Grab the free Wall of Awful worksheets to go along with this episode *here*

Why is it so hard to reply to that email, book the appointment or drop off the charity bag that’s been in your car for weeks?

In this episode, we’re talking about the Wall of Awful... It's the emotional wall between you & the task. In theory the task is simple. But emotionally, it feels HUGE. That “too much” feeling is your wall of awful.

Inside the episode, we explore:

• What the Wall of Awful is & why ADHDers get such big walls
• How each “brick” is made from past criticism, shame, failure & fear
• Why that stuck, heavy, guilty feeling before a task is not laziness
• How emotions drive actions (and why that matters way more than “motivation”)
• 3 ADHD-friendly ways to get to the other side of the wall
• How self-judgement quietly adds more bricks… And how self-compassion starts taking them out

Grab the free Wall of Awful worksheets to go along with this episode:

👉 https://www.navigatingadultadhd.com/wallofawful
Map out your own wall & identify your bricks.

LINKS TO GOOD SH*T:

*Join Adulting with ADHD your ADHD toolbox & everything you need to work with your brain

*Get our ADHD Coach in your pocket! 

*12 Things I wished my Doctor had told me about Adult ADHD

*Find out if you might be living with ADHD - Download Symptoms List

*Check out Courses & Coaching with Xena

*Learn, Inspire, Share & Connect inside our Facebook Community 

*Come hang out with me on Instagram!

Ever noticed that the more you “treat yourself” with Netflix, snacks, scrolling or online shopping… the more anxious, restless or flat you feel afterwards?

You’re not imagining it, my friend. In this episode we’re talking about dopamine layering – stacking multiple feel-good hits at once & how that cocktail can quietly crank up anxiety & numbness, especially in ADHD brains.

We’ll unpack what’s actually going on in your brain using Dr Anna Lembke’s work (Dopamine Nation), plus my very real Christmas break story where I accidentally turned my nervous system into a dopamine sh*t storm.

Inside the episode, we explore:

• What dopamine layering is & how it shows up in everyday life
• Why ADHD brains are extra sensitive to dopamine spikes & crashes
• How “treat yourself” habits can secretly fuel anxiety & emotional numbness
• Fast vs slow dopamine, explained in simple ADHD-friendly language
• How to do a gentle “dopamine audit” without shame or self-judgment
• Practical ways to un-layer your dopamine so you feel calmer & more present
• Mini dopamine resets & how to build your own “slow dopamine menu”

If you’ve ever wondered, “Why do I feel so anxious & empty unless I’m watching something, eating something or scrolling something?” this episode will help you see your experience through a whole new lens.

LINKS TO GOOD SH*T:

*Join Adulting with ADHD your ADHD toolbox & everything you need to work with your brain

*Get our ADHD Coach in your pocket! 

*12 Things I wished my Doctor had told me about Adult ADHD

*Find out if you might be living with ADHD - Download Symptoms List

*Check out Courses & Coaching with Xena

*Learn, Inspire, Share & Connect inside our Facebook Community 

*Come hang out with me on Instagram!

Do you struggle to stay in one job for long?

Are you looking for the perfect ADHD career fit? 

Do you find tasks that are a 'no-brainer' for your colleagues take you 5x as long to complete? 

If so, you’re not broken - you’re responding to how our ADHD brains are wired… and this episode is for you!

We’re unpacking why careers can feel so hard for ADHDers, why so many of us change jobs or directions regularly & why that’s not a personal failing. I share my own very zig-zag career journey, the science behind ADHD & work & the patterns I see over and over again.

We explore:

• Why ADHD brains crave novelty, challenge & urgency (hello dopamine!)
• Why admin, paperwork & “basic tasks” can be SO draining for us
• How emotional sensitivity, RSD & toxic workplaces impact ADHD nervous systems
• What actually helps ADHDers thrive at work (hint: job fit matters more than job title)

We also dive into the ADHD Career Sweet Spot, the types of roles ADHDers often excel in & practical questions to help you figure out what’s next - or how to fall back in love with the job you already have without burning everything down.

If you’ve changed careers more times than you can count, feel quietly stuck, or wonder why work feels harder for you than it “should” - this episode will help you see yourself & your career through a much kinder & more understanding lens.

Resources mentioned: 

• Podcast ep #136 ADHD at Work: Your Rights, Reasonable Adjustments & When to Tell Your Boss with Jaime Rose-Peacock
• Adulting with ADHD & the Values Workshop 

LINKS TO GOOD SH*T:

*Join Adulting with ADHD your ADHD toolbox & everything you need to work with your brain

*Get our AI ADHD Coach in your pocket! 

*12 Things I wished my Doctor had told me about Adult ADHD

*Find out if you might be living with ADHD - Download Symptoms List

*Check out Courses & Coaching with Xena

*Learn, Inspire, Share & Connect inside our Facebook Community 

*Come hang out with me on Instagram!

If you’ve ever set the same goal over & over again… then quietly stopped trying… then used that as “proof” that you never follow through, this episode is for you.

We’re talking about shame-based goals: the goals you set because you believe there’s something wrong with you that needs fixing.

“I have to lose weight because I’m disgusting.”
 “I need to stop yelling at my kids because I’m a terrible parent.”
 “I should save money because I’m so bad with it.”

On the surface, they look like normal goals. But under the hood, they’re being fuelled by shame & shame is one of the least effective fuels for an ADHD brain.

Inside the episode, we unpack:

• Why adults with ADHD often don’t trust themselves to follow through
• How shame-based goals quietly turn into evidence that “I’m lazy / hopeless / broken”
• What psychology tells us about thoughts → feelings → actions (why shame shuts you down)
• The difference between guilt (“I did something bad”) & shame (“I am bad”)
• How shame shows up in common ADHD goals around weight, money, parenting, business & habits
• Why inconsistency is not the problem & how it actually fits an ADHD brain
• 3 Practical steps to un-shame your goals so they become doable instead of punishing

This episode is valuable whether you love New Year’s resolutions, hate them, or avoid goal-setting altogether. It’s really about how you relate to change, & why “beating yourself up” has never worked.

This is a re-release because the ideas here are foundational for ADHDers: if your goals are built on shame, no planner, habit tracker or dopamine hack can fix that.

LINKS TO GOOD SH*T:

*Join Adulting with ADHD your ADHD toolbox & everything you need to work with your brain

*Get our ADHD Coach in your pocket! 

*12 Things I wished my Doctor had told me about Adult ADHD

*Find out if you might be living with ADHD - Download Symptoms List

*Check out Courses & Coaching with Xena

*Learn, Inspire, Share & Connect inside our Facebook Community 

*Come hang out with me on Instagram!

If your ADHD brain loves to tell you “I didn’t do enough this year” or “I should be further along by now,” this episode is for you my friend!

I walk you through the 6 questions I ask myself at the end of every year to help my ADHD brain see the full picture, not just the blooper reel. 

We talk about the idea of living in “the gap” (only seeing how far you are from where you think you should be) vs “the gain” (actually noticing how far you’ve come), and why ADHD brains are especially prone to getting stuck in the gap.

You’ll hear:

• Why ADHD brains are not reliable historians (working memory, emotional memory, negativity bias & all-or-nothing thinking)
• How self-awareness is an executive function & how these 6 questions help you strengthen it
• The 6 areas I reflect on each year (health, work, relationships, joy, money, growth) with real examples from my life & coaching clients
• How to look at your low points as data, not a character flaw
• How to use what you learn to make small, practical changes

LINKS TO GOOD SH*T:

*Join Adulting with ADHD your ADHD toolbox & everything you need to work with your brain

*Get our ADHD Coach in your pocket! 

*12 Things I wished my Doctor had told me about Adult ADHD

*Find out if you might be living with ADHD - Download Symptoms List

*Check out Courses & Coaching with Xena

*Learn, Inspire, Share & Connect inside our Facebook Community 

*Come hang out with me on Instagram!

“Telling neurodivergent people to try harder is like telling someone with Type 1 diabetes to just make insulin.”

That line stopped me in my tracks… and it was only one of the powerful moments from the ADHD Conference I just MC’d here in NZ.

If you ever get the chance to attend an ADHD conference… do it. The energy, the learning, the ‘OMG same’ moments - truly amazing!

In this episode, I’m sharing the biggest lessons from each speaker, plus some behind-the-scenes as the MC from the most recent ADHD Conference here in NZ.

Here’s a taste of what we cover:

• Jaime – ADHD at Work

How to choose whether to disclose your ADHD at work (the benefit & disadvantages)

• Burnout Panel – with Ashley, Jaime & Kate

Burnout isn’t “normal,” but it is common in our community.
I share the one thing I wish I knew years ago, & my go-to tools for navigating your way through it

• Carrie – ADHD & Home Organisation

Knowing your organisational style is a game changer (combining the in sight in mind with the out of sight out of mind) + how using a simple tray tided up my kitchen counter!

• Freddie – The David Goggins of NZ

A living example of ADHD possibility. Favourite line:
 “Telling ND people to try harder is like telling someone with Type 1 diabetes to just make insulin.”

• Rebecca – Trauma, ADHD & People Pleasing

Why we people please to avoid RSD!! Plus the difference between ADHD hyperactivity & trauma hyperactivity

Links mentioned in this episode: 

• ADHD Conferences in New Zealand & Australia with My Spirited Child
• Podcast with Jaime: #136 ADHD at Work: Your Rights, Reasonable Adjustments & When to Tell Your Boss
• Podcast with Ashley: #93 Navigating ADHD Burnout with Ashley Cairns
• Podcast with Carrie: #113 ADHD, Home Organisation & the Invisible Weight We’re Carrying with Carrie

Connect with the conference experts: 

* Jaime Rose-Peacock

* Ashley Cairns

* Kate Sheldon

* Carrie Largerstedt

* Freddie Bennett

* Rebecca Challoner 

LINKS TO GOOD SH*T:

*Join Adulting with ADHD your ADHD toolbox & everything you need to work with your brain

*Get our ADHD Coach in your pocket! 

*12 Things I wished my Doctor had told me about Adult ADHD

*Find out if you might be living with ADHD - Download Symptoms List

*Check out Courses & Coaching with Xena

*Learn, Inspire, Share & Connect inside our Facebook Community 

*Come hang out with me on

If you’re an ADHDer trying to juggle relationships, parenting, big emotions, money decisions, executive dysfunction… and ya know, life - this episode is going to feel like a giant exhale.

Today I’m joined by Logan Donnelly - the face behind KiwiDad & creator of The Social AI.

You may know him from his viral parenting and relationship tips… or from his work teaching people how to use AI to make life simpler, easier & way less overwhelming.

Logan and his wife were both diagnosed with ADHD later in life & between entrepreneurship, marriage & raising two young kids, he brings a deeply relatable, honest & refreshing perspective on what it really looks like to navigate ADHD in everyday life.

Inside this episode, we dive into:

• ADHD in relationships - communication, overstimulation & emotional mismatches
• Parenting with ADHD (and why we’re exhausted even when we “haven’t done much”)
• ADHD money spirals, dopamine spending & the shame that follows
• Emotional regulation, RSD spirals & how to pull yourself out
• How Logan uses AI to make life, business & parenting easier 
• The story behind the Good Enough Coach - our ADHD-specific AI support tool
  
  

💚 Check out the Good Enough Coach - an AI ADHD Coach in your pocket!

We’ve priced it ridiculously low because we want to get this into the hands of as many ADHDers as possible.

CONNECT WITH LOGAN:

⭐ The Social AI YouTube: youtube.com/@TheSocialAIHub

⭐ AI Resources: buymeacoffee.com/thesocialai

⭐ KiwiDad Instagram: instagram.com/_KiwiDad

⭐ KiwiDad TikTok: tiktok.com/@_kiwidad

⭐ KiwiDad YouTube: youtube.com/@_KiwiDad

LINKS TO GOOD SH*T FROM XENA:

*Join Adulting with ADHD your ADHD toolbox & everything you need to work with your brain

*Get our ADHD Coach in your pocket! 

*12 Things I wished my Doctor had told me about Adult ADHD

*Find out if you might be livin

The holiday season is supposed to be “the most wonderful time of the year”…
 but if you’re an adult with ADHD, it can also be one of the most overwhelming.

Between the extra social events, the pressure to buy gifts, the spending, the sensory overwhelm, the family dynamics, and the time-crunch at work - your ADHD symptoms might feel louder than ever.

In this episode, we’re talking about how to survive (and maybe even enjoy) the holidays without burning out, going broke or abandoning your own needs. 

I’ll walk you through simple, compassionate ways to honour your capacity, make intentional decisions, manage emotions, set boundaries & create a holiday season that actually works for your ADHD brain.

Because you deserve a season that feels regulated, grounded & doable - not chaotic, guilt-ridden or fuelled by adrenaline.

LINKS TO GOOD SH*T:

*Join Adulting with ADHD your ADHD toolbox & everything you need to work with your brain

*12 Things I wished my Doctor had told me about Adult ADHD

*Find out if you might be living with ADHD - Download Symptoms List

*Check out Courses & Coaching with Xena

*Learn, Inspire, Share & Connect inside our Facebook Community 

*Come hang out with me on Instagram!

Today we’re shining a big bright neon light on the strengths, advantages & downright magical things ADHDers bring to the table. 

Inside this episode, we get into the real-life ways ADHD brains excel, including:

✨ Crisis Brilliance - why we become geniuses the moment things go sideways (wait until you hear my first-day-as-manager story 🙃)

✨ Instant Encyclopaedia Mode - how we can go from “never heard of it” to “expert in 48 hours” (Madagascar, submarines… you’ll see)

✨ Pattern Recognition Powers - the reason we guess the ending of movies before the popcorn is cold

✨ Entertainment Energy - the storytelling, the drama, the sound effects… and why so many incredible entertainers have ADHD

And that’s just the beginning.
 These examples are not even close to the full list of ways our brains are brilliant.

I’m also sharing a personal piece of this journey - how I went from hating myself and avoiding the mirror… to genuinely loving my bright, bold, dramatic, neon-sparkly ADHD brain.

It wasn’t luck. It was learning, understanding & doing the inner work to finally see myself clearly.

If you’re ready for an episode that celebrates everything powerful, beautiful, quirky, creative & wildly capable about ADHD brains - this one’s going to feel like a warm hug with confetti cannons... LFG!

LINKS TO GOOD SH*T:

*Join Adulting with ADHD your ADHD toolbox & everything you need to work with your brain

*12 Things I wished my Doctor had told me about Adult ADHD

*Find out if you might be living with ADHD - Download Symptoms List

*Check out Courses & Coaching with Xena

*Learn, Inspire, Share & Connect inside our Facebook Community 

*Come hang out with me on Instagram!

If you’ve ever bought a new planner, downloaded a productivity app, colour-coded a calendar, or told yourself “THIS time I’ll get my sh*t together”… only to burn out, fall off, or forget it exists. Then this episode is for you!

Because the truth is this:

• You don’t need a perfect system.
• You don’t need more willpower.
• You don’t need to become a different person.

You just need to understand how to work with your ADHD brain, not against it.

In today’s episode, I’m sharing something I normally only give to my members inside Adulting with ADHD.
 
The exact four principles that change everything for ADHD adults who want to feel better, get sh*t done & actually move forward in life.

These four things are the difference between:

•  spiralling vs regulating
•  shame vs having your own back
•  chaos vs clarity
•  surviving vs actually living

And they’re not complicated 52-step routines.

They’re simple, ADHD-friendly shifts that make your whole life easier - starting today!

And if listening makes something inside you go, “Shit… that actually makes sense”… then you will thrive inside Adulting with ADHD.

Inside this program, we take these four principles & combine them with:
💚 Real emotional regulation skills
💚 ADHD-friendly tools that actually work
💚 A boatload of courses & workshops on RSD, procrastination, dopamine, burnout & more
💚 A community of ADHDers who get it
💚 Coaching, support & proven frameworks that work for ADHD brains. 

If you’re done trying harder…
If you’re tired of feeling behind…
If you’re ready to finally feel in control of your sparkly, fast, brilliant ADHD brain…

Doors to Adulting with ADHD are open now (but not for long!)

Join us here: www.navigatingadultadhd.com/awa 

LINKS TO GOOD SH*T:

*Join Adulting with ADHD your ADHD toolbox & everything you need to work with your brain

*12 Things I wished my Doctor had told me about Adult ADHD

*Find out if you might be living with ADHD - Download Symptoms List

*Check out Courses & Coaching with Xena

*Learn, Inspire, Share & Connect inside our Facebook Community 

*Come hang out with me on Instagram!