Have You Got Adult-Onset ADD: Adventure Deficit Disorder?
Author: Nicky J. Davies |
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Categories: Business Fast Track
Here's how to tell you've got it, and more importantly, how to fix it.
Your life has fallen into a predictable routine of dragging yourself out of bed, a long day of meetings, emails, working on tasks deferred from last week hoping to catch-up, dealing with problems that really could have been prevented with a bit of hindsight, only to come home too exhausted to do anything else.
Rinse and repeat.
The only light at the end of the tunnel is a holiday you have been looking forward to for so long but the last few days of that are marred by that dreaded sense of what you are going back to.
The diagnosis? Adventure Deficit Disorder.
I've been there too.
It was the beginning of 2008 when I'd been doing my usual reflections on the past 12 months and planning for the next. Summing up my year in a few words - it just felt 'blah'. Boring. Repetitive. Definitely lacking adventure and excitement.
I'd left my corporate job in 2004 and setup my business in the UK. It was an exciting time, I loved what I did and was making good money. But despite all of this I had fallen into a predictable routine, getting up at some ridiculous time to drive to a venue 3 hrs away, facilitating a fabulous group of people, only to have another 3 hr drive back again and an evening catching up on emails and other things I couldn't do while driving.
I realised that what I had really done was swapped one job for another even though I was my own boss.
How could I have done this to myself? Somehow, I had allowed myself to settle into a routine which was similar to that of when I was an employee. A routine which left me feeling 'blah' and definitely suffering from Adventure Deficit Disorder.
What to do??
Well there are a couple of questions that I use with my coaching clients that really hit the mark and shift things to a brighter future. One where adventure and excitement are built in.
These same questions led my husband and I to move to Antigua in the Caribbean. We learned to sail and raced every Saturday enjoying blue skies, sunny days and swimming in warm waters. I started to structure my business differently and my 'office' was on the beach at a local caf / bar. I got to swim or bike ride every day.
That was the start of a much more exciting and adventurous chapter in my life. Since then we have lived in many different countries, bought a sailboat and live on this during the warmer months in Greece or Montenegro when we fancy a change.
These same questions have taken my clients from a life of 'blah' to the most exciting chapter of their lives to date.
One of my clients, a successful Sales Director had found herself getting wearier and more exhausted on a daily basis. The job she once enjoyed had changed and simple things really began to grate. The work days were getting longer and she really didn't feel valued or that she was actually gaining anything beyond the monthly salary.
Realising things were not going to get better on their own, she reached out to me. We got to the heart of what she really wanted for her life, uncovered some obstacles and worked on these, and got to work on executing the plan of action.
Now she has her own business, works with people that share her ethics and values, travels more frequently and is excited by her life again. It feels like an adventure and she is rocking it.
So are you interested in knowing what these questions are and how they can give you the most exciting chapter of your life to date? Book a call and let's talk. It's free.
Let's get to the heart of what you truly want for your life and bring it to fruition.