This episode is sponsored by CURE Hydration. All right, I’m going to be real with you. Drinking water is boring. My ADHD brain is like, wait, we have to do this again? Like every day, multiple times. What in the world? And because I’m running from meetings to coaching calls to kid chaos, staying hydrated is not something I’m naturally good at. It’s not something I naturally think about. That’s why I’ve been obsessed with Cure hydration packs lately. Cure is a plant based hydrating electrolyte mix with no added sugar, only 25 calories, and it actually tastes good. The watermelon and berry pomegranate have been on repeat for me. I’m actually like really running low on those flavors, which is so sad. They’re refreshing without being too sweet or artificial. It feels like my water finally has a little bit of personality, which I enjoy. I really do. What I love most is that CURE uses a science backed formula that hydrates as effectively as an IV drip. So when I’m scrambling through my day forgetting my water again, CURE helps me to catch up fast. I throw a few packs in my bag and it makes drinking enough water simple, which for my ADHD brain is basically a miracle. So staying hydrated isn’t just about water. You also need electrolytes. And that’s why I love Cure. It’s clean, tastes great, and it actually works. And bonus, CURE is FSA HSA approved. So you can use those funds to stay hydrated. The smart way for I have ADHD podcast listeners, you can get 20% off your first order@curehydration.com I have ADHD with the code I have ADHD. And if you get a post purchase survey, make sure to tell them that you heard about Cure right here on the podcast. It really does help to support the show. Don’t just drink more water, upgrade it with cure. Welcome to the I have ADHD podcast where it’s all about education, encouragement and coaching for adults with adhd. I’m your host Kristen Carter and I have adhd. Let’s chat about the frustrations, humor and challenges of adulting, relationships working and adult achieving with this neurodevelopmental disorder. I’ll help you understand your unique brain, unlock your potential and move from point A to point B. Hey, what’s up? This is Kristen Carter and you’re listening to The I have ADHD podcast, episode number 163. I am medicated, I am caffeinated and I am 100% ready to roll. Let us go. Shall we let’s do it. Today’s episode, y’. All. It’s a goodie. It is going to be so good. If you’re new around here, this is episode two in a four part series on ADHD entrepreneurship. I have been an entrepreneur for 17ish years. I built three companies, a five figure company, a six figure company, and I’m currently running a seven figure company. I’ve been a solo entrepreneur hustling for the next sale and I’ve also led teams and made money in my sleep. I’ve kind of done it all and I’ve kind of tried it all. I love being an entrepreneur. It’s so delightfully compatible with the ADHD brain. You’ve got to be creative, you’ve got to fly by the seat of your hands sometimes you’ve got to solve complex problems and there’s such a huge high when your ideas work out. Talk about dopamine. Hit. Am I right? So amazing. So fun. Now, over the last three years of podcasting and coaching, I’ve come to realize that I attract a lot of ADHD entrepreneur listeners and coaching clients. So I wanted to create a series of episodes for those of you who are either grinding out like a side gig or scaling multimillion dollar companies. You know, either way, these episodes will be applicable and valuable to you and it’s my joy to serve you in this way. So fun. Speaking of serving you, if you’re an ADHD entrepreneur working full time in your business and you want my direct support, go to ihaveadhd.com mastermind like right now. Ready, go. Go there. Because I’ve created just a perfect hybrid group for ADHD entrepreneurs. It’s the only ADHD business mastermind that combines teaching and group coaching and consulting and masterminding all in one. It’s the place that ADHD entrepreneurs get weekly support and coaching from me and, and ideas and accountability from their peers. Now, if you’re a seasoned entrepreneur, you’ve probably investigated or maybe even joined masterminds in the past. I joined one about a year and a half ago because I was super lonely. You know, sometimes it’s very lonely to be an entrepreneur, especially if you’re working pretty much online. And I wanted to get specific support with where I was at in my business at the time. Now, unfortunately, I didn’t ask enough questions about the group. I was so desperate for help. Like, I was just like, please, does somebody help me? So I found a group that I thought would be a good fit. I paid $10,000, which is pretty typical I got into the, quote, unquote mastermind, and I use that term very, very loosely. I do not believe it was actually a mastermind. I found out that there were 96 people in this group. 96. The calls were done webinar style. So I had no access to the coach except to type a question in a Q and A box and, like, cross my fingers and hope that he would answer it. I’m so disappointed. I thought a mastermind was a group where we interacted and where we had access to the coach. And I just. I didn’t. I just didn’t ask enough questions. And then I was, like, really ashamed that I had invested so much money in something that totally did not work for me or my ADHD brain or wasn’t what I needed, wasn’t what I thought it was. All the things since then, I’ve been dreaming of creating a small group, like an actual small group where ADHD entrepreneurs have direct access to me and where I get to know them and their businesses and I can support them and coach them individually and they can mastermind together and share ideas and accountability with their ADHD peers. Doesn’t that sound just tasty? It’s, like, delicious. I can’t wait to get it rolling. So if this is resonating with you and you’re, like, getting the tingles right now, go to ihavadhd.com masterminds look over the info and apply today. You know how sometimes you just get the tingles? Like, oh, my gosh, this is for me. Oh, it’s cracking me up. Okay. Anyway, ihaveadhc.com mastermind let’s get into today’s episode. It’s all about identifying and working within your zone of genius. Like, what is your magic, your secret sauce that sets you apart from everybody else? It’s imperative, it is utmost important that you as an ADHD entrepreneur are able to identify this. Now, don’t panic. If you can’t put your finger on it right this second, don’t panic. If it takes you a minute or a week or a month, it’s totally fine. But just know that this is the goal, to figure out what is your zone of genius, what is your secret sauce? And you can allow that to take time, but once you identify it and you spend more, more and more and more and more of your time working exclusively in that magic space of the zone of genius, it’s going to make you crazy amounts of money and it’s going to give you such personal fulfillment that even when your job is Hard. You’ll still wake up ready and willing to work. Now, I’m going to reference Gay Hendricks book the Big Leap often in this episode. We’ll link it in the show notes for you. It’s a great book. It’s pretty simple. If you’re a reader, I highly recommend you read it or listen to it on Audible or wherever in it. Hendrix speaks of four different zones in which humans operate. And I’m just going to say like, in which, like, entrepreneurs operate. Okay, so listen to these different zones that Hendricks explains for us, and I want you to kind of figure out where you currently are as an ADHD entrepreneur. First, we have the zone of Incompetence. In this zone, you are engaging in something that you inherently do not understand or you’re not skilled at. Number two, the zone of competence. In this zone, you are doing what you are efficient at. But recognize that many people are likewise efficient at it, thus not distinguishing your capabilities in any significant way. Number three, the Zone of excellence. In this zone, you are doing something that you are tremendously skilled at. Often the zone of excellence is cultivated, it’s practiced, and it’s established over time. And then. Drumroll, please. We have the Zone of genius. And in this zone, you capitalize on your natural abilities, which are innate rather than learned. This is the state in which you get into flow, find ceaseless inspiration, and seem to not only come up with work that is distinguished and unique, but also do so in a way that excels far beyond what anyone else is doing. Okay, so we have the zone of Incompetence, the Zone of Competence, the Zone of excellence, and the zone of genius, according to Gay Hendricks in his book the Big Leap. Now, here are my thoughts. Society, schools, parents, friends, most people all celebrate the zone of competence. The zone of competence is what most of society praises people for and what most of society is really looking for. And here’s what I think kind of falls into that zone of competence. Like the collective zone of competence, especially for most neurotypical business owners. First, being neat and tidy and organized, being on time, responding to emails, promptly, following the rules, doing what it takes to make a client happy, even if it doesn’t necessarily align with their own values. Being compliant, not making anyone angry or upset or inconvenienced, not being too loud or too aggressive or too much. Keeping a perfect schedule and having, like, regular nine to five working hours, having perfect finances and bookkeeping records. Our society, our teachers, our parents, and now even probably some of your partners really glorify what they consider to Be this zone of competence. Like, we should all be good at this stuff. And what I found after being an entrepreneur myself and working with entrepreneurs at varying levels is this. You ready for it? Most ADHD entrepreneurs carry the weight of expectation that they should be focusing on this zone, that this zone of quote unquote competence is what would make them a good person and a good business owner. The trouble with this is that society’s expectations and zone of competence is actually our zone of incompetence as ADHD entrepreneurs. I mean, like, shall we review? Being neat and tidy and organized? Nope. Being on time, not going to happen. Responding to emails within a few hours, I’m either going to respond immediately or four weeks later, following the rules, not so good at it. Doing what it takes to make a client happy, even if it doesn’t align with my values. Like, I die inside at the thought of that. Being compliant. It’s a no. Not making anyone angry or upset or inconvenienced. Not super good at that. Not being too loud or too aggressive or too ambitious or too much. I mean, come on, right? Like, all of these things, keeping a perfect schedule, working nine to five, having proper finances and bookkeeping records, all of that stuff that society tells us would make us a good business owner is kind of in our zone of incompetence, if we’re being honest for most of us ADHD entrepreneurs. Now, caveat here. Of course, ADHD is a spectrum. Of course some of you are really good at keeping your books, like, of course, of course, of course, of course. But in general, as ADHD entrepreneurs, the things that society and neurotypicals and even like people we’re networking with, other entrepreneurs, the things that they’re good at, probably fall into our zone of incompetence. We as ADHD entrepreneurs often spend our time, our energy, our emotions, trying so hard to prove to ourselves and others that we are competent in these areas so that we can feel like we’re good people and legitimate business owners. I just want to say, like, it’s all pretty much bs. If this is what you’re focusing on in your business, it’s likely that you’re not making that much money, or at least you’re hitting an income ceiling, a revenue ceiling. I’m just going to go ahead and say it. If you’ve reached that revenue ceiling and you’re not sure why, take a look at whether or not you might be focusing too much in this zone, society’s zone of competence. And no offense, but like, probably your zone of incompetence okay, next, let’s chat about the zone of excellence. Now this is a tricky one. And many of us get trapped in the zone of excellence because it’s something that we’re good at. We’ve probably worked hard to learn and we are rewarded for it. I have to say, in my last company beyond tutoring, it was a learning center for students who struggled in school. I was for sure trapped in my zone of excellence. I was good at what I did, really good at it. We helped a lot of students, but even though I was good at it, it was kind of boring for me. And I was finding myself preferring to talk to the parents of the students than to the actual students themselves. Parents would come in for impromptu meetings regarding their child and I would inadvertently coach them. I didn’t realize what I was doing, but I was. And during our consultation sessions, which were hour, sometimes two hours long, I would inadvertently be coaching parents. And that was the part of my job that really fueled me, that came so easily, that I enjoyed so much. It’s really tricky because you can get trapped or stuck in your zone of excellence because it often pays the bills. It’s not going to make you mind blowing money, but it will pay the bills. And that’s exactly what happened to me. It wasn’t until I was willing to really look at what are my natural innate abilities and what am I also like enjoying so much, what doesn’t feel like work to me that I was able to uncover my zone of genius and let go of my zone of excellence. I became so much more fulfilled in business and I went from life leading a six figure company to leading a seven figure company. It made all of the difference in the world for me. So let’s chat about it. Like, what exactly is the zone of genius? Ironically, it’s what comes easiest and most naturally to you. It’s where you’re innately gifted. It’s pretty effortless. It doesn’t seem like work. And here’s the important part. I want you to like really tune in here and turn up the volume. Okay? You probably downplay it and you probably don’t think it’s even a big deal. It comes so naturally to you that you just assume that it’s easy for everyone. Think about what people tell you you’re really good at. Think about the things that you dismiss as just being easy or insignificant. We downplay so many of our strengths because we think everyone has them, but they don’t. Now, things that people like, random people, like parents of students, or even people like in the line at the store would tell me before I started coaching, they would tell me things like, wow, you’re a really good listener. I had a dad of a student, we were doing like a consultation which is, you know, they’re interested in the, in the services for their child. And so we set up a meeting. We have a face to face, in person meeting regarding, like, their students difficulty, difficulties and how my company could help them. So we’re sitting down face to face. We’re talking about the student. I am asking questions, we’re going back and forth, and the dad stops and he’s like, you’re a really good listener. I was like, thank you. Very awkward. Like, if you could see my face right now, I was just like, thank you. I don’t know what to say. And he was like, no, no. I’ve been trained at the corporate level to be a good listener. Like, I’ve actually taken classes. And you seem to do it naturally. And I just, again, didn’t know what to say. It felt very awkward, but I was like, okay, cool, thanks. Random people saying, I just love coming to you for advice. Like a random mom at the pool that I don’t even know. I love coming to you for advice. Okay. People would say things like, I could talk to you for hours, or, I feel so much better after talking to you. I had a couple of friends even joke around years ago and call me coach before I even knew what a life coach was. And I dismissed all of these things. I’m not telling you them to be like, I’m amazing. I’m telling you them to say I was just like, whatever, this is not a big deal. I dismissed it every single time. Like, isn’t everyone good at this? This is easy, right? But it turns out that, no, not everyone is good at this stuff. I just thought everyone was because it came so naturally to me. And so I want you to think about that. For you, what are the things that come so naturally to you that don’t feel like work, that people go to you for that? You’re just like, this is so easy. What are those things? Those would likely fall into your zone of genius. Okay, so why does finding your zone of genius matter? This is so important. So many of us have spent decades fighting against what comes naturally to us in hopes of acting more like everyone else because we want to fit in, because our brains are designed to keep us safe and keep us in the herd. We’ve been so stuck in society’s version of the zone of competence, which, remember, is probably for most of us, a zone of incompetence, that we haven’t allowed ourselves to relinquish these expectations from others and really live into our own zone of genius. Working in your zone of genius will allow you to feel fulfilled and content and happy. And I know it seems like, basic, like, kind of trite, but I’m telling you, it’s true. Now, you guys know I’m a person of faith. I’m going to take, like, one minute and talk about my faith. If you can handle it, I would love for you to hang with me here because I believe that we’re all designed with a purpose. And I believe that when we are truly leaning into our innate gifting and unique wiring, we literally have a sense of purpose. And I’m even going to add here, like, a closeness to God or a groundedness to the universe. So as I was, like, writing my notes out, I went down a major rabbit hole here. I was remembering the movie Chariots of Fire. Super old was released in 1981, which. Okay, wait a second. That’s not that old because that’s the year I was born. So it’s still kind of like young and hot and cute, but it’s got a few wrinkles. Like it’s not as young as it used to be. Okay. Do you know what I mean? All right. Anyway, it’s about a runner who’s, like, so fast, and he’s just got this innate gifting. And at some point in the movie, there’s this, like, really famous scene where he tells his wife, God made me fast, and when I run, I feel his pleasure. Now, you might not even believe in God, and that’s totally fine because I still know that when you are in your zone of genius, you still get that subtle, or maybe sometimes it’s overwhelming feeling of, yes, this is it. This is so easy and fun, and I love it. And this is what I was put here on this earth to do. When you’re feeling that you’re in your zone of genius, so many of you ADHD entrepreneurs are kind of dying inside because you’re forcing yourselves to work in society, society’s version of zone of competence. And so you’re denying yourself the absolute pleasure of working in your zone of genius because you’re downplaying its importance. Now, in my experience of working with thousands of ADHDers, most of us have an aversion to misalignment. And so when you’re an ADHD entrepreneur who’s trying to prove your worth as a business owner by masking your ADHD and pretending that society’s zone of competence is truly what you love to do, you will find yourself procrastinating and avoiding your business and not showing up for your customers and your clients, putting off, making sales, self sabotaging, really limiting your own overall success. So if you’re hearing me say all of this and you’re kind of starting to panic because you’re like, I don’t know what my zone of genius is, that’s okay. It’s totally fine. That’s your work right now, is to figure out what is my zone of genius. If you’re an ADHD entrepreneur and there’s a part of your business that you just feel like comes so naturally, you absolutely love it. It’s incredible. It doesn’t feel like work. That is likely your zone of genius. If you want to eventually become an entrepreneur, but you’re not quite sure where to go, what to do, like how to serve people. Start looking at what do people already come to you for? What are they asking you for? What do your friends and family say about you? What are people asking you for help with? What gift do you have that doesn’t even feel like a gift because it just feels just so natural. Now back to the big leap. Gay Hendricks suggests that we ask ourselves these three questions when we are trying to figure out what our zone of genius is. First, what work do you do that doesn’t seem like work? This is really important. What work do you do that doesn’t seem like work? Not that it doesn’t make you tired, but it just doesn’t feel like a grind. It doesn’t feel like drudgery. It doesn’t feel like, ugh, I gotta go do this thing. It’s just like, oh, this is the fun part of my job. Okay, in your work, what produces the highest ratio of abundance and satisfaction to the amount of time spent? So we’re looking at the ratio of abundance and satisfaction to the amount of time spent. You want to be thinking, what’s giving me the most satisfaction? Where am I feeling like, yes, I was meant to do this right? And then next, what’s your unique ability? Now that might be hard for you to self reflect on and really think about on your own. So you might want to ask a close friend or your partner, or if there’s someone else in your life that you trust, if you have a mentor or a coach, what do you think is my unique ability? What’s my secret sauce? What’s my magic? What do I bring to the table that Most people don’t bring and it doesn’t feel like a burden, it’s just like super easy for me. Now I want to recommend, once you kind of nail down that zone of genius, that magic space, your secret sauce, I want you to work toward spending 90% of your time in that zone. Stop doing anything that does not fall within your zone of genius. Now, as your business grows, you’re going to be able to hand off things that are not in your zone. I understand if you’re an entrepreneur just starting out, you’re wearing all of the hats, you’re having to do it all. And I totally, I have been there. I totally, totally get it. But what I would want you to focus on, if that describes you, what I want you to focus on, is spending as much time as possible in your zone of genius. And when you’re outside of your zone, identify it as such. Okay, this is not my zone of genius. But there’s no one else here to do the job and I gotta do it. So for example, I need to do my own emailing here. There’s no one else to do it. This is my job. It’s outside of my zone. Eventually I’m going to hire someone to do this once the company grows. I have been so privileged to be able to grow my company to the size that I don’t work outside of my zone of genius ever. It is amazing. It is so much fun. I feel like my job is to easy. I really do. Now, I have been grinding it out for 17 years as an entrepreneur, but at this point in my journey, I am able to work exclusively in my zone of genius. I am creating, I am coaching, I am podcasting. That’s it. It’s so fun. I just love it so much. It’s so fulfilling. It is so fulfilling. I just, I just, every day I’m feeling like, yes, this is it, I’ve come home, this is what I was always meant to do. And I want that same feeling for you now, depending on where you are in your entrepreneurial journey. I understand. Like if you’re at the beginning, you’re just like, this is not fair. I have to do all of this myself. And I get it. I just want to remind you, I’ve been there, I’ve done that. 17 years. Okay, it’s been a while. But I want you to start thinking about what is my secret sauce. How can I spend more time there? What it falls outside of my zone of genius that I will eventually hand off to someone else. The more time you allow yourself to work within your specific beautiful messy zone of genius, the more money you will make. So my friend, stop spending hours on all of the things that society tells you will make you a quote unquote good business owner and instead spend as much time as possible working within your magic zone, your zone of genius. And you will be so satisfied. I hope you have an amazing week. I’m going to talk to you again so soon. Bye. Hey ADHD Entrepreneur, if you want my support with your business but you’re not quite ready to apply for my Mastermind, you need to get your buns into Focus. Today, Focused is my group coaching program for adults with adhd. And so so so so many of our members are entrepreneurs. Because of this, I created the Inconsistent Entrepreneur. The Inconsistent Entrepreneur is a course Inside Focus where I teach you how to grow your business even though you’ve got a distracted and inconsistent brain. The Inconsistent Entrepreneur is my signature course and it includes a workbook, four video classes taught by me, and tons of binge able business coaching calls that’ll be so helpful to your business they’ll blow your fridge freaking mind. Best of all, Inside of Focused, you will receive my coaching on your business and be surrounded by a community of ADHD entrepreneurs who will support you and give you great ideas on how you can grow. So go to ihaveadhd.com focused to join. And just a hint here, if you’re using Focused for your business, you should talk to your accountant about labeling it as a business expense. Go to ihabadht.com focused and I’ll see you inside.
