About Stuart Lloyd Cohen, CALC

 

It’s Hard Being Me

 

These were the very first words I had written at the top of page one. My cheap composition notebook suddenly had a priceless purpose. With these words this journey had started.

It was day one of my 3-day silent retreat. 

 

Lucky, I was alone or I would have failed miserably at the ‘silent’ part. Kimberly, my wife, was in Denver visiting family. I had driven the 58 miles to our lake house where peace and quiet were guaranteed.

 

It was August of 2019. I was in my mid-50's trying to figure out why and how to make it less hard being me. I had sequestered myself in order to accomplish this. 

 

Ten years earlier, Kimberly had encouraged me to get tested for ADHD. The mystery of me was solved when doc confirmed what she suspected (which was a diagnosis that had never, ever been on my radar): I am WIRED to be WIRED.

 

Doc suggested I take a pill. I did and I moved on.

 

But, did I?

 

Although I had known that I had ADHD for almost a decade I never really took time to understand what it all meant. 

 

Till 'me-time' back at the lake. 

 

Before long I was driving my notebook into the ground. Pens couldn't keep up. The pieces of my past were starting to make sense. The case of my quirkiness was cracked. I was curled up in a blanket with a notebook on my lap on the porch on the lake, feeling stuff that the pill didn't fix.

 

After I looked back, I looked forward. As I started to make a plan for a less-hard future, I had an epiphany; what if I could go far beyond just helping myself?

 

(That's me, by the way, thinking big and going from zero to sixty yesterday!)

 

Out it came. At the top of a fresh page I had written ADHD AS A SKILL SET. 

 

I wondered, can we reimagine Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as an embraceable, marketable, leverageable, invaluable collection of personal skill sets? Can our ADHD get the best out of us rather than it getting the best of us?

 

If so, we’d all be a lot happier and healthier. We could live our lives more contented and less contentious. (As would everybody in our circles.)

 

What do I know now that I wish I knew then? 

 

This became a foundational question to which I had to find answers.

 

My brand of ADHD had been driving my restless, entrepreneurial, maverick-style spirit in my corporate career in travel and hospitality (where I was promoted as frequently as I was let go). 

 

For the past 14 years I was building businesses and loving the independence, risks and rewards.

 

With a passion for training, public speaking where I 'preached' positivity, could I pivot with new purpose and make life less hard for me and others with ADHD at the same time?

 

Yes! I went back to school (to become a certified life coach specializing in ADHD) which is where I met Emma. No longer was I alone in my quest. 

 

When we put ourselves in opportunity's way the people we need to meet will appear.

 

When kindred spirits unite, a powerful new energy force is created. We have a shared vision. Curiosity now drives my research, my eagerness to try new things and my sincere exhilaration meeting people with ADHD and learning from their stories. 

 

Coaching, podcasting, writing and publicly speaking about ADHD as an asset will help destigmatize it and us.

 

Be at our table. This is a safe space and nourishing place for you to share what you know now that you wish you knew then. Or, if you're rebooting life with a blank composition notebook in your lap right now, just take what you need, leave the rest at the door, and you solve the mystery of you and begin writing love stories with happier endings.

 

This is mine.

 

Together we can make life with ADHD less hard. Together we can live with ease!