Simply Ben Glenn | The Simple ADHD Expert

Title: Irwin Middle & High School
Location: Ocilla, GA
Description: Assemblies
Date: 2009-04-27

The day started early – I got up at 6am. Why? Well mostly because I wanted to get some fishing in. That’s right! Caught me a couple of nice ones too!

Then it was off to do the assemblies. Phew! It must have been about 100 degrees in that gym! I don’t know about you guys, but I sure worked up a sweat. Hope you guys enjoyed yourselves.

Big thanks to Stephanie Wiiliamson for giving us a big wad of cash to get lunch…we filled up on the .99c menu at Peck’s, then blew the rest of the money on The Claw at Walmart…just kidding!

Well, Larry’s off to go jog in the woods (he’s getting ready for the Indianapolis Mini-marathon this coming weekend)…hopefully the rattlesnakes don’t get him, and I’m going to go do a bit more fishing. I LOVE to fish and never get a chance to do it – too busy.

Ocilla! Thanks for having us – we had a great time…only wish you were closer to the airport in Jacksonville…:-)

I love to cook and over the last year, I’ve been keeping track of what I eat and how it affects my body’s energy level and mental capacity. It’s been a fun and delicious experiment.

Here’s what has worked for me:

• Plenty of protein. Protein is great because it processes slowly – slower than carbs – so that means it provides a long-lasting boost.  Chicken is my tasty protein source of choice.
• Cutting the carbs. Carbs provide a quick energy boost, but they turn into sugar when processed. Whatever is not used turns into fat.
• Going green. I try to eat something green – broccoli, green beans, salad – at every meal. Mint Oreos unfortunately do not count.
• Sweet on supplements. I take fish oil pills, rich in omega-3 fatty acids that are good for brain function. I (and my family) like it when my brain functions, so I take 4 pills a day. I especially make sure to take them before my reading and writing time in the morning.
• Junking the junk food. I’ve kicked soft drinks, sugary cereals, chocolate, and processed foods to the curb. If you have kids (or are one), you’ve probably seen how sugar can take them to another level of hyperactivity, whether they have ADHD or not.

Before I started watching how my diet affected me, I was having a hard time. I ate cereal in the morning – even the low-sugar ones – and by 9:00 AM, I was exhausted and extremely hungry. My body burned through the carbs and left me out of gas.

It even made battling my ADHD much harder. The things that can be used to combat ADHD – like digging deep and mustering the will power – weren’t even possible because I had no energy to focus.

Learning from and changing my breakfast routine have drastically improved how my days start, which ends up making life better in general. It just shows how listening to your body a little can make a big difference.

Next time, we’ll talk about how you can apply some of my experiences to your life and diet. Regardless of how you feel about meds, an improvement in diet can be a much easier pill to swallow to treat your ADHD.

Title: Dominion High School
Location: Potomac Falls, VA
Description: Assembly & Parent/Teacher Event
Date: 2009-04-20

Had an early morning today, heading out for the airport at 6am to be with all 1200 of you guys for the assembly. Nothing like a gymnasium packed with screaming kids to make my ADHD happy! I had a blast!

Then tonight we had a great turnout – 200+ students and parents, pretty good for a non-mandatory event. I’m so glad you all came out. I hope you could hear me (my voice is sort of not there right now, so hopefully a good night’s sleep will get it to come back). There were some great questions asked during the Q & A session – I’m sorry if I didn’t get to answer all of them – please post questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to either answer them directly or do a blog post about them, ok?

If there’s one thing that I need all you “special” people out there to know it is this: You are NOT alone! There are literally millions of people out there who have ADHD as well as other learning disabilities and not just kids, adults too! I believe the statistic is that only 15% of adults with ADHD ever get diagnosed. The rest of you just spend a lot of time wondering if you’re nuts. Well, you’re not! If what I shared tonight has you thinking that perhaps you may have ADHD, please do some research and educate yourself, then maybe, if you’re comfortable with it and can afford it, go get tested. The tests are not conclusive, but it might ease your mind some to know that ADHD is a possible diagnosis. Whatever the case may be, education is the key to successfully managing your symptoms and for creating a better life for yourself. Trust me, I’ve been there and being informed has made a world of difference in my life.

Anyway, enough of that. I’m exhausted and going to bed. Go Titans!! Night all!

Title: FBLA State Conference
Location: Raleigh, NC
Start Date: 2009-04-16
End Date: 2009-04-17

What a great time last night! I was so impressed with the energy and enthusiasm that you guys had! Your speeches were amazing – there are going to be some incredible leaders out of North Carolina serving this country and the world in the future! It was an honor to play even a small role in helping you all be the best you can be. A huge thank you to Thomas for being on top of every detail and to Lorraine for making it all happen. God bless you!

Now, off to the workshop, then hopping on the plane to head home to Indy to spend a couple of days with the fam before I hit the road again.

Title: FBLA State Conference
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Start Date: 2009-04-05
End Date: 2009-04-06

Landed in Aberdeen after an uneventful flight. The Minneapolis – Aberdeen leg of the flight was on one of those little prop planes…not really a fan of those. Looking forward to speaking tonight!

Update: Off the stage and back in my room taking it easy. Great time tonight, but man am I wiped out. Going to pass out shortly so I can be ready for my 8am workshop tomorrow. This is my first time in South Dakota…my first impression…it’s very flat here, not that I can talk coming from Indiana, and second is what’s with the snow??

So sometimes I still surprise myself when I look back and see that I have three finished books under my belt. Not literally under my belt, but that would be a good motivational tool (Mental note: start wearing my books for talks).

Despite all of the doubts and fears that come with a huge project like writing a book, there’s one thing that would have 100% prevented it from happening: Waiting for the perfect time to write it.

As expected, writing my first book wasn’t easy. I would write a couple of chapters then just hit a wall. Memories of struggles with writing and reading would resurface. Why was this 3rd grade special ed student trying to write a book again?

So, I tried to set up the perfect environment to inspire me to write.

Comfortable office? Check.
Soft music? Check.
Low lights and a candle? Check.
Words flowing? Nope.

My luck didn’t change until a 5-foot-2 Russian woman gave me some incredible wisdom: Just start writing.

I gave up on setting the perfect environment for writing, and just started writing. I didn’t need to sit at my office computer to write. I bought legal pads and wrote during flights. Why legal pads and not a laptop? Because we have to turn off our computers during the last 20 minutes of flights. If I’m in the middle of a great flow, I don’t want to interrupt it because I have to shut my laptop off.

Everything in my second book was hand-written on pads of paper first. The legal pad method actually made the whole book-writing process easier. I simply transcribed my notes at the computer, and I did a lot of editing at the same time. That second book was finished faster than any other writing project I’d ever done.

The idea of just starting works for most any of our dreams in life. In creative writing, the more writing you do, the more writing that will be born out of it. Many great artists tackle a section of their work at a time, and then they build upon that section. Eventually they end up with a masterpiece.

Most people are overwhelmed by the immensity of the project at hand. Break it down into manageable pieces. If you’re writing your dream novel, commit to write 1 page a day if you need to. Even after a month, you’ll have 30 pages under your belt (which you can wear for more motivation if you want).

If you wait for the perfect time to start, that time will likely never come. The phone will always ring, the kids will always have a need, a to-do will always pop up. Just start writing or painting or running, acting, playing, dancing, or singing.

Whatever your dream is, just start.

Title: Noblesville Middle School
Location: Noblesville, IN
Link out: Click here
Description: Assembly
Date: 2009-04-02

Had an awesome time with the 1300 students today! The gym was filled to the rafters. My video crew was there too getting some footage of the show for a new promotional video that I’m really excited about. And the Noblesville Times paper came out to check the action as well (read the article!).

Big thanks to Kyle Barrentine, the Principal of Noblesville Middle School for bringing me to speak to his students and teachers. Great group!

Let me know what you guys thought!

Hi! Thanks for visiting Ben Glenn’s website-slash-blog!  Here you can find out about everything you need to know about how to book Ben for your event, as well as read his blog entries about everything from his latest events to his thoughts on ADHD. We love comments and questions, so please don’t be shy and tell us what you think!

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The Simple ADHD Expert team.

WRONG! Just when you thought you had it all, someone puts out a plate of warm, gooey brownies. You reach for one, and as you sink your teeth into the chocolaty goodness, all you can think is “oooooooooh yeah.” Your bliss is complete.

It doesn’t take long for that entire plate to be gone. Why? Because once you taste one, you want to go back for more. And more. And more. Who cares about huge guys bashing into each other on the field when you have brownies?

As a guy with ADHD, I’ve realized that I have to cherish the brownie moments in my life – when a success or accomplishment tastes so good that I want to go back and taste more of it. It’s too easy for us to remember the bad stuff and get caught up in the times that we have failed. But by intentionally celebrating our achievements, no matter how big or small, we can get that taste of success in our mouths, making us strive for more.

One of the greatest mysteries of all time is how I managed to graduate high school having read only two books front to back. I had struggled with the characteristics of ADHD, learning disabilities, and dyslexia all the way through school. When I had to read a book for class, I would start it and put it right back on the shelf. If it was really important, I’d have someone read it to me, or I would cheat (which I’m ashamed to admit). But after graduation, I decided that I wanted to really read a book.

I started to read He Still Moves Stones by Max Lucado. It took me a little over a month, but I actually finished it. I even read the introduction! I was so excited that as soon as I closed the back cover, I started calling all my friends. I wanted them to celebrate with me. The encouragement I got over the phone felt so good that it motivated me to go out and read a couple more books. Just like those brownies, the taste of succeeding despite my ADHD was so good that I wanted more of it.

If you are in the ADHD club with me, find a way to recognize and celebrate all of the little achievements. I know it’s a lot easier to think about all the difficulties and negative stuff, the lack of focus, the distractibility, all the battles. We hyper-focus on the bad and have a tunnel vision that blocks out our successes. Instead of remembering the “A” we got on a spelling test, we remember getting our name put on the chalk board for not paying attention during class. Instead of remembering 199 great shows that I put on in a given year, I tend to remember the one that didn’t go well.

But you can change that by refocusing and setting attainable goals. We tend to be extremely creative and create goals outside the scope of reality, and we feel like we’re only a success if we’ve reached that pinnacle. That just sets us up for failure.

So, make a list of realistic goals. And when you’ve successfully achieved one of them, find a way to celebrate or commemorate that victory. Maybe it’s putting something special on your desk that reminds you of the success, or maybe it’s eating a Little Debbie or something. Whatever it is, reward yourself for your accomplishment. It’s something to look forward to and be excited about, and it will drive you to work toward more goals.

mmm… I think I’ll go make some brownies…