One Year Ago

Hey friends,

One year ago, everything changed for my family when our son Maverick (6 at the time) was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).

It started with some fairly minor symptoms—typical signs of T1D, including sudden extreme thirst and urination, particularly at night. And then a hospital room suddenly had our name tag on the door.

At the time, it was hard not to feel somewhat hopeless and overwhelmed. But what a difference a year makes!

One year ago, we had no idea what we were doing.

But now?

Okay, well, sometimes we still feel a bit clueless... 🥴

BUT that’s more due to the ever-evolving nature of diabetes in a growing child. In reality, things have become much more manageable and intuitive.

It’s still hard, but we aren’t living in panic mode every second of every day.

When Maverick’s glucose levels go awry, instead of panicking about the exact formula to figure out his insulin dosage (or calling the nurse hotline), we rely more on gut instinct developed from a year of experience. We’re still learning, but it’s a significant difference from a year ago.

See how I felt when things first happened last year: https://www.extrafocus.com/math-and-needles

It reminds me of how my life changed after my ADHD diagnosis.

While obviously not quite as serious as living with diabetes, living with ADHD has had a huge impact on my life, especially when I didn’t know what was happening with my brain other than “it don’t do what I want it to do!”

Once diagnosed, diving into research and learning about how my brain worked made it easier to manage and notice trends and patterns in my behavior.

I wrote my book Extra Focus both to help others with what I've learned about ADHD and as a handy guide for myself with strategies I knew could be helpful and were actually designed for people with ADHD.

It’s never going to be solved or fixed. I’ll never have a foolproof strategy.

But knowing that is actually freeing!

I no longer have to try to force something to work. If it isn’t working, pivot without feeling guilt or shame.

Embrace the opportunity for creativity.

Stay focused,
Jesse J. Anderson

Quotes from others

Success depends not on having strong willpower, but in developing mental and emotional tools to help you experience the world differently.

— KC Davis, How to Keep House While Drowning

Shiny Objects

Overcoming ADHD Overwhelm
Don’t forget! Next week we’ll be having Meredith Carder, an ADHD coach and author of the upcoming book It All Makes Sense Now, as a guest speaker. She will be teaching about Understanding and Overcoming ADHD Overwhelm. Sign up today!

Embrace the Journey Summit
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