The four tools I used to TOTALLY CURE my adult ADHD

I had a classic ADHD childhood

I had boundless energy that I channeled into serial passion projects; reading everything I could get my hands on about dinosaurs, aviation, World War 2 history, and even studying Islam for a while. I designed spaceships, created amateur action movies, and wrote science fiction stories as a creative outlet. I practiced Tae Kwon Do, Karate, swordsmanship, and breakdancing.

Perpetually a starter, rarely a finisher.

The only thing consistent was my bad grades. I was moved from special ed program to special ed program. I lacked social calibration though I constantly tried to ingratiate myself with the most elite social group I could find. I was constantly trying to upgrade my social circle, but I didn't have what it took to be one of the cool kids, and frequently found myself an outsider and a loner.

I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 8 and given Ritalin.

It helped a lot. Without it, a younger version of myself found it nearly impossible to focus for more than five minutes on the lessons and educational material my grade school teachers presented.In an age when ADHD (back then they called it ADD) was misdiagnosed and the pharmaceutical solutions were overprescribed, I think I was a legitimate case. In high school, I switched to Adderall, which seemed to imbue a longer-lasting focus, along with a more relaxed and tranquil mindset. I wasn't in such a hurry to impress people, which helped me make more genuine friendshipsMedication is probably one of the main factors that allowed me to attain a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and graduate high school.

As a young adult

I was very ambitious and a voracious student of success, yet I had a nearly five-year streak of non-stop career failures. I had been fired more times than I can count on two hands; I just couldn't quite cut it as a waiter, car salesman, mortgage broker, banker, or in Yellow Pages sales. I had a lot of trouble paying my bills on time; I was constantly late on rent and I even managed to get in some real legal trouble over some unpaid speeding tickets.

While my social life was a whole lot more lively (thanks partially to my side hustle as a nightclub promoter), my dating life was inconsistent and I could not hold onto a girlfriend. I would occasionally get my hands on a bottle of Adderall, which seemed to make quite a difference in my performance at work, but crushing personal and career disappointments were always just around the corner.

I was constantly reading inspirational books and trying to apply what they said about business ethics and providing value but it never paid off. I was perpetually a minute late and a dollar short; late to work, late to meetings, late on rent, and not hitting sales quotas. While I was building a large social circle and social media "friend count" through my nightclub promotion, the relationships were shallow. Also, being a nightclub promoter, I was hungover and underslept half the time which took a toll on my real career in corporate America. I was having fun and learning a lot but my prospects for the future were pretty bleak. My mediocre career and personal life were a case study of lack of focus, follow-through, and my equivocations of standards in every domain of life.

Fast forward to my 30s

Now I'm really a different person; I'm one of the most disciplined and consistent people I know. I'm a long-term strategist, not a short-term opportunist. I'm more focused and motivated than I've ever been. I have developed a work ethic that's pretty rare in my generation. My fleeting obsession with passion projects has been replaced with a long-term commitment to processes. I've cured my adult ADHD.

There are four pillars that I have to thank for this transformation...

Nootropics

Smart drugs have replaced Adderall and Ritalin as my pharmacological enablers of normality. The popular ADHD drugs are demonized quite a bit now, and I realize that their amphetamine-driven mechanisms are bad for a lot of people but the truth is that I never experienced anything negative from them, all they ever did was help me. My subjective experience of Nootropics closely matches that of the popular ADHD drugs and the beneficial effects are the same...

* Motivation

* Focus

* Imperviousness to distraction

* A kick of energy

* And a positive mood

I've tried over 80 different types of Nootropics over 6 years now (update: over 200 in 12 years) and have figured out that what works best is to cycle Nootropics, rarely taking the same thing more than two or three times a week to avoid building up a tolerance to a particular cognitive enhancer or burning out a neurobiological mechanism.

The Racetams are a pretty good place to start, this is the most proven category of smart drugs. There's a particular self-experimentation process, called the Piracetam Protocol, that I recommend highly for optimizing the dosages for your own neurobiology of five different synergistic smart drugs.

The Adaptogens, are a category of Nutraceuticals that come from the natural world, which Biohack our hormones and nervous systems to help us respond more robustly to the demands of life.

I've used most of the popular Nootropic stack products - and a few are quite good. Although you'll need to take them in higher quantities, which will end up probably being a $40-$80 a month habit.

I think that Nootropics are superior as a promoter of more holistic thought, you'll hear a lot of people say things like, I did some Adderall, got super focused, and then I cleaned my house for several hours, and got it immaculate!To me that is silly, I would never waste the enhanced cognitive horsepower on something like cleaning the house! Nootropics make me focused on what I'm doing at the moment, impervious to distraction but at the same time allow me to focus my mental energies on solving important problems.

ADHD medication is pretty inexpensive, especially if your insurance helps pay for it, if you want to get your Nootropic habit down to the same cost, you'll probably need to order powdered Nootropics in a little larger quantities. It's doubtful that your insurance is going to cover Nootropics, so the only disadvantage of switching to Nootropics is economic.

Brain Training

I know what you are probably thinking; my brain already gets enough training from my challenging job, intensive studies, or demanding family life!

Do you get the same exercise from walking to work as you do from a CrossFit class? Is a guy who works for a moving company lifting furniture every day going to be able to compete in a bodybuilding competition with a guy who spends hours a week doing sophisticated exercises with kettlebells under the watchful tutelage of a personal trainer? Doubtful! We've all known waiters who were totally out of shape despite spending all day on their feet running from the front of the house to the back of the house carrying armfuls of plates. The brain is like any other part of the body in that it will adapt and grow if you apply acute, exerting demands upon it and that's exactly what brain training does.

I've self-experimented with multiple brain training games, software, and apps (including