4 skills to teach to kids with an ADHD-related Entrepreneurial Mindset

By Fatima Malik

Here’s a video from a TikToker that summarizes this article.

What’s a good career path for your child with ADHD?

 

Children with ADHD seem to have a mind that does not like to stay stagnant and can get hyper-focused. As such, it has been observed that children with ADHD have the tendency to have a more entrepreneurial mindset and a successful one at that.

 

What is an Entrepreneurial Mindset?

 

A research paper called ADHD-related Neurodiversity and Entrepreneurial Mindset breaks down entrepreneurial mindset into 4 components, and researchers (Moore et al. 2019) have found how these 4 components display themselves in a brain with ADHD:

 

1. More intuitive cognitive styles – meaning they are better at scanning and searching for information and more confident in their ability to identify and recognize entrepreneurial opportunities. 
2. Higher levels of entrepreneurial alertness –  meaning that the biological need to avoid stagnation leads them to a heightened need to progress their venture. 
3. Higher metacognitive knowledge and monitoring – meaning that those who have adapted to their neurodiversity pay more attention to things in their environment and are thus better at reflecting on their thoughts and behaviours. 
4. Stronger resource-induced coping heuristic – meaning that they will be more active than neurotypical entrepreneurs in acquiring resources, protecting their resources, and developing the resources they possess.

 

The best way to set up your child for success is to identify what they may be good at and then hone those skills to give the kids options as they grow older.

 

That doesn’t mean constricting the child to a particular profession but rather teaching them how to start, sustain and run a business, especially where they are the owners and the workers. 

 

Being an entrepreneur isn’t about a certain product or service. Regardless of what the child grows up to sell, produce, or provide, as long as they are equipped with the right skills to nurture their talents and run a successful business.

 

4 self-regulatory skills that can be taught to children with ADHD to help them be successful Entrepreneurs

 

1. Self-Observation: Teaching kids to keep track of motivations to improve awareness of how, when, and why they behave a certain way in certain situations. Keeping a log or a journal can be helpful here to predict their responses to different scenarios making it easier to plan around this information when it comes to business decisions.
2. Self-goal setting: Creating shorter, more achievable goals than a long extensive list that is overwhelming. Achieving these goals not only brings them closer to success but also helps with their self-confidence and self-worth.
3. Self-reward: The ADHD brain understands rewards differently. Therefore, it is more productive for a child to learn how to reward themselves as they grow older (to motivate themselves) – for example, watching TV until after a particular task is done. Considering that brains with ADHD have difficulty finding the motivation to complete tasks, these self-reward exercises will help them regulate that impulsive behaviour as they grow older.
4. Constructive thought patterns: Since kids with ADHD experience more failures in their childhood than their neurotypical peers, their brains tend to create negative thought patterns, also known as negative self-talk. Kids can learn to tackle those by first identifying when negative self-talk is happening and changing them into constructive thought patterns. This can be achieved by practicing self-talk and mental imagery. By visualizing themselves as successfully completing the task before they even do it.

Child Psychologists and Psychotherapists can help children with ADHD overcome obstacles as they learn how to manage themselves. These professionals can help children plan and train themselves to become successful entrepreneurs when they grow up. The 4 above-mentioned skills can be taught by child psychologists and psychotherapists.

If you need assistance with your child with ADHD, please contact us at 1-866-503-7454. We have professionals located all over Canada. 

Montreal, Quebec. 

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Winnipeg, Manitoba.