In this episode of Integrating ADHD with Cameron Gott, Cam explores how orienting to the dilemma helps us see ADHD sooner—before it gains momentum and pulls us into shame, overwhelm, or paralysis. Through two vivid examples—a work project derailed by searching for a travel mug and a client paralyzed by pillow placement at a photo shoot—Cam illustrates how ADHD often reveals itself in small, telling moments. He introduces orienting as both a mindset and a practice: pausing to locate ourselves, assess what’s happening, and connect back to purpose and opportunity.

Cam also revisits the “MOPT” framework—Mindset, Objective, Practice, Tool—to help listeners observe their ADHD patterns with curiosity and self-compassion. Along the way, he unpacks scaling dilemmas, perfectionism, and the traps of hyperfocus or avoidance that keep us from meaningful progress. Whether it’s tackling a project, navigating relationships, or cooking dinner, Cam shows how awareness and levity open the door to integration—aligning effort with impact and moving toward a life of greater purpose and connection.

In this episode, Cam explores the unglamorous but essential side of ADHD — management and regulation — and guides listeners through an exercise to spot their ADHD in action. He begins with a reminder that ADHD challenges live in the executive function networks responsible for starting, stopping, shifting, and regulating effort, memory, attention, motivation and emotion. While these processes are rarely exciting, they are where ADHD truly operates — in the mechanics of everyday functioning.

Cam invites listeners to engage with something meaningful but not urgent to draw out their ADHD and observe it at work. Using the “stone in the pond” metaphor, he explains that ADHD’s real impact happens at causation, not in the emotional or behavioral ripples we usually notice later. The work is to trace those ripples backward and notice where ADHD begins.

He introduces the idea of a Fundamental ADHD Dilemma (FAD) — a repeating pattern that consistently derails progress. His own FAD, the Big Idea Generator, illustrates how divergent ideation leads to too many projects and not enough pruning or follow-through. By identifying these patterns, listeners can better understand how their ADHD shows up in real time.

To support this observation, Cam shares his MOPT framework:

Mindset – Approach with curiosity, not judgment.

Objective – Identify your FAD or predictable ADHD pattern.

Practice – Keep the exercise light; separate emotion from data.

Tool – Use metaphors and visuals to see executive function at work.

The train yard metaphor serves as the episode’s tool — representing the brain’s management system and how ADHD disrupts sequencing, switching, organizing, prioritizing and above all activation on the non urgent but relevant stuff. The goal isn’t to fix the system immediately but to notice its rhythms and derailments with awareness.

Through this exercise, listeners begin the work of integration — redirecting ADHD strengths like curiosity and pattern recognition toward the inner workings of management and regulation. The payoff is subtle but profound: seeing ADHD where it starts, not just where it lands.

In this episode, Cam reflects on insights gathered from “the Integrators,” a group of clients exploring life beyond ADHD immersion and toward true integration. Building on last week’s theme of taking the plunge, Cam unpacks how understanding our ADHD experience allows us to better advocate for our needs — to “put words to our needs” and release emotional intensity.

Using the vivid metaphor of snorkeling over a coral reef, Cam contrasts the extremes of ADHD — the awesome and the alarming — and invites listeners to focus instead on the quieter middle, where meaningful change happens. He explores how energy, attention, and time shape our days, highlighting common behavioral patterns like pleasing, tinkering, hunting and jumping, or chasing drama.

This episode offers compassionate guidance for those learning to “float” — to observe without judgment, conserve energy, and discover the hidden treasures that truly matter.

In this episode, the theme is immersion—specifically, the role of “ADHD immersion” in understanding and managing one’s ADHD. Host Cam Gott explores how immersion, while not the final destination (that would be integration), is an essential step toward building awareness and creating meaningful change. He contrasts different perspectives on ADHD—from seeing it as a superpower to experiencing it as life’s greatest struggle—and emphasizes how perspective shapes the process of immersion. Using a personal childhood story about learning to swim, he illustrates how many people fear “putting their head under the water” and truly looking at their ADHD, often because of overwhelm, shame, or fear of being broken.

Immersion, he argues, should be done intentionally and with supports—curiosity, compassion, social connection, and tools like energy audits to track where time and attention are going. He warns against both avoidance (dipping only a toe in) and over-identifying with ADHD (going too deep, too long). Acceptance, rather than resignation, is key to making immersion useful. The host also highlights the importance of tethering immersion work to a greater positive purpose—whether in relationships, productivity, or personal growth—so the effort pays off beyond self-exploration. Ultimately, immersion provides the awareness needed for lasting change, but it’s helpful when it’s balanced, social, and purposeful.

Links

Cam's Website

Saboteur Assessment

In this episode, Cam reflects on a recent milestone presentation and explores how ADHD impacts the way we navigate time, transitions, and milestones. He introduces the concept of “time framing” — using events and seasons as anchors to orient ourselves — and shares how planning around these markers can help counter time blindness and the challenges of shifting between high-energy efforts and regular routines.

Listeners will learn why transitions are often invisible yet critical for people with ADHD, how external structures (like teaching schedules or client sessions) can serve as time anchors, and why recognizing ramps into and out of major events matters as much as the events themselves. Recognizing that time management is highly dependent upon specific work scenarios (entrepreneur vs professional), Cam also highlights strategies for creating sustainable rhythms, reframing strengths that can become barriers, and finding natural propellants beyond urgency and adrenaline to keep moving forward with intention.

Resource referenced - How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett

Host Cameron Gott discusses the concept of 'emotional proximity' and the weight of unrealized dreams in relation to ADHD. He draws parallels between hikers shedding unnecessary weight close to the start of the Appalachian Trail and individuals with ADHD needing to remove excess emotional weight for better daily action, efficiency and a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. Cam emphasizes the importance of focusing on what to remove rather than just adding more - so often what ADHD people can focus on. He shares insights from his clients, highlighting their struggles with emotional regulation, rejection sensitivity and the impact of unmet goals. Inspired by the lyrics of a John Prine song, Cam also introduces the idea of creating space between emotional highs and lows (proximity), likening it to inserting a green strip between the 'diamonds in the sidewalk and the dirt in the gutter'. Cam circles back to check in on the theme of meaning-making  from the previous week's episode and encourages listeners that change starts with awareness. Lastly, Cam invites listeners to notice the extra emotional weight they tend to drag around with them as they try to work on the stuff that really matters.

In this episode, host Cameron Gott discusses the concept of locating meaning in life and in a single moment, and how difficult this can be for individuals with ADHD. He shares a personal anecdote about experiencing joy with family friends, emphasizing that meaning is deeply personal and that we can't just schedule meaning in our day. Using the metaphor of exploring and navigating a complex cave system, Cam shares how specific ADHD challenges like the incessant meaning-maker coupled with a dynamic sense of time, along with the propensity for short cycle big signal hunting can have an intrepid ADHD caver miss subtle and nuanced moments of meaning. He further illustrates the difference between the zones of immersion, automation and integration. Cam pauses to invite listeners to identify meaningful moments and encourages them to think about how they might experience more meaningful moments in their day.

Cam discusses the concept of integration for managing ADHD, contrasting it with the additive approach. He emphasizes the importance of balancing immersion and integration, using personal anecdotes and client experiences to illustrate the challenges and benefits. Cam highlights the need for cognitive flexibility, emotional regulation, and advocating for one's own needs. He shares a story about dealing with technical issues, illustrating the struggle between autopilot and active management. The episode aims to explore how individuals with ADHD can overcome capacity dilemmas and improve their well-being through integration.

Host Cameron Gott discusses the inspiration behind his new podcast, focusing on integrating ADHD to help listeners move beyond ADHD '101' management and realize basic human needs like connection, meaning, and purpose - all of which are impacted by ADHD. He emphasizes the importance of moving from a reactive to a proactive state and from a place of fear to a place of curiosity and hope. Cam shares a coaching client's journey, Henry, a CEO struggling with an ADHD-related challenge of information bottlenecking. Through metaphor, Cam illustrates how both he and Henry separately embrace a 'build as you go' mindset and practice - for Henry to overcome his bottleneck and work on things while in motion with his team, and how Henry's story inspires present day Cam in his approach to this daunting podcast project. Cam commits to 20 podcast episodes, aiming to provide practical insights and stories to help listeners integrate ADHD more effectively.