One thing about ADHD; she demands movement. ADHD loves action: action in the mind, action in the body. Even when you hit overwhelm or decision paralysis, ADHD still wants you to move. But, she is not the only one that demands action from you. Her lil’ friends complex trauma, anxiety and others can keep you moving as well.
If you are thinking about starting a business, are starting a business or have already started a business and are ADHD, have complex trauma, have anxiety and/or other, you are at risk of moving just for the sake of moving in your business. If you are not checking the alignment between your efforts and what your people want, you could be doing lots of stuff that leads to nothing.
But you're saying, “wait. I know what my community wants”. Well, mmmmk. How do you know? Did you talk to the few people you always talk to? Did you read comments on social media with no additional context? Did a few people on social media tell you what they want you to create for them? Did you read some general survey results? Did you peep what seems to be selling on TikTok shop?
To avoid action for its own sake, you always have to be validating; validating what you think you know about the community you serve. You have to validate what your clearly defined demographic and psychographic (beliefs, values, likes, dislikes) wants. BTW: the demographic/psychographic you really want to connect with may not include all or even most of the people who follow you on various platforms.
Let's validate with the right people. Find five people who fit the demographic and psychographic you serve or want to serve. Interview them one-on-one, asking them each the same open-ended question (and follow-up questions) related to your plannned or current service/product. Just listen. A single, broad question will provide you with a whole dataset that tells you:
what their problem/need/want is,
what you should be creating to solve THEIR problem,
how you should package the solution,
how you should market it,
where you should market it,
to whom you should market it,
how much people will pay for it,
etc.
For even more validation, increase the number of people you interview to discover hidden themes and patterns.
Anytime you feel you've hit a wall, interview people. Do this even if you have been in business for years.
Just. Talk. To. People. They will tell you where to direct your energy. They will help you decide whether you are moving for the sake of moving or actually moving toward a goal that matters to your community.
I applaud your momentum. Keep going. Your neurotype and your need to move are playing important roles in your future successes. As you move though, validate, validate, validate - what you think you know - so you feel good about yourself and about what you are doing.
Neither your ideas, your plans nor your business belong to your ADHD and her lil’ friends. Your ideas, plans and business belong to you.
—
Did you like all or parts of this post? Repost to Substack Notes to spark more conversation.