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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 117: Executive Function Skill #9 Impulse Control
In this eye-opening episode of our executive function series, I reveal the truth about impulse control - and why hitting snooze, interrupting people, or buying things you didn't plan to isn't about willpower or character flaws. Your brain just moves faster than your awareness can catch it.
đź“Ś Key Topics:
- Why impulse control struggles happen so fast you don't catch them until AFTER
- How my husband and I ended up $90,000 in debt (and the system that finally worked)
- The difference between motivation problems and impulse control challenges
- Understanding emotional impulsivity: why reactions come before awareness
- The mistake of going straight from reacting to self-criticism (and what to do instead)
- Creating physical cues and systems that work WITH your ADHD brain
🗣️ Featured Quote: "Impulse control isn't about stopping impulses. It's about learning how to work with them. Sometimes the pause comes after the action. Then it moves to during, and eventually, sometimes it shows up before. Progress is better than perfection. One pause at a time."
đź’ˇ Strategy Breakdown:
- The shopping cart pause technique: add items, close the window, wait 1-2 days
- The fridge check-in system: turn standing there into a moment of awareness
- Physical cues for interrupting (inspired by first graders—yes, really!)
- Self-soothing BEFORE self-criticism so your nervous system can actually learn
- Pre-programming reactions by asking "who do I want to be in that moment?"
- Using reflection (not judgment) to build skills over time
🔬 The Science: Research shows people with ADHD are about 15 times more impatient, 8 times more likely to be quick to anger, and 10 times more likely to lose their temper. This isn't about character—it's emotional dysregulation that needs support, not shame.
🎯 Real Examples: Impulsive spending, emotional eating, task-switching at work, blurting things out, hitting snooze, and yelling at kids (and how I finally stopped).
🔑 Key Takeaway: Impulse control struggles are often mistaken for motivation problems. Most people listening are highly motivated—the issue is regulating behavior in the moment, especially when discomfort shows up. Awareness after the fact still counts. That's where change starts.
Connect with Mande:
Learn more about private coaching with Mande: https://learntothrivewithadhd.com/services/
Free Resources: https://learntothrivewithadhd.com/freeresources/
Website: https://www.learntothrivewithadhd.com/
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/learntothrivewithadhd
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#executivefunctions #adhd #impulsecontrol #adhdsupport #adhdstrategies #adhdcommunity #emotionalregulation #adhdawareness #neurodivergent #adhdtools
Click here for full show notes.
CLICK HERE for more resources. We're on this journey together!