The Rockstar Difference: Transforming Discomfort into ADHD Strength

My friend, Anne Marie, is a rock star. Not the kind that belts out tunes to a crowd of thousands. But the kind that seeks out challenges and attacks them—head-on—blowing away everyday kinds of goals.

Her most recent challenge? Marathons. Yup, 26.2 miles in a single go. But she doesn’t just run a marathon and call it a day—her fastest marathon? She ran it in 2 hours and 36 minutes. Do you know how fast that is? It’s fast enough that it sent her to the Olympic trials in 2020. The Olympic trials… with 3 kids at home!!!!

I’ve tried running with Anne Marie. 

My barely-breathing-about-to-die-all-out-sprint is her out-for-an-easy-stroll. The few times we‘ve run together (while she pushes a double stroller, mind you), she carries on the entire conversation because I’m dying—gulping air like it’s the last molecule of oxygen left on the planet.

Anne Marie is a rockstar, for sure. And she makes it look easy compared to my huffing and puffing.  But you know what? 

She’s still human. 

She still struggles, she still gets overwhelmed, and she still has to fight the voices in her head that tell her there’s no way.

In fact, check out the 3rd water bottle in her lineup that she prepped for a recent race:

“I can do hard things.”

Of course, we all know she can do hard things. She does them all the time (she has 3 boys under the age of 6, after all!). What’s striking—given her rockstar persona—is that they’re hard for HER.

It’s easy to see people excel and group them into a different category than yourself. And sure, their goals may be different, or they may be farther along in their journey. But reaching your goals—provided you’ve dreamed big—it’s not easy. For Anyone.

Even those who seem invincible face ADHD overwhelm and moments of self-doubt. Recognizing this commonality can help you reframe your own struggles as part of the process toward meaningful growth.

The thing that makes rock stars different—the thing that helps get them to their seemingly unattainable goals—is that even when they have moments where they feel like they can’t go on—when Anne Marie’s lungs are burning and her legs feel like lead—they recognize the discomfort as an expectable reaction to doing a hard thing. It’s not a signal that something is wrong and they need to ease up. It’s a signal that they’re doing it right—it’s supposed to hurt.

But that’s really hard to remember when the pain takes over. This is why Anne Marie’s water bottles are brilliant—they cue her brain to do the trick and replace the thoughts of “This hurts” and “I want to stop” with “I can do hard things” and “Embrace it, figure it out.”

Pushing past discomfort is essential when tackling ADHD productivity strategies. Reframing pain as proof of progress allows you to channel it into a driving force instead of letting it hold you back.

Another (actual) rockstar, Bruce Springsteen, is famous for saying that he still feels butterflies in his stomach, his heart racing, and his palms sweating before each and every concert.

If you look up those physiological symptoms in the DSM-V (the psychological diagnostic manual), they’re defined as an anxiety attack. But you know what Bruce calls them? Excitement.

He says that when he feels them, he knows he’s ready—ready to perform and ready to share his joy, energy, and love of music with the world. He then uses that energy building in his body to propel him on stage and through his set.

This mental sleight of hand that relabels pain and discomfort as proof of success is an incredibly powerful tool.

This single tool can save you from being a slave to your sensations.  If you push yourself out of your comfort zone, no matter what that comfort zone is, you can expect discomfort.  But you don’t have to stop.  This discomfort is a signal you’re doing it right. You’re doing the thing you wanted to do – “embrace it (the discomfort) and figure it (how to keep going) out.”

This is particularly powerful with an ADHD brain.  Because let’s face it-  there’s a lot of discomfort with ADHD.

Pushing yourself over an initiation hurdle? That’s hard. 

Continually bringing your mind back to a task at hand every time you notice it wander?  That’s hard.  

Following your plan even though you’re tired?  That’s hard.

Loving yourself through your mistakes, errors, and forgetfulness?  That’s hard too. 

So much of your day you’re having to push yourself past your comfort zone and it’s really uncomfortable.

But that discomfort?  That’s a sign that you’re doing it right.  It doesn’t mean you need to stop.  It means you’re doing a hard thing (because living with, not to mention thriving with ADHD, is most definitely a hard thing), and “you can do hard things.”

Reframing uncomfortable ADHD energy patterns as motivation can transform how you approach challenges. Instead of seeing them as obstacles, interpret them as fuel to ignite your ADHD productivity strategies and drive you forward.

Want to know how to make this work for you? Here’s an experiment to try:

1. Think about the times in the next few days that you are most likely to hit that “I can’t do this” wall. Where will you be, and what will you be doing? Write them down.

2. Now brainstorm ways you can give yourself the benefit of a visual cue for what you want to replace those negative thoughts with:

3. Set the cue. Once you have the plan—it’s time to get it done! Post that post-it, set that alarm, write that note, and see if it helps your brain push over that hurdle!

There are so many pain points along the ADHD road to thriving. But continuing to move through that discomfort is the only way to make any real progress. Use ADHD productivity strategies, like visual cues, to reframe discomfort as a sign of growth and strength.

Feel the pain, use it as your power, your strength, and remember:

Struggling to push past the discomfort and reach your goals? Our ADHD specialists can help you develop personalized strategies for productivity, focus, and emotional resilience.

Take the first step today—schedule a consultation and discover how to thrive with ADHD!