myths, how to rebuild your energy without forcing your brain into a system that wasn't designed for your brain. I talked about how I keep my energy, my motivation really high, and how I monitor my emotional regulation and my energy, my natural energy cycles, so that I can keep that motivation high. Otherwise, if I'm trying to force myself into the neurotypical world, I hit burnout, just hit that wall. Today we're gonna go deep into biggest myths around ADHD burnout that you probably don't know. And honestly, Honestly, these myths have been keeping you stuck. It's been draining your energy by forcing you to try and fit into a mold. And honestly, we really need to get these strategies going that work with our brain and not against it. So there are a lot of things you might have heard and maybe a lot of things you've even told yourself about ADHD and burnout. I know for me, when I was diagnosed ADHD, I started to have a lot of grace for myself realizing, oh my gosh, this isn't me. I'm not lazy. I'm not forgetful. This is a symptom of my ADHD. Most of the advice out there is designed for the neurotypical business brains, and honestly, it does not cut it for us. I've tried it. I've had the people say just push through, just get a planner, just schedule it, just do these things. Da da da da da. And then we end up feeling guilty. We feel shame. We feel like I should be further along than I am. We look around at everyone else who's just somehow moving forward and building their businesses and we're like, what is it that they have that I'm missing? What am I missing? Because it doesn't seem like it's clicking for me. And that is because most of the business advice, most of the business strategy out there, most of the courses, all the things out there are not designed for the ADHD brain. They're designed for the neurotypical brain that just sees things very linear. Mm-hmm. Step, step, step, step, step, and they're able to sustain that. We as ADHD entrepreneurs struggle with consistency, right? Our favorite C word, consistency. And we're going to unpack some myths around the burnout, and I'm going to show you how to rebuild your energy on your terms. Myth number 1 is that you believe, or you tell yourself, I just need to be more disciplined. In the comments, let me know if you think this of yourself, if you've told yourself this. I just need to be more disciplined. Like, if you just try harder, you'll get more. But here's the reality for ADHD entrepreneurs: discipline is not the missing piece. It's not about forcing yourself into this rigid daily routine, into this rigid structure that will just drain your energy. Our brains are wired for creativity. They're wired for spontaneity. They want that dopamine hit. And when you're— you try and force the linear strict schedule on an ADHD brain, you're not accessing your full potential. Can you do it? Yeah. Will you get bored? Yes. Will you then job hop to another job if you're just sitting there trying to get that linear daily routine? Yeah. Yes, absolutely. And honestly, you're just setting yourself up for burnout. It is a constant battle to be more disciplined and it creates more stress. Honestly, it creates more self-doubt and ultimately more burnout. When I first started my business, it was like I was crushing it in corporate. I was a sales and marketing director, top salesperson every single quarter that I worked there. I was like making incredible money, incredible commissions. And when I left and started my own business again as a business coach, I was like, all I need to do is just sit down with my planner and then I'll have this like to-do list. Everything will work out magically. But then every time I tried, I'd end up just feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, exhausted. I realized that discipline as defined by conventional standards just isn't the right tool. Discipline quite fit with my unique wiring. So instead of forcing discipline, focus on designing systems. This is a huge shift that I teach my clients and I do in my own company, is instead of focusing on discipline, You want to focus on designing systems that work with your natural energy flow, and you know really recognize when your creativity peak times are. And those are the times when you should be tackling your most important projects. So you know when you're at your peak period, that could you know feel out your day, maybe even track it. You can do a heat map or something like that, or just journal as you're tracking your triggers, your burnout triggers. You can also track this as. Well, when are you the most creative? When are you getting tired? A lot of us might dip after lunch, like we start dipping a little bit. Just recognize when those things are happening, and that's going to be a lot more effective than telling yourself you just need to be more disciplined. Comment below if you've ever felt crushed by the idea having to be more disciplined, and let's break this myth together. All right, myth number 2. This is a big one for me. I should be able to push through the burnout. This just simply isn't real. Like, we can't just simply push through the burnout. Many of us have been conditioned to believe that if we just power through, if we just suit up and show up, if we just fake it till we make it, if we just push through the exhaustion, Things will eventually get better. And it doesn't. And honestly, to be real with you guys, it's not just unrealistic, it is downright dangerous for the ADHD brain. If we just keep pushing through and pushing through, then what happens is we get in that burnout shutdown cycle. Remember stage 5 we talked about yesterday where you just shut down? Mentally, emotionally, oftentimes physically. And for us to ignore the signals and to just try and push through is not going to work for us. It's actually going to do more harm. And pushing through burnout is not— there is no award. There is no badge of honor just to push through burnout. Right? You might feel accomplished, maybe. You might feel like you look good. In front of people, but honestly, it's a sign that your system is completely out of alignment. And when you force yourself to just keep going and going and going despite your brain's desperate need for sleep, recovery, rest, you are setting yourself up for that massive crash we talked about. You're setting yourself up for total and complete burnout where now you're in ADHD shutdown. And it's like, you just can't. You just can't. And I remember a time when I was in burnout phase. For those of you who don't know, I know a lot of you have been here with me the whole time. I was— I went through divorce like 3 and a half years ago, 3 years ago. And since then, there's been some pretty wild things that happened. And then about a year ago, about a year and a half ago, I witnessed a car accident that kind of set me into a huge trauma response. I saw this car accident. Me and this other gentleman pulled over and helped the people out of the car because it was burning. And when we opened the door, we just saw airbags and we weren't sure what we were going to see inside. To be honest with you, that set me back so far. I was shaken, completely shaken. By the time I got back to my house, I couldn't even get in my car anymore. I had to do a lot of processing that The whole scene because I was in just such a shock phase. I was only able to talk to maybe like 3 people in my world. It was like so hard for me to just show up. I was in ADHD shutdown because I believed I had to just keep pushing through, pushing through, pushing through, pushing through. I would try and do this new exciting thing or go travel or do this or do that. And so honestly, I just needed to take a lot of time off to Embrace the rest. Embrace the time I needed to heal, to rebuild my energy. And, you know, honestly, you guys, I think at the time it felt like maybe it was a weakness. But honestly, rebuilding your energy and knowing that your energy cycle and your brain with your ADHD is— that's not weakness. It's actually a critical part of success. If you, as an ADHD entrepreneur, want to tap into your full potential, which I know you're probably sitting here going, Val, I know I was created for greatness. I know I was created for more. And I feel like I'm only using like 50, 60% of my potential. And most likely that's because, you know, You know, you, you get to embrace your need for rest, rebuild your energy, and recognize this is a critical part of your success. Prioritize your recovery as much as you do your productivity. I'm going to repeat that. I want you to prioritize your recovery as much as you do your productivity. Because when you start Shutting down, it can happen for weeks, it can happen for months, and that did happen for me a year ago. I was in shutdown mode for quite a while, and it's not about a lack of willpower, right? Because we are high-achieving people. It's not a lack of willpower. For me, I can— I haven't drank soda since I was 19, or no, 16. I used to train for like marathons and be— I was like an avid runner and all those things. It's not a lack of willpower. It's that your brain is telling you, you need to change your approach. You need to prioritize recovery as much as you do productivity. And I always tell my clients, I tell them, as the CEO of your company, you are the most valuable, important piece of your business. If you're a solopreneur, even more reason that you get to prioritize your recovery And rest, you get to schedule it into your day because this is a must. This is a must. And so if you've ever felt guilty, let me know if this is you. Do you ever feel guilty when you need a break? Type rest is power in the comments and let's honor our need to recharge. And that's something we really get to focus on too. Is honor your needs. I know that can be really hard for some of us ADHD entrepreneurs or business owners, period. But honoring your needs is extra important when you have neurodiversity, because if you push and push and push, you end up getting in that shame cycle. And we get to honor our needs. No guilt. Release the guilt. Release the shame. When your body needs a break, when your brain needs a reset, you get to do that. And remember, rest is power. Rest is power. So let's honor our need for a recharge. Myth number 3 about ADHD burnout, believing that ADHD Means that you are doomed to be inconsistent. Consistency is such a pain point for us, right? And a lot of people believe that if I have ADHD, it means I'll never be consistent. I can never do anything consistently. It feels just like so real. And this myth is particularly damaging because it undermines your confidence and makes you believe that your struggles are permanent. ADHD can make consistency challenging when you're forced into a system that isn't designed for you, right? You can't be consistent in a system that's not designed for your brain. It will make you be inconsistent. Consistency is not a character flaw. It's signal that the system isn't right for you. So if you find yourself not being consistent with some outlandish plan that you have for yourself, or, you know, maybe you're trying to follow what this person's doing or that person's doing, or you have a business structure, a strategy, and you find yourself not being consistent, it's a signal that that system is not right for you. So this is some trial and error, but most likely if you're following a system that is for Neurotypicals, it's not going to work for you, and you're going to fall flat believing that you can't be inconsistent, continuing the cycle of shame and burnout on and on and on. So for years, I had told myself that you know the inconsistency I was experiencing because I couldn't be consistent in anything, that it was proof that I wasn't cut out for business. I would see all these people doing. You know, launches every month and staying consistent with their follow-up and staying consistent with their content and all of these things. And I was like, that's it. I can't do this. This is proof that I'm just not cut out for business. I don't know who I think I am. I can't really do this. Imposter syndrome, shame, guilt, overwhelm, all the things started pouring in. But when I really started to rethink my approach, once I learned I was ADHD and I got more information. I got obsessed. And so for the past 4 years, I've been obsessed with learning, discovering why our brains are different, how they operate. I've been through several certifications for ADHD, and because that's what we do, right? We get all the certifications. And, you know, I really started to realize that the approach and the systems that I had in place Or didn't have in place, more likely. I had like very few systems in place. It didn't align with my natural rhythm, and I discovered that I could be consistent, I could be effective, and I could do it on my terms. And now we have systems in place where you guys will see my content pop up twice a day. It looks like I, your girl, is all over social media, and to be honest with you, I'm not. Because I have some certain boundaries around that as well, because I can get in the doom scroll, I can get like down the rabbit hole. And so we have systems in place where I get to create my content, I get to put my content out there without actually having to show up on the platform all the time, which is a rockstar status for me and my brain because it becomes overwhelming. So when we redefine consistency, I would love to know, for like, what does that mean for you? If you were to redefine consistency, it's not about like never having days off, right? Because like I told you guys, I went through ADHD shutdown a year ago and my business was still running. My comp— I had a couple companies back then. I, I've downsized size sense because it didn't work. You know, I, my businesses were still running, my content was out there, I was still putting out events, I was still putting out stuff, even though I behind the scenes was in ADHD shutdown and could barely even pick up the phone and talk to a friend. I mean, that's how serious it was and that's why I'm so passionate about this today because I've learned so much about why that happened, and I want better for you. I don't want you guys to experience what I experienced a year ago. It was one of the most devastating points of my life. And so if it were possible for you to redefine consistency, what would that mean? How would you create An environment where your energy can flow naturally? How can you develop and adapt a flexible routine that allows you the variability, you know, um, change, excitement, while still keeping your stuff on track? This is something I have mastered. This is something I have really worked on. It's the both/and. I need flexibility and I need routine, right? So when we have flexibility and we have a routine, we can create an environment where we thrive. We can create an environment where our energy can flow naturally. And, you know, it allows for that excitement that isn't detrimental to our health or to our life or to our business. It's the excitement and the flow whilst we keep on track. It's the paradox of both ands. So if you're ready for this, if you would love to redefine your consistency, drop something in the comments so I know, and let's redefine consistency and work with your ADHD rather than against it. Let's talk about strategies to rebuild your energy. So now that we have busted those myths, let's just get rid of those. Let's just walk away from those myths and leave them behind. Let's talk about what really works. The key is not to force your brain into a rigid mold. We have tried this. It does not work. We cannot force our beautiful, creative, abundant Ferrari brain into a rigid mold. It's about building a business system that works with your natural energy, with your beautiful creativity. And so I want to share with you guys some strategies. That will help you out. I'm gonna share 5 strategies, and I was just smiling because I saw a text come through on my phone, and I was thinking about this beautiful creativity. Um, my good friend Marianne, she was a client of mine, and she did this beautiful, incredible, um, vocal breath, using your voice, stepping out, um, event this last weekend, and I got to be a part of it, and I got to lead a meditation, which was so so beautiful. And I mean, just so honored that I got to do that. And she sent me this— these pictures this morning of these beautiful paintings she did. And I was like, girlfriends, way to tap in your creativity, right? Like, when we give ourselves the permission to be different, when we give ourselves the permission to step out in our creativity, when we give ourselves permission to be too much, when we give ourselves permission to show up in the world as our bright beautiful, incredible, abundant, amazing, creative selves, what happens is we tap more into that creativity, we step more into our abundance, we step more into our authentic selves, and then we just start building this cycle, like an upward cycle of like authenticity and creativity and abundance and amazingness, and we get to our breakthrough. We get to our breakthrough. So here are my strategies. To help you to keep your beautiful energy high and your motivation high. Number one, embrace your energy peaks. So I want you to look at and identify again. You guys can be journaling this if you want to track it. That would be amazing. Identify the times when you're naturally most creative and productive. This could be for some of you, maybe it's late at night. You know, I have one client— or I'm sorry, not a client— I have, um, one employee who does a lot. She does some creative stuff behind the scenes and some scheduling and things like that. So she is naturally productive between like 11 PM and 2 PM. And I am all about ditch the 9 to 5, whatever works for you. Just be in your creative peak. And we tracked it. And she was like, I am thriving in my productivity and my creativity at 11 PM to 2 PM, sometimes 4 AM. And so, that's when she's working. And she's just in her place. And she's like, it's great because I'm not interrupted. I am by myself. The night is quiet. I get to just focus on the thing. I get to do things, get things done. So know, like, track that. Identify for you when are you the most naturally creative and productive. You want to like plan your high-focus tasks on those moments when you're at your peak times, and then allow yourself flexibility during your off times. Embrace your energy peaks. Identify The times that you're naturally most creative and productive, and then tap into that. Number 2 is flexible routines over rigid schedules. For some of you guys, flexible routine is gonna feel a little scary, maybe even triggering. If you're getting a burnout trigger right now, a stress, go ahead and journal that, write it down. Flexible routines— there's a lot of gray area in that. There's a lot of unknown in that. And the reason why we want to do that is because you want to create a routine that honors your need for spontaneity. You want to use broad time blocks rather than strict minute-by-minute agendas, right? I love— my assistant is like this. She is the type that can literally take out a calendar and schedule everything in 15-minute increments. She even schedules in like how long the drive is gonna be. She'll message me and be like, Val, 10 minutes till this is happening. All these things, like she has it down doing. And I'm like, okay, that's amazing, but that, that's not my brain. And so what we wanna do is use broad time blocks because if we're trying to schedule minute by minute by minute by minute by minute, we are gonna burn out. We are gonna, feel like a failure and we're going to get into guilt and shame. So if you just say like, I'm taking the afternoon to work on this instead of like, for the next 45 minutes I'm going to work on this and then I'm going to go to a different thing. Because, you know, time blocking can be a setup for failure. And I explained this more yesterday. Time blocking can set you up for failure if you get so hyper-focused on something and then everything else for the day just slides off. We're not always great at realizing, okay, I need to stop because this is a priority. I need to do this. Like, when we're hyper-focused like that, everything else will just fall off. So do big, big broad time blocks rather than strict minute-by-minute agendas. And number 3, you want to prioritize your recovery time. So just like you schedule meetings and work sessions— and this is honest, you guys— any one of my clients can jump on here right now and tell you that I tell them to do this. We schedule think time, we schedule downtime, and this is not wasted time. I know some of us are going to have that peak of, if we're not used to this yet, that like, but I have to be productive, I feel guilty if I'm not being productive all the time. It's like you schedule work sessions just like you schedule a client. You've got to Schedule downtime. This is not wasted time; it is essential for your long-term success. Yeah, you might be able to pack more in one day, but the long-term effects of burnout, of weeks, of months of recovery or complete shutdown, isn't worth it. And I don't want to sound so dramatic when I say that, but I'm telling you from honest experience and seeing it from clients. That you've got to schedule your downtime. My clients and I will schedule think time, we'll schedule meditation time, you know, Bible study time, all of those things. Because if we don't schedule it, we don't do it. And another thing is we get to hold ourselves in integrity and actually do it. Because if we don't, what ends up happening is we just flex that muscle and we build that muscle stronger that We don't follow through with the things we do. We, you know, we'll give up anyway. So why even try? Why start? We're just going to disappoint ourselves. So this is something so essential that I would really encourage you for your long-term success to do. Plan it and then stay in integrity for yourself. It's going to pay off dividends. And then number 4 is accountability. Without pressure. When we force anything, it does not work for the ADHD brain. We tend to resist authority. We tend to rebel. You want to have accountability without pressure. You can find a partner or a group that understands this challenge. You could join a mastermind group with me. You could hire me as your coach. We can A group together here. You want to share your progress without judgment because this will help you to stay motivated without forcing some unrealistic expectation of discipline. So you want to have partnership where you can check in and be accountable, because a lot of times if we know someone's going to check with us, we'll do it. Or if we know there's accountability, we will do it. But if we feel judged or shamed, it's going to bring up all of that rejection sensitivity dysphoria, RSD, which is very common for ADHD, especially entrepreneurs. If we are sharing our progress and we feel judged, we're going to pull back, we're going to retreat, we're going to burn out, we're going to completely abandon our thoughts, like whatever it is. But we need to have that progress without judgment. This will help you stay motivated and help you stay connected to your dreams and your goals. Number 5, is a big one in my world. If you guys have ever been a part of my world, you will know. Celebrate the wins— big, small, all of them. I just got to celebrate Valentine's Day, girlfriend's birthday, got to celebrate her 40th birthday, to celebrate 2 of my clients doing these events that were just so mind-blowing, and I got to celebrate my birthday all in one week. Celebration is huge. We want to celebrate All the wins. Those are all kind of like big things I talked about, but it's like, oh my goodness, I kept my word and I did the thing I said I was gonna do. Celebrate it. If it's like, oh my goodness, I actually made the appointments that I've been putting off, celebrate it. If it's like, holy cow, I made it to my appointment only 5 minutes late, celebrate it. Everything, because you're literally creating new neural pathways. And now instead of your brain chasing the dopamine of like the next shiny thing or the destructive behavior or the sugar or, you know, whatever it is, because it's going to seek dopamine however it seeks dopamine, it is now going to say, ooh, I like that feeling, let's seek dopamine. And you're going to be Now building the muscle of completion energy, right? This is something huge in my world. I teach completion energy is going to bring new neural pathways. It's going to create excitement, dopamine, and honestly, every single step forward counts because I know you, my friends. You are the type of person who says, I know I did this, But I still have this much to go. Yeah, I made a dent today, but like, I still have all this. I should be further along. I know that, you know, I finally hit this goal, but I'm not even gonna like stop and realize it. I'm just gonna push the goalpost further and further and further. And then we're never achieving this unrealistic idea of perfection. So acknowledge your progress, even if it's not perfect to traditional standards, because perfect does not exist. And because We have been masking for so long because we have not wanted others to see the cracks, to see the flaws, because then it would just reiterate all the things that we believe about ourselves. Maybe I'm not cut out for this. Why can't I just fit in in the world? Why can't I just calm down? Why do I have to talk so much? Why am I too much? All the things, it's just going to reiterate that. So we try and put on this like perfect idea. But perfect doesn't exist. And honestly, these strategies are about working with your ADHD, not fighting it. Do you guys see how freeing that feels? Like, feel that in your body when you are committed to working with your ADHD and not fighting it. This will help you build energy and gradually you'll get consistent. You will be able to crush your burnout instead of being crushed by it. I'd love to hear from you guys which one of these myths resonates for you most. Myth number 1 was, I just need to be more disciplined. Myth number 2 is, I should be able to push through burnout. And then myth number 3 is, ADHD means I will never be consistent. So which one of those resonates with you most? And then also, which strategy do you think could help you rebuild your energy? Again, I want you guys to incorporate all of them eventually, but I want you to just like take one of those and take it with you today and start really noticing it. Try it on, try it out, see how it feels. Wear it around the house, wear it out there in the world. And so those strategies are to embrace your energy peaks, create flexible routines over rigid schedules. 3 is prioritize your recovery. 4 is accountability without pressure. And 5 is to celebrate all the wins, big or small. So which one of those 5 strategies do you think can help you rebuild your energy this week? Let me know in the comments which one resonates for you. Which myth resonates the most? Which one has the most energy for you? Drop your answers in the chat. I would love to answer your questions for you if you guys do have any questions. As we wrap up with day 2, I want you to remember the myths that we've busted today are not your truth. They're simply outdated ideas that don't serve your ADHD superpower. You now know that discipline is not the missing key. It's about building the right systems, the right systems that work with your ADHD brain. Oh, that pushing through burnout is not heroic, it's unsustainable. You're not going to get a reward for pushing yourself into burnout, for doing all the things, for being all the things to all the people. It is actually detrimental to your health. And then you know that inconsistency is not your fault, it's a sign that you need a approach. It's a sign that the systems you're doing aren't working. Now tomorrow in day 3, we're going to get into my method, which is what I've used over the last year to get back to peak condition and dig myself out of that ADHD shutdown I was in. This is the exact framework that I have used to build my business, to build hundreds of other ADHD entrepreneurs' businesses, and it's been about designing a system, designing a business structure that fuels you and doesn't leave you drained and tired. So if you're ready to transform your energy and to create a business that works with your beautiful ADHD brain, make sure you come back tomorrow. And before you go, type I'm in in the comments if today's session resonated with you. Feel free to share this out, hit that share button, invite some people in here if you know someone that needs to hear this. It's so much more fun when we do this together. Again, I'm Val Nichols. I am a business coach for heart-centered, purpose-driven entrepreneurs, ADHD entrepreneurs, and our ADHD challenges are our greatest strength. Have a powerful day, and I will see you tomorrow for day 3. I love you so much.