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This is a 30-day Makeover course not for how you look, but for your ADHD. This exciting course is led by award-winning psychotherapist, international speaker, and human guinea pig Alina Kislenko MA RP, who has ADHD & ASD herself and who specializes in it at The ADHD & Spectrum Centre. Though often seen as a curse, ADHD can be a HUGE gift that comes with, wait for it And not dinky ones that aren't real, but serious powers of hyperfocus and specialization that explains why ADHDers are the industry leaders in SO MANY fields, from the Olympics (Michael Phelps & Simone Biles) to hollywood (Will Smith & Mary-Kate Olsen) to entrepreneurialism (Sir Richard Branson & Charles Schwab). In this course, you'll unleash those powers and entirely change your relationship with your ADHD, your brain, and, not exaggerating, your life in general.
This is a 30-day Makeover course not for how you look, but for your ADHD. This exciting course is led by award-winning psychotherapist, international speaker, and human guinea pig Alina Kislenko MA RP, who has ADHD & ASD herself and who specializes in it at The ADHD & Spectrum Centre. Though often seen as a curse, ADHD can be a HUGE gift that comes with, wait for it And not dinky ones that aren't real, but serious powers of hyperfocus and specialization that explains why ADHDers are the industry leaders in SO MANY fields, from the Olympics (Michael Phelps & Simone Biles) to hollywood (Will Smith & Mary-Kate Olsen) to entrepreneurialism (Sir Richard Branson & Charles Schwab). In this course, you'll unleash those powers and entirely change your relationship with your ADHD, your brain, and, not exaggerating, your life in general.
This is not your usual ADHD class. Sure, you'll learn cool bits about your brain and some tips and tricks on how to work with your learning needs, but, above all else, this is a lifestyle design course with ADHD always front of mind. Because one of the biggest elements that research shows makes or breaks an ADHDer is their environment, from their love life, to their friends, to their work, to their home.
People with ADHD were born to be great. This course helps you build yourself, your self-esteem, and your world to be so ADHD friendly that your life will FINALLY be filled with ease, success, meeting your potential, self-pride, and fulfilment (yeah, that stuff isn't just for other people anymore). No more living like a chicken with your head cut off for you, running from emergency to emergency, this course opens a portal to a completely unique way of life that is completely compatible with your unique brain wiring.
This course is the product of Alina's decade of obsessive research on understanding her own (and her clients') ADHD. So instead of having to lose a decade of your life stuck in the deepest, weirdest parts of the internet and being a human guinea pig to get all this knowledge (like Alina did), you get it all in this course, and only in 30 days.
Also, meds are great for ADHD, and you should talk to your doctor about them if they're right for you, but this course specifically focuses on research-backed, non-medicinal methods of managing your neurochemistry, behaviours, emotions, and energy.
And don't forget to check out my other udemy ADHD course sharing strategies for focus and motivation, called "Focus & Motivation Strategies...That". This course focuses more on lifestyle design while that one is great for people seeking to focus better (such as students) and cue their motivation at will.
Woo. Let's get started.
P.S. Here's a guy who's figured things out:
“If someone told me you could be normal or you could continue to have your ADHD, I would take ADHD,”
- JetBlue Airways founder David Neeleman
With this course, you'll figure your ADHD out too.
UNIT 1
Welcome to Day 1 of your 30 Day ADHD Makeover!! I’m so excited that you decided to take this next step in creating the life you want and, most importantly, deserve!
In this course, you will learn about yourself in a way that will empower you and give you the tools necessary to completely re-design your life. I encourage you to try the experiments I give with each unit, they’re literally life changing (according to past students anyway)!
It's in actually DOING the experiments that change comes. This course is meant to be taken over and over again because, each time you go through it, you’ll grow in new areas. With repetition, the data can seep deeper and deeper into your bones, like how reading The Four-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris was different when I read it at 19 (it opened my mind to new ways of living) and then again at 28 (when it gave me the courage to launch a not for profit). Good book by the way!
Go through the units at your own pace. 30 days is optimal, with a new unit starting every 3 days. For example, if you start unit 1 on Dec 1st, then you would listen to a unit on Dec 4th, 7th, 10th, etc.
If you need to take more time to complete this course, then please do. Find the pace that's right for you just be careful to not wait so long between units that you forget that this course exists and that you're doing it (I do this regularly!)
Coming up in the next unit, you’ll learn all about ADHD/ADD and will come away with insights about how to run your brain (instead of letting it run you...usually into walls!)
And don't forget to check out all the cool supplementary materials every unit, they go even deeper in depth around topics mentioned in our main videos. You'll find various different things you can download, such as radio shows, handouts, videos, and exercise sheets to help cater to all the different learning styles.
Let's do this!
Alina Kislenko MA RPRegistered Psychotherapist
UNIT 2
What the heck is ADHD?
Each person is wonderfully unique. Discover and get to know your personal brand of ADHD as I explain more about the ADHD superpowers you likely didn’t even know you had!
As you know, those with ADD/ADHD can NOT be put into a box.
And why would you want to?
Put your seat belt on, 'cause I'm going to give a super short crash course on your brain that will leave you going “Oh, THAT’s how my brain works, it now makes SO MUCH more sense!!”. And don't worry, I use lots of practical analogies so you don't have to be sciency to get this lesson.
And get ready, because if you want real and lasting change, you don't want to miss the next unit!
Coming up is the key that sets the stage to get the most from this program.
Alina Kislenko MA RP
Registered Psychotherapist
Supplementary Materials
1) My top 15 strategies for ADHD - My own top 15 fave strategies that have allowed me to harness my ADHD superpowers.
2) Dopamine Dosing - A handout to help you learn to boost your dopamine (your focusing, motivation, and memory neurohormones) on command.
UNIT 3
You spent your hard-earned money to buy this program and I don't take that lightly.
The goal of this course is to give you tools you can use to make the big and small changes that will affect the trajectory of your entire life. I want to see you live a full life that you once thought was impossible. I want to see you catching up and then bypassing those who once held you down.
Because I really want to see you succeed, I created this unit to help get you centred in your own goals so you know what success looks like when you get there.
I think these quotes express it best:
"If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail"
- Benjamin Franklin
"If you don't know exactly where you're going, how wil you know when you get there?"
- Steve Maraboli
You can also use this unit's ADHD-friendly goal setting exercises for all your goals in the future.
So what are your dreams? Let's make those dreams a reality. It all starts here.
To get the absolute most from this course, my greatest recommendation is to do this week’s experiment. This unit sets the right intentions for change for the next 30 days, so I don’t want you short-changing yourself.
But wait, or maybe don't wait...the next unit will teach you how to banish procrastination once and for all. Get excited!
Alina Kislenko MA RP - Registered Psychotherapist
Supplementary Materials
1) Goals for the year - Designed as a new year exercise but I love it for all year round, this is a great way to clarify your goals and release your mind to do some dreaming
2) SMART Goals Worksheet - A longer worksheet to teach you how to make S.M.A.R.T Goals, a special type of goal that is ADHD friendly and much more likely to be achieved than a typical goal.
UNIT 4 - S.T.R.E.S.S. Analysis for Procrastion (Video 1)
It's common for someone with ADD or ADHD to put off things we don't want to do until later... or maybe never.
Though we’ve been told our whole lives that we’re lazy, procrastination is actually an adaptive trait that conserves energy and allows for bigger spurts of productivity in the long run. Yeah, really! Just as long as you’re procrastinating PURPOSEFULLY.
In this unit, we’ll teach you exactly why each of the 6 types of procrastination happen to you and how to quickly identify and address each one. You’ll also learn how to cut down on junk procrastination and learn how to do the purposeful procrastination that turbo-charges your productivity instead!
This is an eye opening unit that is part 1 in a 2 video series.
In the next video of unit 4, I’ll show you one of the major techniques that helped me go from failing out of undergrad to graduating in the top of my class in my master’s degree.
I can't wait to show you and wish they’d teach everyone with ADHD this technique in grade school! What a life changer that would be.
Alina Kislenko MA RP
Registered Psychotherapist
The 2-Part Break For Getting Started On Even the Most Boring Tasks (Video 2)
You are about to learn one of my FAVORITE ADHD techniques that I learned in school and still use almost every day.
It's called the 2-part break.
It's a great tool to help build motivation and makes you incredibly productive at the same time. It’s made me the most productive person of everyone I know because, when you can properly break up a huge task like making a phone app or a documentary (a few of my recent projects), even the impossible becomes possible.
Set yourself up for success for a change!
You also don't want to miss our next unit, which explores the major reason most people with ADHD fail (and gives you exactly what you need to sidestep this weird tendency!)
Alina Kislenko MA RP - Registered Psychotherapist
Supplementary Materials
1) Laziness & 2 Part Break Handouts - To help you master these integral ADHD exercises.
UNIT 5
Who's the one person that keeps getting in the way of the life you've been dreaming of?...Is it YOU!?
What is self-sabotage and how can you eliminate it from your life?
These are important questions that will be answered in this unit. With self-sabotage out of the way, the sky's really the limit to your success! And that's an exciting thought.
But, it can be lonely at the top.
Who's going with you?
In the next unit, learn how to feel great about yourself and find and keep the right friendships that will nurture you when times are tough and celebrate with you during life’s sweetest pleasures.
Alina Kislenko MA RP - Registered Psychotherapist
Supplementary Materials
1) Expectations & Shoulds Radio Show - An episode of my Strange Brains Radio Show with guest host Matt Goetz, registered psychotherapist, that explores self-sabotoge, especially around flawed expectations for yourself and the importance of your self-talk
2) Self-Care Radio Show - An episode of my Strange Brains Radio Show with guest host Matt Goetz, registered psychotherapist, that explores the importance of self-care, multiple self-care strategies, and solving the self-care issues ADHDers often face.
UNIT 6
Despite common pop psychology beliefs, you can't heal your self-esteem by yourself, which makes sense when you look at how self-esteem is broken in the first place. The essence of self-esteem can be described as where you fit into the hierarchy of your peers.
In this unit, gain the tools needed to build a great self-esteem, no-matter the lies you’ve been fed about yourself for your whole life!
As well as learning to fully build self-compassion, finding the right friendships is a big key to building a healthy self-esteem.
In ADHD, finding lasting friendships can be incredibly hard! Due to our trouble staying in touch (especially as many of us switch jobs about as often as our socks) and being awful at meeting unwritten friendship expectations, a lot of us grow up wondering “Why don’t I have friends like on TV? Where’s MY quirky group of chums to bring me wine when I’m sad?”.
In this unit, I’ll teach you how to make lasting friends, the ADHD way.
Now that you’re on your way to having a satisfying social life, you'll want to set up boundaries to keep all those relationship healthy, right?
In the next unit, learn why healthy boundaries can make or break any relationship, and how to create the right boundaries for you!
Alina Kislenko MA RP - Registered Psychotherapist
Supplementary Materials
1) ADHD Strengths Radio Show - This episode of Strange Brains explores a PHd student's research on the variables that help those with ADHD thrive and the superpowers of our condition.
UNIT 7
It's time to set boundaries! Learn how to say “no” and not over-commit. Sound impossible? I believe in you! Also, I have tips!
No more being a doormat.
No more losing all your energy to that one draining friend.
No more answering to the loudest voice instead of following your own priorities.
This is about taking control of your life.
You are one step closer to having the life you've always dreamed of, only now it can be even better because you’re designing it for yourself.
Coming up next is finding the PERFECT career! Did you know that the right work environment will make or break even the most perfect job when you have ADHD?
Alina Kislenko MA RP - Registered Psychotherapist
Supplementary Materials
1) Dealing with Toxic People Radio Show - An episode of Strange Brains Radio (my radio show) that explores how to identify and work around people who commonly try to break your boundaries.
UNIT 8
Sooo...What you do want to be when you grow up?
What are your wants?
What are your needs?
What are your passions?
When do you feel most supported?
It's also super important when you have ADHD to have a work environment that works for you.
Let’s work on building the perfect career for you, shant we?
In this unit you’re going to learn about the 3Ps that will point the way to your calling, as well as be able to quickly identify a work environment that fits you like a glove (or a potato sack).
Now that we’ve covered your ideal career, you’re ready for the next unit...finding the perfect, loving, accepting, and unique romantic relationship that brings it allllll together.
You don't want to miss this!
Alina Kislenko MA RP - Registered Psychotherapist
Supplementary Materials
1) Life Path Equation - This worksheet leads you through the entire Life Path Equation. The Life Path Equation was designed by myself to specifically help those with ADHD find their calling.
2) ADHD Work Accomodations - A list of common ADHD accomodations to request in the workplace as well as some legalities around bringing up ADHD at work.
3) ADHD & Entrepreneurialism Infographic video - A video I made bringing together recent research on the link between ADHD and Entrepreneurialism.
UNIT 9
Let's talk about love, baby!
People with ADHD are incredibly influenced by those around us. And no one has as much influence over us and impact on our lives as our partners do.
This is why it is SO important that you choose your relationships just as astutely as you choose a business partner, your stock portfolio, or your career (if you’re not choosing these three things with a gargantuan amount of thought, then we have more things to talk about :p).
In this unit, you will learn how to make any existing relationships incredibly satisfying and, if you’re single, how to finally find your ideal mate (or mates, many ADHDers are no strangers to polyamoury).
And if you have sex on the brain, know that research shows that most issues with intimacy can be resolved through better communication and connection outside the bedroom, so win-win!
And now, let's take a moment to reflect on this cool fact: You're almost there!
You have worked SO hard and I’m proud of you for sticking with this program! In the last unit of this 30 day challenge, you will learn what to do to make the changes you've made last.
And, BONUS, you’ll get to meet Dr. Barkley (a surprise guest).
Alina Kislenko MA RP - Registered Psychotherapist
Supplementary Materials
1) Radical Transparency Radio Show - Me and Matt Goetz (hubbie and also a psychotherapist) discuss how Radical Transparency can ensure success in relationships where at least one partner has ADHD. It's a scary concept, but has helped hundreds of quirky couples upgrade their relationships.
2) Relationship Questions & Movies Exercise - This is a neat, research-based exercise where you watch several pre-selected, relationship-themed movies over a several week period and have a discussion with your partner on the relationship questions based on the film. This exercise has been shown to be comparable to several sessions of couples counselling.
3) Summary of The 4 Horsemen That Destroy Relationships - Research shows that how you communicate can dictate the type of relationship you have. This reading shared the four communication styles that can quickly break your relationship and frequently lead to divorce.
4) How to Collaboratively Make Change In Your ADHD Relationship Video - Me and my husband (and fellow psychotherapist Matt Goetz) discuss our ADHD relationship and some tips on changing the bits of your relationship that isn't working.
UNIT 10
Congratulations!! You did it! You finished a thing!!! And I finished writing all my unit blurbs despite my hatred of typing, yay us!
And not anything, You finished THE thing that will keep feeding your mind and soul for the REST OF YOUR LIFE!
Looking back on the last 30 days, think about how you’ve learned and grown and all the challenges you’ve had to overcome to get here.
You now have the secrets to living the life you were made for. It just takes practice and patience now (I know, not our most accomplished skillset, but now you know all the things, so living them will come easier and easier to you). And if you need more one on one support, you can schedule one of our ADHD coaches to help you with this program at our online scheduler: www.ADHDInterrupted.fullslate.com. We can help you master and personalize these strategies from ANYWHERE in the world. yay globalization!
So now that you’ve begun on the most important journey of your life, what’s next?
In this unit, you’ll discover how to lock in all your hard-earned change (I mean why do all this if you can’t keep it, right?). And get ready to meet our surprise guest, Dr. Barkley.
Alina Kislenko MA RP - Registered Psychotherapist
P.s. YOU DID IT!!!!! I suggest you go do something nice for yourself to celebrate <3 You deserve it!
Supplementary Materials
1) 10 tips for living better with ADHD: An educational infographic that shares several things to keep in mind when seeking to thrive with ADHD.
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