Come on, admit it. You lie to yourself all the time. In fact, you treat yourself worse than you would probably treat your worst enemy.
I’m fat.
I’m so dumb.
I’m disorganized and lazy.
I can’t pay attention for two seconds.
I’m worthless.
Do you know what thoughts like these are doing to you?
They’re undermining your self esteem. They present exaggerated claims that are most likely not true.
You speak to yourself and think about yourself in a much harsher manner than you would anyone else.
As a person with ADHD, you already have a tendency towards low self esteem and depression. These acts of self sabotage just make things worse. Why would you do that to yourself?
From now on, I want you to practice a new way of thinking; SET yourself up for success.
When you have a negative thought, Stop it in it’s tracks.
Examine it for over exaggerations and lies.
Now Tell yourself the Truth.
“I have an attention span of about two seconds.”
Stop.
Examine ; Is your attention span really only two seconds long? Even with the worst ADHD and the most boring subject, surely it’s longer than that. Plus that statement makes it sound as though your attention span is never more than two seconds and that’s just not true.
Tell yourself the Truth: Sure, you have trouble paying attention to things sometimes, but so does everyone else. Yes, you have more trouble because you have ADHD, so sometimes you may have to work harder and sometimes you just can’t help it. We all have shortcomings and this is one of yours.
Now think nice about yourself instead. And then start running that tape in your head.