The brain chemistry of ADHD adults differs from “normal” brains in its relationship to dopamine. As a result, ADHD adults crave stimulation just to feel alive. Because of this craving, they are also more likely to seek thrills, take risks, discover new ways of doing things, act and think more boldly, stand out from the pack, and have a higher degree of personal charisma.

If you have adult ADHD, you may already have the raw material it takes to gain great fame and wealth. But why does the ADHD gene help a few people achieve outrageous success while leaving many others struggling just to get by? While luck and chance always play some role, the real secret may lie in understanding how to harness your innate strengths and minimize your ADHD weaknesses.

Harnessing Your ADHD Strengths

One of the most important things you can do to maximize your strengths is to manage your adult ADHD symptoms consistently and effectively.

For most ADHD adults, the best treatment approach is a combination of medication, therapy, behavioral modification, healthy eating habits, regular exercise, support groups, relaxation techniques, and other lifestyle changes that enhance your life.

How to Make Adult ADHD Work for You

In addition to following your treatment program, you can turn many of your ADHD symptoms into assets by using the following tips and strategies.

• Don't repress your adult ADHD gifts. Instead, look for ways to express your creativity, inventiveness, imagination, enthusiasm, and energy at work, at home, and in social settings.

Essential

Take your medication regularly. While medication alone can't fix a flagging career or make the wrong career feel right, it can help you manage mood swings and alleviate restlessness and bad temper while you're in the process of looking or preparing for a new career.

• Let your inattention be your guide. If you find your mind constantly drifting and wandering, don't ignore the danger signs. Inattention can be a red flag that you're bored, disinterested, or unchallenged. ADHD can be the radar you need to switch to a new career. For instance, if your job is stifling you and making you feel depressed, lethargic, and brain-dead, it may be another indication that it's time for a job switch. If you're in a job that you find boring, mundane, or uninteresting, you'll have difficulty applying your ADHD hyperfocus and creativity to tasks and probably daydream or zone out instead.

• Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses, and then make a second list of all the jobs and careers you've had. Match up your strengths and weaknesses to the various jobs to get a better idea of what types of work you're best suited for.

• If you're not sure how to best use your ADHD skills, or if you're not even sure what they are, talk to a career coach or therapist. Aptitude tests can help you hone in on jobs and careers that will set your brain cells firing.

• Remember that ambition alone is not enough to propel you to success. Many ADHD adults find it easy to get enthused about a new career but aren't realistic about the time and effort required to get there. Create a road map to get you from point A to point B, then use your tremendous energy and drive to propel you down the road to success, step by manageable step.

• Take inventory of your personal likes and dislikes. Do you like working on your feet in front of people (like a teacher) or by yourself in front of a computer (like a writer)? If you're hyperactive, you might fare best in a job that lets you move around, such as a sales job that gets you out and about, or a career that requires physical exertion, such as a personal trainer.

• Don't stick with a job that doesn't match your personal profile just because you've worked extra hard to master it or worked against some of your natural gifts or characteristics to be successful. You'll be happier, less stressed, and more effective at a job that uses your natural gifts.

• Test drive another career. If your current job is not using your imagination or creativity to the fullest, make arrangements to shadow someone whose career you admire. For more information, visit Vocation Vacations.

• Be patient with yourself. Don't expect to go from the wrong job to the absolute perfect job in one easy step. Prepare to spend some time examining your talents and skills, talking with professionals, test driving new careers, or even going back to school to learn the skills for a new profession.

Flying Solo

If you decide to be your own boss or start your own company, make sure to hire people who complement you. If you're a big-picture person who doesn't have the patience for details, hire someone who enjoys handling what you might find boring. On the other hand, if you aren't comfortable interacting with others, hire a public relations director to handle publicity.

When You're the Boss

If you plan to start your own business and hire others to help you, you should also be aware of how your adult ADHD symptoms may affect your ability to work with employees and consider the following stumbling blocks. If they all sound like you and you're still determined to run your own business, you may want to hire a company psychotherapist and/or a second-in-command with a more affable personality to handle office snafus and miscommunications.

• Many ADHD adults find it difficult to delegate work to others, believing they are the only ones capable of dealing with it.

• Because ADHD bosses are often capable of working very long hours and hyperfocusing intently for long periods of time, they may be overly demanding employers who are unrealistic about what their employees can accomplish in a given time.

• ADHD adults tend to be very impatient, intolerant, and critical — traits that can quickly undermine and discourage employees.

• Because of their tendency to think quickly, think outside the box, and make associations between seemingly unrelated concepts or ideas, many ADHD bosses can sound like they're speaking a foreign language to employees. Their tendency to speak rapidly and leave thoughts hanging in midair may also contribute to miscommunication and frustration in the workplace.

• ADHD adults have notoriously short tempers and a lack of patience, and may come across as tyrants and/or control freaks to employees.

The Importance of Owning Up

Many ADHD adults have become adept at masking their symptoms or covering them up with learned behavior. While masking negative symptoms can certainly help life go more smoothly, masking positive traits such as creativity, spontaneity, or unconventional thinking could limit your ability to live your life to the fullest.

If you're in denial about your adult ADHD symptoms and/or you've been masquerading as a “normal” person out of fear of societal stigmas, it may be time to let your ADHD genie out of the box. Your therapist can help you “own” your positive ADHD traits and come up with ways to use them to their best advantage.