My name is Maureen Nolan. Please look around my site for general information on ADHD. As Your Attention Coach, I am devoted to your growth and personal development through providing information and ADHD Coaching. My professional education includes specific training around the issues of living with ADHD in a way that is compassionate and satisfying – let me help you find your way to self fulfillment. I can coach you in person or by phone.

Are you looking for change in your life?

What issue brings you to Your Attention Coach? Having children with ADHD forced me to learn ADHD skills. I became a better parent and a more grounded person. It lead me to become a coach so I can help others, both students and adults.  It’s been a fantastic journey of self-growth giving me real life experience as well as my professional training for sharing with my clients.

Are you ready to do something really different that you’ve always wanted to do? Coaching will change your life if you are willing to be coached.

Are we a good fit to work together?

It’s really important that we are the right fit to work together. Who you are matters. An adventure begins with one first step…

Take your first step to change by contacting me at 404-713-0488 or email  me today and let’s see if we are right to work together and begin your journey.

Well, are you?

Before we go any further, let’s look up the meaning of lazy… here it is:

(from this link: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lazy)

But what if the definition read like this:

Now, that describes the usual kind of lazy that I’ve experienced or have been confronted with in another person. Or how about:

• Bewildered, belittled or otherwise berated and in a state of protection.

or

• State of being that infuriates someone who wants something from you. This is one of my favorites.

What is your favorite definition of Lazy?

Maureen Nolan, Your Attention Coach, ADD Coach, Atlanta, Ga.

Recently a friend caught up with me after many years of raising our families. We had a grand time sharing funny, sad and uplifting stories since the last time we lived in the same town. Our children were all within a few years of each other and a couple of our boys had particularly engaging teen aged years. One of her twins she shared, ‘skipped high school’.

She and her husband had divorced by the time the twins were in high school and each parent had one twin. Their agreement was to individually parent each son and ‘may the best son win’ or something like that. Can you guess what happened? Mom was the disciplinarian and her twin made it to school, made A’s and had a manageable high school experience.

The dad took the other son who spent most of high school somewhere else and made his living selling illegal substances. He passed wrestling and got out of high school by the skin of his teeth. Both sons joined the service and now the less successful son is 25 and in college. He has seen the hard side of life in the military. Before his military term was up he contacted a local state college with a plea: I don’t have anything to show you how much I want a degree – my high school years were fun but non-productive. However, I’ve learned how to work and I want you to give me a chance to succeed. If I don’t have a 4.0 by the end of the first term, I’ll leave. But I know I can do the work and hope you’ll give me the opportunity of a lifetime to get my education.

He was accepted and has been a stellar student.

Yes, he skipped high school not on achievement but lack of achievement. But through the wisdom of a military experience he was transformed.

It if can happen to this fine young man, do you know of others who have had similar experiences? Share them with me.

Company stayed with me last weekend – and arrived EARLY! I planned on the last two hours for the final sweep of dishes, papers, vacuuming, bathrooms etc but my guest arrived early. So he helped clean up a little and noted that this is really the way I live and was glad to have seen it. I didn’t like being caught and I reflected on other similar situations.

My son was just out of high school and we had moved to a smaller home where our belongings didn’t fit. They overflowed everywhere while we sorted and piled to give away, keep and throw out. The back porch became littered and it was time for company. We went in to a massive clean up cycle. Matt felt like we had betrayed the family by living with the mess until we wanted to ‘look good’ for the world. Well, yes and no. I didn’t anticipate the full force of his hurt and anger until he had piled the back porch with furniture up against the Great Room sliding glass doors blocking the arboreal view with a mess. It was an act of controlled rage that had to be remediated immediately. But his feelings were the most important focus of my attention. How could we clean up for strangers/friends and not for us/him?

I was recently reminded of this when I assisted a family with an intervention with a father who was a questionable hoarder. All the children were/had been unhappy with Dad for a dozen years, ever since the divorce and the beginning of the piles in the hallway, the piles on all the surfaces, the piles of paper, clothes and his collectibles. And with piles came debris and mold and a dirty home. The adult children had had it and suspected Dad was a hoarder so called in a local specialist. Unknown to the children Dad hired a few people to come in to the home to hide the debris and clean up the house. By the time D-Day arrived, the house appeared clean and organized as long as you didn’t open a closet door.

Now, the home had flowers and pot-pouri. The daughters were furious at the attempt to deceive a stranger and that Dad had cleaned up for a stranger but not them.

Have you ever done this? What motivates you to keep your home clean for the enjoyment of your family?

My Attention Coaching Helps People to be Empowered in

Does That Sound Like Something You Want? Read on…

Attention Coaching helps people find solutions to challenges from their ADHD who:

• are always late

and hurt the people they say they love

• are disorganized

and lose bills, keys, phones and business appointments

• do not return phone calls

and miss meetings, important messages and confuse their family and friends

• forgets about people and projects not right under their nose

and lose jobs, friends, family, opportunities and self esteem

• are unhappy with inattention, distractions and disruptions

and become depressed

• may be hyperactive

and think there is no help

• are married to linear people who are confused

and the marriage is on the rocks…for the last time

• know people who are angry with them for unknown reasons

but are willing to take another look at their behavior

• do not organize

and depend on everyone else to make things happen – are sucking the life out of their social group

• are in pain

and noone wants to hear about it anymore

• needs hope

and has the willingness to find coaching solutions

• need solutions

and are willing to become more of who they really are

• live in fear

but will make an appointment to start a new life of success.

Contact ADHD Coach Maureen Nolan at 404-713-0488 or by email. Together we’ll discover how coaching will work for you.

Ollie Eats Socks

My family went to our son’s college graduation and were away from our home and animals for about five days. A family friend stayed with and cared for our two easy-going dogs and one cat. Two days before we returned, the two-year old dog Ollie, began to vomit and stopped eating so I took him to the vet right away; something was very wrong.

After spending $1000 for surgery and tests and care, etc., we discovered he had eaten one of the men’s tube socks. This caused an intestinal blockage that could have killed him. We were all scared and happy and then I became angry: hadn’t I recently said that he would swallow a sock if it wasn’t put away? Honest, I really did. And then, this became the thousand dollar sock. We could have used that money many other places.

What did we learn? That if the sock fits in Ollie’s mouth, he won’t let it go. He’ll just keep chewing until he swallows it. The easy solution was to put socks away.

Several years later, there are no more men in this house to leave socks around. That might seem like a severe management system, but it’s just the way life has worked out. There are no more white tube socks for him, just my underwear which he doesn’t swallow. Yet. But we still had a sock incident a few months ago with one of my finer socks. As he walked away from me down the hallway I saw something besides his tail, hanging out his er, rectum. I wiped my eyes to clear them up, and shaking my head headed toward him. Yup, it was a sock that had moved through the digestive system and thankfully was leaving the body, kind of like a worm, you know? Only really long.

My home is up for sale now, and neat enough to keep Ollie safe. All my socks, thin and thick are in their drawer. He still finds my lingerie when I don’t hang it up, but it’s too big to swallow. I think. What do you do around your home that is dangerous to your animals health and your pocket book? What is worth doing a little more work around the house than a $1000 sock?

ADHD Coach – It’s a Calling

by ADHD Coach, Maureen Nolan, ACC, Your Attention Coach

I became what I always needed – an ADHD Coach.

I needed a coach during all my academic years, especially when in architectural graduate school I heard myself say, ‘I need a wife’.

I needed a coach when I transitioned from full time editor to full time mom. It was a hard transition.

I needed a coach anytime I was told – just do it; try harder; you’re not paying attention; that was stupid; you’re doing that on purpose; why can’t you do what I want you to do; you don’t follow directions; don’t put words in my mouth; I can’t take it anymore; why are you so sensitive; why can’t you do anything right; that’s wrong; you’re wrong and on and on.

Each time I heard negativity I took it to heart and believed it must be so because someone said it.

I’ve since learned I don’t have to believe anything anyone says about me and sometimes I don’t have to believe what I think about myself! This is a healthy result of excellent ADHD Coaching I’ve received and it’s my gift to you. My job is to find what you’re good at and remind you that is the essence of your self-esteem. You Are; You Be; You Rock; You Thrive with an ADHD Coach.

Be transformed through coaching. It happened to me and it can happen to you, too.

]]> http://yourattentioncoach.com/2010/06/a-calling-a-fit-and-a-personal-transformation/feed/ 0 http://yourattentioncoach.com/2010/05/im-giving-away-adhd-coaching/ http://yourattentioncoach.com/2010/05/im-giving-away-adhd-coaching/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 01:14:38 +0000 Maureen http://yourattentioncoach.com/?p=858

It’s My Birthday and I’m Sharing It With You!

Email me at maureen@yourattentioncoach.com or call me at 404-713-0488 to make a 15 minute appointment!

This is my ADHD birthday gift to you!

I’m giving it all away – bit by bit and blog by blog I’m disclosing everything I know about how to coach people with ADHD. It’s not a sale, or a gimmick but a change of life attitude about what people want and what I can do about it.

I became an ADHD Coach in Atlanta because I heard parents and family members and individuals talk about mis-managing lives, living in chaos, living in fear, living on the edge, living with addictions, panic, anxiety and being generally unhappy and confused. Not only that, but I was living in chaos and discovered that along the way to become an ADHD coach my life began to make sense.

My passion is coaching. I feel alive, happy, inspired, peaceful, invigorated and fulfilled when I coach. It’s is how I live God’s plan for me to be in service to humanity. This is no small thing to claim the energy of my life in alignment with the energy of creativity and the universe.

What?

It’s simple but it’s not easy to disclose professional information because I’m talking in general terms. Be aware that your personal version of ADHD may not be similar so take away what you can use and leave the rest!

Stop! and Start Here

Have you been diagnosed? What is the value of diagnosis?

I talked with a parent yesterday who believes he has ADHD and is actually taking medication but is not diagnosed with ADHD. It’s a very ADHD thing to approach solutions like this. Sometimes it’s even part of the diagnostic process…if the medication makes a difference, you might have ADHD.

What was the value of your ADHD diagnosis?

First Comes the Fear (with ADHD)

My family of origin lived fear-based and many decisions were based on fear of something happening. I raised my own children that way. Don’t do that, you might get hurt, lost, hurt, never come home again, attacked by bears, fall down, burned…and on and on. I didn’t go to college in a new city because of fear. I didn’t finish my masters in architecture because of fear of the lifestyle. I didn’t marry Kevin because of fear of change. I didn’t travel when my children were small for fear of death by airplane crash.

Living with Undiagnosed ADHD May be Like Voodoo

Voodoo in Benin, Africa

This altar has a fearsome look to it

Taken from an article about the country of Benin (link above):

COTONOU, Benin (AP) — With pounding drums and pulsating rhythms, Benin…celebrated the rebirth of voodoo as an officially recognized religion…Voodoo has its origins in West Africa, and followers worship spirits, or fetishes, to guide them in their lives. The religion started about 400 years ago and was brought to the Caribbean, particularly Haiti, during the slave trade.

Whoa! What does this have to do with Fear or Happiness? Read on.

I often travel on the travel channel and this week I went to Benin. A modern day explorer went there to experience voodoo in its rawest form after a lifelong interest in it. To say the least he’s in another world. After proving himself to a tribal king (through humiliation, physical prowess tests and fear-based initiation scenes) he’s experienced enough darkness of a fear-based religion and is happy to get out of town alive and accepted by the tribe (in that order).

…Then Comes Happiness with ADHD (keeping reading)

Happiness

Life After Diagnosis is More Buddhist

My life made sense when I was diagnosed with ADHD and I rejoiced at the happiness I felt to understand my brain. Since that time my happiness quotient has been steadily growing and growing and growing. I became a better mother, friend, daughter. I make decisions based more on my joy and personal happiness index than on fear of…anything.

Gross National Happiness in Bhutan

Taken from an article about the country of Bhutan (link above):

“Bhutan’s story today is, in one word, survival,” Mr. Dorji said. “Gross national happiness (GNH) is survival…Specifically, the government has determined that the four pillars of a happy society involve:

• the economy
• culture
• the environment and
• good governance.

It breaks these into nine domains:

• psychological well-being
• ecology, health
• education
• culture
• living standards
• time use
• community vitality and
• good governance, each with its own weighted and unweighted G.N.H. index…

The goal is not happiness itself, the prime minister explained, (but) a concept that each person must define for himself. Rather, the government aims to create the conditions for what he called, in an updated version of the American Declaration of Independence, “the pursuit of gross national happiness.”

Buddhism vs. Voodoo

These two governments, widely separated by geography and motivated by divergent faith systems, embrace two radically different survival techniques. Voodoo is a fear-based religion credited with saving the Benin people from capture during the heyday of slave trading. Primal instinct is stoked in voodoo to ultimately end in convulsive altered states of consciousness through frenzied drumming, circular dancing, alcohol enhancement and blood sacrifice. Slave traders were afraid of curses and rituals that might endanger their lives and therefore stayed away from enslaving most voodoo-practicing tribes even though they were easily accessible by land.

On the other hand there is Bhutan, land-locked between mountain ranges, isolated and culturally safe for centuries from conquest and war. Their Buddhist religion is a peaceful religion based on the quest for happiness of a wealthy man from Nepal who realised that wealth and luxury did not guarantee happiness. The name comes from ‘bhudi’ or awaken. Buddhism is a practice of choosing the middle road to happiness through the study of the human mind and the practices of meditation in order to awaken happiness.

Which Gets Your Attention? Fear or Happiness?

Well, voodoo gets my attention but not for long. I want to run away from that culture’s use of fear tactics to control the people as well as to protect them. They are culturally intact because of voodoo and TV and Hollywood have not infiltrated their consciousness.  Whereas Bhutan gets my attention and my respect and admiration. Their culture is presently intact while they keep TV and Hollywood at bay and they use a happiness index to make governmental decisions. That feels sane to me.

ADHD Coaching is Happiness Based

Survival becomes Thrival with ADHD Diagnosis and ADHD Coaching to re-teach clients how to find their happines quotient.

What are you waiting for? Get diagnosed and call Maureen Nolan, ACC for ADHD Coaching at 404-713-0488.