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Build Your Online Audience

This podcast ended in April 2021. Follow my NEW PODCAST: the Courageous Content podcast on Apple podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/courageous-content-with-janet-murray/id1569783857 Or on your favourite podcast app here:  https://courageous-content.captivate.fm/
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Now displaying: July, 2020
Jul 31, 2020

Does your relationship with money hold you back in business?

Perhaps you struggle with pricing your goods or services or you’re too quick to discount. Or you always undercharge because you feel guilty charging the full price?

If this resonates with you then you’ll love this podcast episode with financial coach and planner and host of the podcast 'In her Financial Shoes' Catherine Morgan.

It’s a deep dive into how money mindset issues can really hold you back from growing your audience and building your business.

Find out how those little phrases from your childhood like ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’ and deep-rooted beliefs and preconceptions that have been passed down the generations (even if they're not true!) can really affect your relationship with money.

Catherine reveals the three most common types of relationship people have with money. Find out what type you are and how this impacts how you show up in business.

Discover why people get so addicted to taking courses and why over-giving is really common in online entrepreneurs. And what prevents some people from spending ANY money in their business. PLUS what this means for the content that you create in your business.

Catherine shares two steps that you can take right now - to start understanding your relationship with money - and how you can take your mindset from scarcity to abundance.

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode.}

Podcast shownotes

  • About my BYA programme and Money Mindset month (01:24)
  • How Catherine helps people improve their emotional relationship with money (06:30)
  • How your beliefs and thoughts about money come from messages when younger (07:16)
  • How your mindset can trigger scarcity messages in your brain (10:26)
  • How a scarcity money mindset can drive your business forward (11:00)
  • How social influences and beliefs can influence our thoughts about money (13:00)
  • Why you need to think of the emotion that you attach to money (14:48)
  • The three most common types of relationship people have with money (16:02)
  • How a giving relationship with money can affect your business (16:43)
  • Why you need boundaries in your business to stop yourself over giving (18:29)
  • Why setting up a treat fund will help you get into an abundance mindset (19:40)
  • How to get into the mindset of spending money on outsourcing (21:21)
  • How over planning and overthinking can stop you taking action  in your biz (22:03)
  • How a personal development pot of money can help you grab opportunities (25:07)
  • Types of content you can create for spontaneous spenders (27:20)
  • Why you need to understand the emotional trigger of spending (28:42)
  • How to get financially naked and why you need to stop burying head in the sand (34:27)
  • Why you have to avoid comparing your business with someone else's (36:56)

Resources

Catherine Morgan website

Catherine Morgan Money Personality Quiz

Catherine Morgan podcast In her Financial Shoes

Find out more about my Build Your Audience Programme

Other useful podcasts

[Bonus] How I discovered my ADHD superpower (podcast)
[217] How to find your entrepreneurial superpower with Osmaan Sharif (podcast)
[390] How to stop overthinking your content (podcast)
[406] Mindset problems that can slow your audience growth with Osmaan Sharif (podcast)
[413] How to get more done in less time and build your audience faster (podcast)

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

Jul 24, 2020

Wondering if TikTok is right for your business? But not really sure if it’s your ‘thing’? Perhaps you think it’s just for teens and you’ve got no idea where to start?

If that sounds familiar then this podcast episode with marketing expert Sam Bearfoot is a must-listen. Sam explains exactly how you can use TikTok to build your online audience and promote your business.

Find out the best type of content to create on TikTok and why being authentically 'you' - will help you create content for TikTok and help you stand out amongst the crowds.

Discover how you can use TikTok to get people into your messages and grow your other social media platforms like Instagram.

Even if you’ve never used TikTok before - Sam explains how to get started with TikTok and how you can get inspired and begin creating content for TikTok (and why it doesn’t have to just be dancing!).

Plus how you can save time by repurposing the content you create on TikTok on your other social media platforms.

Sam shares so much value in this episode - I’d love to know if you’re inspired to start.

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode.}

Podcast shownotes

  • About my Build Your Audience programme and my Get It Done sessions (1:36)
  • About Sam and how she helps businesses grow (4:38)
  • How Sam has shifted her business from just being the ‘Instagram girl’ (6:52)
  • Why it’s harder to work with people if you don’t show up authentically (8:22)
  • Why you’ll stand out more if you are authentically you (12:54)
  • How TikTok compares other social media platforms like Instagram (15:15)
  • How to create your Tok Tok videos and decide on your content (16:29)
  • How TikTok has grown  and why it isn’t just for teenagers anymore (18:08)
  • How to make sure you have the right audience on TikTok (19:20)
  • How to get inspiration on TikTok and why you need to use music (20:43)
  • Why you need to curate TikTok so that see what you want 21:27
  • Why it doesn’t have to be music that you use on TikTok (22:02)
  • How Sam approaches content creation on TikTok (23:10)
  • Why TikTok is great for video editing (25:41)
  • How to use hashtags on TikTok (and how it’s similar to Instagram) (28:10)
  • Why you should repurpose your TikTok videos on other platforms (29:58)
  • Why TikTok will take you out of your comfort zone (but you should just do it) (31:31)
  • How to get inspiration from TikTok and how to start on TikTok (33:45)
  • How to use TikTok to talk to people - even if they don’t follow you  (36:11)
  • Why being yourself online really works (39:45)

Resources

Find out more about my Build Your Audience Programme

Sam Bearfoot Instagram

Sam Bearfoot Website

Sam Bearfoot TikTok

TikTok accounts recommended by Sam

Jerabean

It's Lauren Edge

The Matthew Hussey

Other useful podcasts

[347] How to create engaging social media posts even if you hate being on camera (podcast)

[377] How to write super engaging copy about your business with Jo Watson (podcast)

[343] The three audiences you must build to create a successful online business (podcast) 

[373] How to get more followers on any social media platform (podcast)

[384] How to be more yourself in your social media content with Natalie Lue (podcast)

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

Jul 17, 2020

With sales of planners and organisers topping $386 million last year, we're clearly a generation obsessed with planning. 

And since I launched my Social Media Diary & Planner, back in 2017, I get asked tons of questions from people who want to launch their own. 

So in this podcast episode, I answer your burning questions, including the number one question: how much does it cost to launch a planner? 

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode.}

  1. How much does it cost to launch your own planner?

The rather unsatisfactory answer to this is: it depends on a number of things, including 

  •  How many pages you want
  •  The size (e.g. A4, A1) 
  •  Type of printing 
  •  Weight and type of paper 
  •  Finish (e.g. gloss/matt) 
  •  Type of binding e.g. spiral or perfect bound 

If you don’t have all of this information to hand, you won’t even be able to get a quote from a printer.

So if you want to launch your own planner, one of the first things you need to do is sit down and plan out exactly what you will include on every page of your planner - even down to how many pages you want for each month of the year. This is generally known as a flatplan. I include flatplan templates in my online masterclass: How to launch your own planner.

This is important because you can only print a perfect bound book (and, essentially, your planner is a book)  in multiples of four pages. This means that if you decide to add or take away content at a later stage, it could have a big impact on your project (and your budget). If you go for spiral bound, you can add or take away pages in multiples of two, but if you don’t plan out your content thoroughly beforehand, you could still create problems for yourself further down the line. 

it’s difficult to estimate how many pages you will need without knowing how your planner will be laid out.  Sites like Canva and Creative Market have planner templates you can browse for inspiration. Pinterest is also a great place to look for inspiration. 

At this stage, you also need to do some research on the correct paper weight for your planner and best method of binding. If you want to create a product people can use (and possibly carry around with them) for a full year it needs to be hardy. The last thing you want is people complaining/asking for refunds because the pages are ripped and/or the ink is seeping through.

So the best thing you can do at this stage - is to create a flatplan of your planner, then contact a number of printers for a quotation. 

Most printers will be happy to advise you and/or send through paper samples. It’s important to touch/feel the paper yourself before you get anything printed. I’d also suggest buying some different planners so you can compare size, binding and layout plus how easy they are to use. 

There are instructions on how to create a flatplan for your planner (and flatplan templates), a checklist of information you need to supply a printer with in order to get a quote and a list of all the printing terminology you need to know in my online masterclass on how to launch your own planner. 

  1. How do I price my planner? 

Once you’ve got quotes from printers (I’d suggest getting a minimum of three).While it may be tempting to outsource your printing overseas this may not be the best practical solution. While it can be cheaper, if there is a problem with the printing, it’s much more difficult to fix if your printer is in China. This is definitely something to bear in mind if you want to launch a seasonal planner i.e. one that runs from January to January.  Not only will you need to allow additional time for the initial print and delivery, if you are unhappy with any aspect of the printing, it could take weeks (or even months) to fix. This is not to say it is a bad idea, but for your first planner, it may be best to stay local.

Once you have some printing quotes, you can estimate how much it will cost you to produce each copy of your planner. Then, based on how much profit you want to make (and research on similar products on the market) you can decide on the price of your planner.  

When costing out your planner, remember you also need to include things like:

  • Packaging (and postage, although you may want to add this on to each order)
  • Fulfilment i.e. getting the planner packaged up and sent out 
  • Stripe/PayPal fees
  • Design 
  • Proofreading and editing 
  • Marketing 
  • Your own time 

There is a checklist of all the costs you need to consider in my online masterclass on how to launch your own planner. 

If you don’t want the hassle of organising your own printing, there is the option of using a print-on-demand service like Createspace, Lulu or Ingram Spark. With this option, you upload your artwork file for your planner to their website and, every time someone orders a copy, it is printed and sent to them. This cuts down on packaging and fulfilment costs, but you will still need to pay for design, editing and proofreading. 

While print-on-demand is often less expensive per copy, you also have less control over the process.  So if something goes wrong, it can be much more difficult to fix. Many people mistakenly think that using a large, established platform means you have a ready-made audience to buy their planner. This couldn’t be further from the truth. You will still need to work really hard to market your planner. 

There is a detailed comparison of DIY printing versus print-on-demand in my online masterclass on how to launch a planner for your industry. 

  1. Do I need to build an audience before I launch my planner?

Ideally yes...otherwise who are you going to sell your planner to? 

Most online sales convert at just 1-2%, so if you’re hoping to sell hundreds or thousands of copies of your planner, you will need a large enough audience to sell to. You can use my audience calculator to see if you have enough people in your audience right now to make your target sales. 

If you don’t have a big enough audience, you have two choices. You can either focus on building your online audience to the size you need to launch a planner. This may take at least a year but could save you a lot of time and money in the long run. Here’s how to build an audience. 

Or you can explore the idea of doing a short print run to test your idea. This will almost certainly reduce your profit, as shorter print runs are generally more expensive. But it will also reduce the risk of you making a loss on your planner (and ending up with a stack of planners gathering dust in your loft/garage).

At this stage, you should also ask yourself some tough questions about whether you have the authority to launch a planner on your chosen topic. For example, if you want to launch a planner for yoga teachers, but you’re currently working in banking, you may find you don’t have the credibility to make enough sales. In this case, it would be better to spend some time building your audience before launching a planner. 

  1. Can I presell my planner before I launch it?

Absolutely yes. In fact, if you don’t want a stack of planners you can’t sell (and a hefty printing bill) I would absolutely recommend it. 

The reality is, you can carry out tons of research, but won’t know for sure if anyone wants to buy your planner until you ask people to pay you money for it. 

This is why I believe you shouldn’t print your planner until you have made enough sales to at least break even. 

This is why I recommend creating a test offer. This is where you get a designer to create an image of your diary, create a simple landing page (a web page where people can only do one thing i.e. order your diary) and invite people to pre-order their planner at a reduced cost on the understanding that they may need to wait a bit longer for their planner. 

I share my test offer strategy (including a checklist of the steps you need to take and the resources you need) in my how to launch a planner masterclass.

  1. Do I need to hire a designer? Or can I do it myself? 

Unless you are a designer yourself, I really wouldn’t recommend it. 

If you want your planner to look professional, I believe you need to use a professional - ideally someone who has a background in book/magazine publishing. 

Not only will this ensure your planner has a professional look and feel, they should also be able to advise you on any potential problems with the design. For example, a professional designer will be able to advise on font size/type, what type of content is best on right and left-hand pages, potential problems with user experiences (e.g. left-handers). You only know that stuff if you’ve worked in publishing.

Sites like Canva and Creative Market have planner templates you can browse for inspiration. Pinterest is also great for inspiration. But, unless you are a designer, I would use it just for that - inspiration.

  1. How do you decide on a topic for your planner 

This isn’t actually on my list of frequently asked questions, but I’ve included it because it’s something people generally don’t give enough thought i.e. they create a planner they want to create - rather than something people actually want to buy. 

Remember, nice-looking stationery is all very well, but if your planner doesn’t solve a problem for people, you’ll struggle to sell it. 

Let’s take my media diary as an example. It’s an A4 desk diary that features key dates and awareness days that can help you plan out your content for the coming year. It also has planning templates that help you create annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily content plans. So the media diary solves two key problems for the people who buy it: not being able to think of any/enough content ideas and not having a clear content plan to follow. Not publishing regular content can decrease your visibility, authority and credibility - which can have an impact on the bottom line of your business. 

Remember that your planner doesn’t necessarily have to solve a practical problem e.g. not being able to think of ideas. It can also solve an emotional problem/need, such as wanting to look stylish around your peers. 

But it does need to solve a problem...otherwise it won’t sell. 

I have a planner viability test in my how to launch a planner masterclass.

Podcast shownotes

  • The top questions I get asked about launching a planner (01:37)
  • About my new masterclass how to launch your own planner (02:55)
  • Why I’m recording my podcast during my ‘Get it Done’ session (04:27)
  • Why I can’t tell you exactly how much it will cost to print your planner (6:09)
  • What you need to know before going to the printers for a quote (06:45)
  • Why you need to know what you want before you go to the printers  (10:20)
  • What costs you need to consider when pricing out your planner  (11:45)
  • Why you should have your diary printed locally (and not in China) (12:38)
  • Other costs you need to work out before pricing your diary (14:08)
  • Why you should do some market research before pricing your planner (17:10)
  • Why you need to build an audience if you want to sell a lot of copies (17:23)
  • Why you need to have authority in your space if you want to sell (20:04)
  • Why you should presell your planner before you print (21:49)
  • What you should do if people don’t buy your planner on your presale (23:39)
  • Why you should use a professional designer to design your planner (25:22)
  • How to decide on a topic for your planner (27:13)
  • Why your planner has to solve a problem for someone (30:20)

Resources

Audience Calculator: Work out the audience size you need that you need with my audience calculator

Graphic design with Canva

Self publish with Amazon Create Space

Self publish with Lulu 

Self publish with IngramSpark

[326]  The one thing you need to do to generate passive income for your business (podcast)

[339] How To Build An Audience for an Online Course or membership (podcast)

[343] The three audiences you must build to create a successful online business (podcast) 

[355] How to create and launch a planner for your industry (podcast)

[374] How to create a year's worth of content in one morning (podcast)

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

Jul 10, 2020

Hands up...I’m not the most organised person in the world.

But I AM insanely productive - publishing hundreds of podcasts, blogs and social media posts every year - and rarely missing a deadline. 

My recent ADHD diagnosis made me question how I’d managed to stay so productive - despite being disorganised. 

If you haven’t heard of it before, that stands of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - a disorder that affects the functioning of the brain and includes symptoms such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Problems with memory, forgetfulness, organisation. 

And it made me realise I’d actually developed coping strategies to stay productive - which I share with you in this episode. 

They’re actually really good strategies that can help anyone who struggles to get things done (which we all do at times).

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode}

Here are five things that help me stay productive. 

  • Time blocking. I keep my mornings free and don’t do any external meetings/teaching/coaching until midday. As I get up at 5 am, this means I can often get around six hours of solid work in before lunchtime. 
  • Repetition. If you’ve ever tried to quit smoking or lose weight, you’ll know that changing bad habits can be tough. The same goes for good habits. Which is why, if you can get into the habit of doing good things every day, these habits can be as difficult to break as having a cigarette or a chocolate bar after every meal. 

This is why I do the same thing at the same time every day. For example: 

  • Sending a Daily Email to my list at/around 7 am
  • Posting on Instagram every day around 7.30 am 
  • Publishing a podcast [add hyperlink] every Friday

Experts believe it can take as little as 21 days to adopt a new habit. So if you can get into the habit of posting your blog post on a particular day and/or planning your social media posts at a particular time each week, this can be really powerful for your productivity. 

  • 90-day planning. I plan my content in 90-day cycles - around the products/services I’m launching in my business. Which also means I can plan my content to coincide with key launches in my business. 

For example, this month (July 2020) I’ve launched a Pinterest course in my membership programme Build Your Online Audience. Knowing it was coming up, meant I could schedule a relevant week of content ahead of the launch, including a podcast on getting started with Pinterest , a cool messenger bot quiz on whether Pinterest is right for your business and tons of relevant social media posts.  

  • Public accountability. I make my plans public e.g. writing a daily email, publishing a podcast episode every Friday - which means I can’t back out
  • Body Doubling. This is a term used to partnering with others to get specific tasks done. For example, I’ve recently started using a fab tool called Focusmate a virtual co-working tool that allows you to work, side-by-side, with a partner, remotely - over video - in structured 50-minute sessions. 

However, I’m hyper-aware that some people might find working with strangers of the internet kind of awkward. So this week I’m trialling my own ‘Get It Done’ sessions for members of my Build Your Online Audience programme. 

 

Podcast shownotes

  • How I use time blocking to stay productive (6:43)
  • How I produce three pieces of great work by midday (8:22)
  • Why you need a good chunk of time at a time of day that works for you (10:20)
  • How repetition and creating good habits can help productivity (11:10)
  • Habits that I have in my business to get things done (12:30)
  • Why consistent habits will build your online audience (15:22)
  • How 90-day content planning will make you more productive (16:37)
  • How planning ahead will help you focus on peak points in your business (17:48)
  • How public accountability will help you be more productive (23:10)
  • How body doubling can help you increase your output  (24:50)
  • How Focusmate helps with accountability and productivity (26:40)
  • Get it Done sessions in Build Your Audience programme (30:02)

Resources

Focusmate

Sign up for my Daily Email

Janetmurray.co.uk/podcastfinder

Join my Build Your Online Audience Programme and get access to my NEW Pinterest course

Other podcast episodes

[Bonus] How I discovered my ADHD superpower (podcast)

[374] How to create a year's worth of content in one morning (podcast)
[390] How to stop overthinking your content (podcast)
[393] How to create engaging content when you only sell one product or service (podcast)
[406] Mindset problems that can slow your audience growth with Osmaan Sharif (podcast)
[409] How to use Pinterest to grow your online audience with Kate Beavis (podcast)

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

Jul 3, 2020

Ever worried that you're annoying your subscribers by sending too many emails? Want to know how many emails are enough and how you can keep your email subscribers happy? Then you'll love this podcast episode with email marketing experts and hosts of The Email Marketing Show Rob & Kennedy.

They share four things that you can do to make sure your email subscribers are your biggest fans. Find out why managing expectations is key to happy subscribers and how your subscribers can get to know you.

Discover tips and tactics if you think your email subscribers have fallen out of love with you and how you can win back sleepy subscribers.

They explain why you shouldn't overthink email segmentation. And why you mustn't be afraid to delete people from your email list.

PLUS how you can sell in your emails and still give value.

It's full of really practical advice and takeaways that you can apply straight away in your own business.

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode}

Podcast shownotes

  • About this podcast episode (0:20)
  • How Rob & Kennedy got started with email marketing (03:03)
  • Why you should stop worrying about sending too many emails (04:42)
  • How often Rob & Kennedy email their subscribers (06:28)
  • How to start your email relationship with a new subscriber (08:39)
  • Why it’s good to set up expectations in your intro emails (10:30)
  • Why it's important that people understand your personality (13:45)
  • How you can use your own experiences to make your messaging interesting (15:26)
  • Why you need to segment different parts of your audience (16:55)
  • How to start segmenting your list and why you should start simple (19:17)
  • Why you need to look at the outcomes that people need when you segment (21:29)
  • How to win your subscribers back if they’ve stopped engaging (24:45)
  • How often you should run a re-engagement and what to do if you get no reply (27:16)
  • How to avoid sending your emails to the spam and junk folder (27:43)
  • How to create content that sells and still give people value in emails (28:30)
  • About Rob & Kennedy and my Build Your Audience programme (31:50)

Resources

The Email Marketing Show Podcast

Rob & Kennedy’s Facebook Group

Join my Build Your Audience programme

Find out about my Pinterest Course

Other podcast episodes

[333] 39 surprisingly easy ways to increase your email subscribers (podcast)
[350] How to use surveys to increase your online sales with Rob & Kennedy (podcast)
[395] How to write addictive email copy with Rob & Kennedy (podcast)
[401] How often should you email your list (podcast)
[404] Five compelling reasons to email your list every day (or least more often than you do now) (podcast)

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

Jul 1, 2020

I was recently diagnosed with ADHD.

At the grand old age of 45.

If you haven’t heard of it before, that stands of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - a disorder that affects the functioning of the brain and includes symptoms such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.

I’ve found it uncharacteristically difficult to talk/write about, but I’m sharing it here in the hope it might be of help (even just as a reminder that everyone has their ‘things’ to deal with).

In this special podcast episode, I share the story of how I discovered I had ADHD and why I believe it's my secret superpower as an entrepreneur.

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode}

By the time you get to the end of this post, there’s a good chance you’ll be thinking one of three things (or maybe all three).

  1. But I do those things too
  2. But you don’t seem the slightest bit ‘hyperactive’ Janet
  3. ADHD isn’t real...it’s just your personality type

So, to put it into context...yes we all do some of the things I share with you here sometimes. What makes the difference with ADHD is (a) the frequency with which the symptoms occur (b) the extent to which it affects your life.

It’s also worth mentioning that ADHD shows up differently in different people….particularly in girls and women (which is why it’s often missed). For example, the hyperactivity and/or restlessness can be mental rather than physical (as in my case).

And while educational/professional achievement in people with ADHD is often lower, it can show up in high achievers too. In fact the ability to 'hyperfocus' - to zone in on a particular area of interest and block out everything else - can be EXACTLY the thing that helps you to become a high achiever (another reason why ADHD can get missed).

I always felt there was something a bit ‘different’ about how my brain worked - but like many people - I associated ADHD with hyperactive teenage boys, so never imagined I could have it.

Then I stumbled across an article about women and ADHD and thought…’oh my God, that’s ME.’ I spent the next year or so reading and researching, which is what, eventually, led to me getting tested and getting a diagnosis.

My ADHD symptoms

To put my symptoms into context, here are some of the questions I’ve grappled with pretty much all of my life 👇:

✔️ How can I be such a high achiever at things I find interesting but suck SO badly at those I don’t (which is VERY apparent from my school reports)?

✔️ Why can I concentrate for hours on things I’m interested in - to the point where I lose track of time - but struggle to pay attention to anything that doesn’t?

✔️ Why am I so bad at ‘life stuff?’ Paying bills, booking/cancelling appointments, ordering groceries, cooking….

✔️ Why do I get so excited about new things….then struggle to finish them?

✔️ Why am I so bad at friendship? Remembering friends' birthdays, sending baby gifts, asking after them when they’re sick, turning up to social things…well maybe not bad, just inconsistent...

✔️ Why am I such an impulsive spender (but never seem to learn from my mistakes)?

✔️ Why am I so brilliant with words...but frequently get muddled up with numbers and dates?

✔️ Why do I leave everything until the last minute? In fact, why does leaving it to the last minute sometimes feel like the ONLY way to get it done?

✔️ Why do I struggle so much with detail? To the point where starting a project with lots of moving parts or instructions to read feels PHYSICALLY painful?

✔️ Why can’t I hold down a job or even stick working in an office with other people for more than a few weeks at a time?

✔️ Why do I get so BORED of everything so quickly: meetings, relationships, social events, small talk, projects...?

✔️ Why do I sometimes make such impulsive decisions? Decisions that can blow up relationships (friendship/work/family)...often on a whim?

✔️ Why am I SO damn sensitive? To the point where a cross word/brush off from a colleague/friend can put me in a dark place for weeks on end…

✔️ Why am I a compulsive workaholic who works longer hours than anyone else I know (often to achieve the same results)?

✔️ Why don’t I enjoy holidays/days off like other people seem to?

✔️ Why can’t I SWITCH MY DAMN BRAIN OFF? 🤯

All of which I now realise are symptoms of ADHD.

Why you don't have to be hyperactive to have ADHD

If you’ve worked with me and/or are a friend, you may be surprised by me sharing this.

Because I probably come across as pretty calm, right?

I generally don’t pace the floor, interrupt people when they’re speaking and/or talk incessantly (well, only sometimes 😂 ) or any of the other stereotypical symptoms of ADHD.

The only thing you might have noticed is that sometimes I talk a bit fast. And - if you’ve worked with me, you’ll also know I THINK fast. Which can make it hard to keep up at times...

But I wasn’t bouncing off the walls as a child/teenager (and nor do I do that now). So I had no reason to believe - and nor did anyone else in my life - that the things I describe above were anything more than personality quirks.

Relationships is the area where I struggle most. While I LOVE people, I find navigating the unwritten rules of friendship - and particularly female friendship groups - nigh on impossible.

Maintaining female friendships often involves doing things you don’t want to do - or that bore you - just to be accepted. Which I’ve learned doesn’t work for the ADHD brain.

I’ve been dropped from numerous female friendship groups over the years for not playing by the ‘rules’ (or at least it feels like I have - but that might be down to Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria, which comes hand in hand with ADHD, but I’ll save that for another post!).

Which means life can feel a bit lonely at times. 😢

While I have tons of acquaintances, I only have a handful of really close friends. Generally driven, ambitious women like me. Or men. Because both are unlikely to get offended when I forget to message them back, say/do the wrong thing or disappear for a few months because I’m engrossed in work or a new hobby. Because that’s all I can manage without messing things up.

Until recently, I saw my inability to maintain deep and long-lasting friendships with women as a character flaw. In fact, I’ve spent countless hours pouring my heart out to my mum about it over the years. Now I realise this is probably down to having a different kind of brain... which kind of helps a bit.

Coping Strategies

Work-wise, I’ve completely leant into my zone of genius (writing, communicating, creating content) and outsourced the things I find hard. And I love what I do, which means I rarely have problems paying attention to work stuff.

Life wise...I kind of bumble along, trying - and often failing - to create systems to keep me organised. But I still get far too many fines/charges for forgetting to pay things. I’m still impulsive with money, but because I earn more these days, it’s less of a problem. Which means I no longer have any debt. Although, if my income changed, I know that’s something I’d have to watch out for.

I’ve learned that the ADHD brain only has two modes: ‘now’ or ‘not now’ - which means you can’t draw on a previous experience like most people do (for example, getting charged for going over your overdraft limit because you bought something you couldn’t afford). Which is why you keep repeating the same mistakes - over and over again - much to the frustration of family/friends/colleagues.

Relationships are the area where I struggle most. While I LOVE people, I find navigating the unwritten rules of friendship - and particularly female friendship groups - nigh on impossible.

Maintaining female friendships often involves doing things you don’t want to do - or that bore you - just to be accepted. Which I’ve learned doesn’t work for the ADHD brain.

I’ve been dropped from numerous female friendship groups over the years for not playing by the ‘rules’ (or at least it feels like I have - but that might be down to Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria, which comes hand in hand with ADHD, but I’ll save that for another post!).

Which means life can feel a bit lonely at times.

While I have tons of acquaintances, I only have a handful of really close friends. Generally driven, ambitious women like me. Or men. Because both are unlikely to get offended when I forget to message them back, say/do the wrong thing or disappear for a few months because I’m engrossed in work or a new hobby. Because that’s all I can manage without messing things up.

Until recently, I saw my inability to maintain deep and long-lasting friendships with women as a character flaw. In fact, I’ve spent countless hours pouring my heart out to my mum about it over the years. Now I realise this is probably down to having a different kind of brain, which kind of helps a bit.

Next steps

This is all quite new to me, so I’ll leave it here (and I’m also a bit bored now).

I’m just starting out on this journey, so I still have a lot to learn. I spent the first few weeks wondering whether the test was ‘wrong’ and worrying about whether people would think I was jumping on to some kind of trend/bandwagon (ADHD is really common in entrepreneurs).

Once I’ve got my head around it, I’m sure it’s a topic I will revisit again - especially once I’ve explored different treatment options. But I wanted to share this with you in case it was helpful in any way.

And it goes without saying that while living with a restless, racing mind isn’t always easy (in fact, it can feel unbearable at times), it is almost certainly responsible for some of the things I’ve achieved in my life/business.

Over and out.

Podcast Shownotes

  • Why I recorded this bonus podcast episode (1:35)
  • My ADHD symptoms that led to my ADHD diagnosis (5:49)
  • Why I always just accepted my symptoms as personality quirks (9:15)
  • How ADHD has affected my ability to form close friendships (11:01)
  • Why ADHD symptoms show up later in women (12:24)
  • How I struggled at primary school with sensitivity (14:01)
  • How I lost interest in certain subjects at school (18:08)
  • How I started enjoying school when I could focus on the subjects I was good at (20:43)
  • Why I found university boring and it didn’t do much for me (22:50)
  • Why I struggle with small talk especially at events (23:59)
  • How I couldn’t stop spending money when I was younger (25:54)
  • When I realised that teaching wasn’t right for me (28:50)
  • Why freelance journalism was a really good fit for me (30:48)
  • How I got interested in entrepreneurship and online businesses (34:02)
  • How I struggled with being a mum and making connections with other mums (36:12)
  • How ADHD leads to hyper-focus and can make you lose interest in things (39:53)
  • Why I decided to find out if I had ADHD /  I started to question why I couldn’t enjoy time off (40:22)
  • Why it’s about the frequency of symptoms in an ADHD diagnosis (42:18)
  • How I’ve managed my business around my symptoms (43:05)
  • How ADHD hyper-focus has really helped my business (45:16)
  • Resources to understand more about ADHD (47:10)

Resources

Tracy Otsuka Podcast 

Jessica Macabe How to ADHD 

A Radical Guide for Women with ADHD 

Taking Charge of Adult ADHD 

 

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