On ADHD and Mentorship

If you have ADHD, I recommend having two mentors to learn from - one with ADHD and one without ADHD. Take the best of their advice and combine it to create develop yourself fully.


If you have ADHD, I recommend having two mentors to learn from.¹

One mentor (call them 'Mentor-With-ADHD') should have ADHD and -- if possible -- be more successful than you in an area you aspire to. One mentor (call them 'Mentor-Without-ADHD') should not have ADHD and -- if possible -- should also be more successful in an area you aspire to be successful in.

The way I think of it is this: Mentor-With-ADHD most likely 'sees' the world the same way that you do, and has already done the hard job of moving through a neurotypical environment and finding success in spite of setbacks.² Under the assumption that they communicate well and are able to translate the world in a way you understand, when you have problems in your path to success, they can help unblock you by providing insight that intuitively clicks for you.

On the other hand, Mentor-Without-ADHD will not see the world in the same way that you do. They will have their own struggles, of course, but they will process the world in a different way and probably advise you in the same way that a neurotypical mind would see the world.

In building a life for yourself, your job is to merge the two worldviews together and create your own synthesized version of things -- creatively. It won't happen overnight and it will take some trial and error. One process I like is taking what the Mentor-Without-ADHD recommended, bringing it to the Mentor-With-ADHD, and hearing what they have to say on creatively applying it to my life.

The mentors don't have to know each other: mine don't (unless my small-world life has shrunk more than I've realized). What matters is that you trust their leadership and mentorship, and (most importantly) that you have the humility and good sense to listen when they call you out on your nonsense (and when they affirm that you're on the right track).