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Learn to Thrive with ADHD Podcast
Welcome to the Learn to Thrive with ADHD Podcast. This is the show for you if you’re an adult with ADHD or ADHD-like symptoms and you need help. Do you feel like your symptoms are holding you back from reaching your full potential? Are you frustrated, unmotivated and overwhelmed?
Many people aren’t aware that ADHD coaching is even an option. Perhaps you are newly diagnosed, or not diagnosed, but you check all the boxes and you’re finding it difficult to cope in certain areas of your life. Host, Mande John and ADHD coach, is here to help. Each week, you’ll get solutions and practical advice to navigate ADHD symptoms and live a productive life.
On the podcast, you’ll hear from coaches and clients who share real-world applications, tools, and resources that you can apply to your own life. We can be creatives, entrepreneurs, or multi-passionate people, and not know how to organize our ideas, or even how to take action on them. With Mande John as your guide in the area of ADHD coaching, she’ll show you how to transform your life when you apply the tools to help you be more focused, less overwhelmed, and be a person that commits and stays the course. Are you ready for a life-changing experience? Let’s go!
Learn to Thrive with ADHD Podcast
Ep 116: Meditations for Mortals Explained for ADHD Brains
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Have you been putting your life on hold — waiting until things calm down, waiting until you're caught up, waiting until you finally "have it together"? What if the wait is the problem? In this episode, Coach Mande breaks down the most powerful ideas from Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman — and shows you exactly why they hit different for ADHD brains. This isn't about adding more to your plate. It's about finally giving yourself permission to stop striving and start living — right now, exactly as you are.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why letting go of perfection isn't giving up — it's actually the doorway to moving forward again
- The "just do it once" reframe that takes all the pressure off starting
- How waiting to "catch up" before living keeps you trapped in a cycle that never ends
- The truth about focused energy: most humans (ADHD brains especially) only have 3–4 productive hours a day — and why that's not a flaw
- What "brain dead activities" are and how sorting your tasks this way changes everything
- Why peace doesn't have to be the finish line — it can be your starting point
- How letting other people have their own feelings is one of the most freeing things you can do (and why ADHD brains struggle with this)
- The magic of small completions — and how finishing things imperfectly actually builds momentum and trust with yourself
- Why you don't have to read the whole book to benefit — just one or two shifts can change your entire day
Mande shares how this book gave her personal permission to stop demanding the impossible from herself, why these ideas work so well for ADHD brains, and the way each concept connects to the shame cycles and self-negotiation so many of us know all too well. She also unpacks the important nuance: this isn't about becoming perfectly organized or productive all day. It's about working with your natural energy, releasing over-responsibility for others, and letting small completions quietly build your confidence — one tiny step at a time.
Key Takeaway: You're not behind. You don't have to wait to start living. Burkeman's ideas remind us that loosening our grip on perfection isn't failure — it's freedom. For ADHD brains, that single shift can open the door to everything else.
Resources Mentioned:
- 📖 Book: Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman (available on Audible — approximately 4 hours)
- Instagram: @learntothrivewithadhd
- Weekly ADHD Newsletter: learntothrivewithadhd.com/weekly
Ready to start working with your ADHD brain instead of against it? Book a free coaching consultation with Coach Mande at learntothrivewithadhd.com/services
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Click here for full show notes
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