We know some ADD-style thinkers who are really good at technical support for computers, which is a great example of a job for someone with ADD. You�re constantly being bombarded with problems you were never trained to solve specifically, but you have to figure things out and make them work. It's your job. What are people with ADD good at? Ideas--solving problems.
Another example of a good profession for someone with ADD would be that of a detective, who solves problems, solves mysteries, and solves situations where none of the pieces fit together. It might be a perfect career for someone with ADD.
If you have ADD, your greatest strength can be your innate ability to generate ideas.
Make a list of every profession or job you�ve ever had. Don�t write a long sentence; just write down one, two, or possibly three-word descriptions of all the professions or jobs you�ve had in your life. Then, decide where your strengths and weaknesses lie. What do you know? What aspect of those jobs were or are you really good at? Who will pay you for that expertise?
However, ideas really are in excess these days. Everybody thinks they have the best idea. But is it? So many ideas come to you with ADD; how do you know where to begin?
Start not with finding out how you can get paid to use your ideas, but how you can use your ADD idea-generating capabilities to solve other people�s problems. That�s one of the quickest, easiest ways to do.
Basically, what it comes down to is if you have ADD, your brain is probably good at solving problems in a given field, find people who have those problems.
For instance, if you're a person who is working with things like databases, go to a site like Elance.com Elance.com and put your profile up there. Then, use your ADD idea-driven mind to start solving other people�s problems. Sites like Elance are great places to be hired. People often hire programmers to solve technological problems so they don�t have to figure them out themselves.
Or, what about a financial analyst? How could you possibly get paid twice or maybe five or ten times as much now that you�re no longer a financial analyst and how can this work for you? It�s simple! Just go in and say, �Listen, I can teach you how to cut the amount of time that it takes you to do this and this in your business in half, thus saving you half your time and literally doubling the amount of money you make.
�Here�s the deal. I�m willing to completely take your business apart. I�m going to rework the whole thing and I�m only going to get paid if you think I�ve done what I said I can do. I�m going to charge you $5,000 to do it. I�m only going to get paid if you feel I�ve done every single thing I�ve promised and I won�t even allow you to cut me a check until we�ve already made it happen.� That�s what a consultant does.
Maybe while working your way through school, you washed a lot of dishes to get by. You may know everything there is to know about doing dishes. So, what if you streamlined a restaurant�s ability to do dishes?
ADD can be tremendously powerful when you think about this. Take your experience, your ADD mind, and your ability to solve problems and match them together. You already know that you can speak the language of some of your previous professions or jobs.
If you can save someone time and money, that�s great. Put the deal together and charge a high price to make it happen. The worst case scenario is that you�re going to learn a lot more about how to get it right next time, even if you don�t get a check on your first time around. ADD can be tremendously powerful stuff. Channel your ADD in the right directions, and it can be very powerful. ADD is not a disability. In some situations, it's a real gift.
Tellman Knudson is a certified hynotherapist and CEO of OvercomeEverything.com. Stephanie Frank is an internationally known speaker and author of "The Accidental Millionaire." instantaddsuccess.comFind the power in your ADD at Instant ADD Success.com.