The glass is indeed half full! The article "Benefits (Yes, Benefits!) of Having ADHD," from The Hallowell Center in New York City, presents a positive way to look at ADHD. Check out the awesomeness of these mirror traits! We are creative, persistent, energetic and passionate. What’s not to love?

"Seven Ways to Help High Schoolers Find Purpose" is a great article from The Daily Good on the importance of intrinsic motivation. It is essential to identify your values and define your purpose. When you are working from a value-aligned, purposeful place, hard work does not seem so hard. In fact, working from a place aligned with your values and purposes, once you've done the work to get to that place, feels natural and often puts you in a state of “flow,” meaning that you feel fully immersed in an activity, giving it all of your attention and deriving enjoyment from the process

“He doesn’t care.” “He’s not living up to his potential.” “He’ll never amount to anything.” What is really going on? To continue in our series (here's Part 1 and Part 2) on parenting teens with ADHD, the article and video "Why Teens Stop Trying," at ADDitude Magazine, is a short explanation of why your teen may have quit trying. 

I recently read an interview with Drew Brees, in which he said, “Focus on moving the chains, man. You move the chains and everything usually works out.” I love this idea! You can make anything happen by consistently taking small steps. Just get that first down.

While at the International ADHD Conference recently, I stumbled onto a round table support group discussion. As a parent, spouse, sibling and daughter of innovator brains, I sat down and joined this intimate group. After an hour of listening, talking, laughing and crying, I felt stronger, loved and not alone. “We need this in New Orleans!,” I thought. So with the support of our new local CHADD chapter, on Saturday, January 6th, we launched our first monthly support group for parents of children with ADHD.

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at motivational problems for teens with ADHD.

So as a parent, what can you do?

“My son quit trying in school because his masculinity is threatened? What?” 

I know. I didn’t quite understand it either the first time I heard it. But behind all that bluster is a lot of insecurity and an enormous fear of failure. Read on to get the full picture

Happy New Year!

Are you ready for a new and improved you? Let's start the new year off right with some self-reflection. Take a few minutes (or a few pages) to think about how you would answer the following questions:

Come join me this Saturday, January 6th, at 9 a.m., at Monkey Monkey Coffee and Tea in New Orleans for a meet-up hosted by the NOLA chapter of CHADD. 

It’s the end of the quarter, the end of the semester, the end of the year. How did you do this year? Take some time to reflect on what you were able to accomplish. Celebrate everything that you did! Do you keep a planner, agenda or calendar? Look back at all that those tasks you crossed off, all those meetings, all those appointments, all those fun activities that made you you.

Have you heard of phubbing? It's a recently coined term—a combination of "phone" and "snubbing"—that describes the act of turning your attention to your phone in the presence of others. "Phubbing" is always a bad idea, but, like slot machines in a casino, our phones are designed to attract our attention.

The holidays are hectic enough, but when it comes to the members of your family diagnosed with ADHD, the holidays can feel incredibly overwhelming. And maybe not all of your family gets it. The article "Stop Unsolicited Advice From Family In Its Tracks," by Carol Brady at ADDitude Magazine, has some great tips on how to prepare your extended family, your immediate family, your child, and yourself for holiday visits.

The holidays are almost here! Are you prepared? Jessica at How to ADHD has some funny, helpful advice on what not to get people with ADHD this holiday season.

When you've been sitting for too long studying for the exam or working on that final paper, try two minutes of mindful movement. By aligning your body and your mind with breath and movement, you can focus even more.  Watch this short video by Cara Bradley and Mindful.org for a two-minute break that will get your blood flowing and your brain working.

The article "Four Steps to Independence: How to Support (Not Enable) a Child with ADHD" by Elaine Taylor-Klaus and Diane Dempster at ADDitude Magazine has some excellent tips on how to support your child's independence. 

Your innovator brain hides yet another superpower that the neurotypicals lack: Super Intuition! Many of my clients have a sixth sense. They can sense the emotional state of another person, and in many cases, any living creature. They have a much stronger sense of empathy and compassion that the average person.

With technology changing so rapidly, it has been challenging for scientists to create studies about screen time. However, one conclusion has been unanimous…

Hey! Did you know Mind Coach NOLA has a weekly newsletter? Sign up now to receive the week's blog posts, full of tips, techniques, and recommended reading, along with information on upcoming Mind Coach NOLA events.

Here is an interesting trait you may not have yet discovered: Sometimes you want something to be so perfect that you are afraid of getting started. Or maybe you have to think it through first and have the perfect plan and all of the perfect materials before you get started. Or maybe, you actually got started (woohoo!) and you have been in hyperfocus mode for many hours and now you can’t get back into the real world because what you're working on is just not perfect yet and you can’t let go, so it’s never finished.

"How We Decide: The Neuronal Reward Signal" by Wolfram Schultz is an interesting article that highlights the importance of dopamine receptors in reward systems and how they affect decision making. The innovator brain functions differently, and so you can see how this important neural activity (or lack of it) can affect so many aspects of everyday life.