the best professions for adults with ADHD

The best profession for a person with ADHD is the one that aligns with his specific traits and talents.

Since ADHD is different for each person, knowing your ADHD is the key to a successful career.

Each person has his own unique abilities and gifts. When you line those up with your ADHD traits; your mind, body, and soul are in perfect harmony.

Often, people don’t know what how their ADHD affects them and what their innate talents are. The secret to uncovering that mystery is to ask yourself what you loved doing as a child.

I’ve had four main careers in my life and many off-shoot jobs from those four. I have memories of (all of ) them sparking joy in me when I was a child.

After barely graduating high school (thanks to my undiagnosed ADHD), I tried to further my education, but I kept hitting dead ends. Nothing was working for me. I wanted to venture into the fashion world, but I kept failing the courses I took. So I figured office skills would guarantee job security and a weekly paycheck. But, I was too bored to get through the class assignments. Again, nothing sparked excitement inside me.

I kept waiting for something to click and fall into place. But it didn’t until I started dating a hairdresser. That’s when I heard a loud click that said- that’s it, that’s what I want to do. Hands-on practical work and no exams. Perfect! To my surprise, there were lots of tests in chemistry, but my brain was in gear, clicking and sparking. I aced my way through the tests.

It sounds silly, but I remember my dolls having the most amazing hairstyles. I’d play with their hair for hours, twisting and turning the bristly fibers into braids, buns, and elaborate up-dos. I’d do the same to my hair too, and anyone else who would let style theirs. I had found my calling.

For twenty years, I had a great career as a hair stylist working in a salon, movies, and theater. During that time, I also became an aerobics instructor and then a yoga/meditation teacher. In recent years, I returned to my second childhood passion- writing. As a pre-teen, I was obsessed with books. I’d write poetry in the wee hours of the morning to soothe my troubled thoughts. So when I decided to become a writer, it wasn’t a big surprise.

I was writing articles when the one on ADHD went viral with over 2.2 million shares. After receiving almost 2000 emails and comments, I received training from Certified ADHD Coach Training Program and Courses and became an ADHD Coach. I believe there are millions of people like me; people with ADHD who felt alone, frustrated and misunderstood. People who are extrememly capable of success but hit brick walls and get stuck. I knew there was a better way to live a happier, more productive, less chaotic ADHD life.

I’m a spiritual seeker. I believe that opportunities are sent to me at the right time. I remain open to possibilities that I could never imagine. This belief has steered my career path, as well.

Here are ways to find the best profession for a person with ADHD:

1. Know your ADHD traits.
2. Know what sparks joy in you.
3. Work in a field that aligns with your traits.
4. Don’t be afraid to try something new.
5. Never stop learning and evolving.
6. Connect to your spiritual beliefs.
7. Be financially responsible.

Don’t be afraid of change. People with ADHD are bored easily and feel the urge to break free from our jobs. If you’re bored, you might be doing something that doesn’t align with your ADHD traits. Re-evaluate your situation. Nowadays, it’s normal for someone to have a steady job and a side business or two. People are constantly evolving.

Of course, be financially responsible. Be smart about your choices. Don’t make reckless changes. Remember, you need money to pay your rent and bills.

The list of ultimate ADHD professions that will be suitable for any adult with ADHD does not exist. This all depends on your development (your strong suits), your interests (what drives you), which of your problems you found a solution for and which you were unable to address. A good starting point would be to find the answers to these questions.

Do not lose your heart, however, if you made a mistake and something you expected to do well turned out to be a struggle. You can adjust your strategy and direction as you go. Try different things when studying in a university or training for a profession. This is the best time to learn your strong suits and things that engage you.

In addition, it depends more on the professional environment than on a profession itself. Flexible environments, where people are given some natural human freedoms and diversity is a policy in itself, will be more suitable for people with ADHD that work in a business sector or sciences. When I say flexible, I do not mean slow as people with ADHD need some pace and challenges to perform. I mean the office space set up that considers diversity, negotiable professional needs, and social acceptance. These professions are overwhelmingly seated and require mostly mental effort. Therefore, control over your rest times; possibility to do things in varied settings; possibility to balance cognitive tasks, social effort and physical activity (to a reasonable level) according to your needs will be important.

Highly-standardized environments where every minute is accounted for and you have to live and breath by the clock is going to be a struggle for most ADHD people in a long run. Consistently sustaining this tempo of full control day after day, month after month would require an enormous amount of cognitive effort for ADHD. If the job itself is mostly based on mental and social effort, this overwhelm will sooner or later result in a breakdown or depression. In comparison, highly-standardized jobs that will have a good measure of physical activity will produce different effects. That is why military or sports are common among ADHD, especially among those who are more hyperactive physically.

Jobs that require experimenting with creative approaches to problems and hyper-focus on an area of interest are well suited for people with ADHD, including entrepreneurship. If you look at some of the most successful people in the world with (or known to have) ADHD, you will find some patterns:

• Leonardo Di Vinci - Experimenter in MANY things
• Thomas Edison - Experimenter in Science / Technology
• Albert Einstein - Experimenter in Science
• Richard Branson - Experimenter in Business / Entrepreneurship
• The list goes on and on and on.

I’ve had ADHD all my life and have 3 kids with it. I’ve used it to dabble in many areas of technology and build businesses (currently around supporting families that are dealing with ADHD in their own lives).

I think our gift is well designed to look at problems from many different angles and combine multiple approaches, then hyper-focus on the chosen path.

 can’t answer for anyone else, but here is a list of some of my occupations thus far:

• Jewelry mold maker
• Cashier
• Receptionist
• Insurance Adjuster
• Billing Supervisor
• Radio Personality
• Voiceover talent
• Hostess
• Personal assistant
• Dominatrix
• Service Consultant
• Customer Relations Manager
• Service Manager
• Nanny
• Yoga Teacher
• Studio Manager
• Pilates Teacher
• Small business owner
• MVP at all the above :)

The list is legit. My point is that you can do whatever you excel at and anything that catches your fancy. If you choose a field(s) that fascinates you, then the sky is the limit, my friend.

Let me tell you in one word - ANY. Every single profession is possible for a person with ADHD. I have ADHD myself. My parents,family, friends, teachers, everyone told me that I had to lower my ambitions and live a simple ‘normal’ life. But what appears ‘normal’ to them might appear ‘abnormal’ to me. You see, it’s all relative. The key to achieving success in life[even that is relative :) ], is to not let anyone make you believe that you cannot do something. Sure, it is damn hard for us to do the same things that others do. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do it. Each of us will always find our own unique solutions to problems. The true test of character is not when we have all luxuries and achieve big in life. It is when we have limited resources and luxuries to achieve what we want, and we achieve them -That’s the REAL TASTE OF SUCCESS !!! Just because we may be bad at something, doesn’t mean we totally suck at everything. In fact, adversity brings us wisdom and confidence. All we need to do is to leverage that wisdom. Some may say, professions with more time freedom , or less stress and risk may be ideal. But, I would say that for a person who can stand fall in the face of adversity, THE SKY IS THE LIMIT. Stay as far away as you can from people who discourage you. And surround yourself with those who motivate and encourage you. It is better to be alone than being in a bad company. I am not trying to be harsh here , but - you can either accept that you have a disability and listen to everyone else and live a humble quiet life somewhere, OR YOU CAN CHALLENGE YOUR FATE AND CHANGE THE WORLD. So answering your question on what profession - FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS, YOUR PASSION, YOUR DESIRES. Identify your goal in life - what do you want to accomplish ,and why do you want to accomplish that ? Make a plan, get started today, right from this moment, and before doing anything - ask yourself this : “Will doing this lead me to my destiny ?”. With Hardwork and patience , nothing is impossible. All the best for your Success, CHEERS!!!