ADHD As A Superpower

Living with ADHD as an adult is often framed as a challenge, even a deficit. But what if we flipped the script? What if ADHD isn’t just something to “manage,” but a superpower to harness?

Think about it: Olympic decathletes don’t train for just one event. They spread their energy, skills, and effort across many different disciplines. Similarly, those with ADHD often find themselves juggling multiple tasks at once, making progress across a variety of arenas. While the world may say “stick to one lane,” our brains thrive when dancing between several.

Now, let’s reimagine productivity. If the journey from Point A to Point B represents task completion, most people are told to walk in a straight line: A → B. For those with ADHD, it’s rarely a single arrow. Instead, it looks more like this:

A1 → (progress) → pause 

A2 → (progress) → pause 

A3 → (progress) → pause

Eventually, yes, we reach B, but along the way, we’ve been building, learning, and advancing across multiple A’s simultaneously. It’s like having several seeds planted at once; not all sprout at the same time, but with care, they all grow.

Here’s where the superpower comes in: if getting to Point B isn’t an emergency, why force yourself into a mindset of hyperfocus? The ADHD brain has a gift, it thrives on dynamic movement. You’re capable of progress in several dimensions at once, and that isn’t failure, it’s expansion.

What slows many people with ADHD down isn’t their wiring, it’s The Pass/Fail Mindset. This rigid way of thinking says, “If I didn’t finish, I failed.” But in truth, incompleteness is not failure. Fear of “incompletion” can paralyze us more than the work itself.

Instead, imagine your projects, your goals, and your daily tasks as part of a rotating orbit. You move between them with agility, gathering momentum, advancing piece by piece. That’s not failing, it’s a unique rhythm, a superpower.

Pairing Superpower with Tools

Every superhero has tools that help them maximize their power, gadgets, shields, or maps. ADHD is no different. If you want your multitasking gifts to truly shine, pairing them with tracking systems and goal organization can help transform scattered momentum into sustainable achievement.

Think of it this way: your ADHD allows you to juggle multiple “A’s” at once. Tools for tracking tasks, whether it’s a notebook, sticky notes, a whiteboard, or a digital app, act as your anchor. They help you see where you left off, what’s still in motion, and how each A eventually connects to its B.

And when it comes to goals, the bigger B’s of life, organizing them in a clear, visual way shifts overwhelmingness into clarity. These tools aren’t about boxing you in; they’re about providing a map so you can trust that your many A’s will, in time, lead to each B.

Tools don’t dampen the superpower, they amplify it. They give your dynamic style of thinking a structure that keeps momentum visible and your confidence intact.

So here’s the challenge:

• Release the fear of incompletion.

• Recognize that progress in many places at once is still progress.

• Use tools to keep track of your A’s and organize your B’s.

• Trust that Point B will be reached, even if you’re dancing between multiple A’s.

• Recognize the presence of Old Mental Muscle and it’s tricks: Self Judgement & Fear.

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Harness your ADHD not as a limitation but as a strength. The world may see chaos, but you know it’s strategy, your superhero strategy.

Because sometimes, the greatest power isn’t in sprinting from A to B, but in building multiple paths forward at once.

Chris Lauzon, LICSW

Therapist

Boston, Massachusetts