Another common thread among ADHD folk is perfectionism. I certainly suffer from it, and it’s extremely harmful to my career. People end up confused why I’m not

Another common thread among ADHD folk is perfectionism. I certainly suffer from it, and it’s extremely harmful to my career. People end up confused why I’m not delivering when what I do deliver is excellent. They figure I don’t care or I’m checked out, something like that. I become less reliable because not delivering is imperfect, and I begin to give up not only on my objectives but myself as well. I’ve had this lead to catastrophe twice, but I’m much better at identifying it and speaking about it now. It’s debilitating at times. Knowing I can do better, but it’s not there yet. I could deliver something so much faster, but if it isn’t the best I can do, I’m ashamed of it. I feel like a complete hack. Worse still is that when I nail it, do good work, get it out on time, etc… It’s still not good enough. Fundamentally it’s because I’m not good enough. ADHD can lead to some extremely insidious and harmful self talk. When it comes to worrying about being bullied, I have to ask: why do you think you’re able to be bullied? Are you worth making into a target? Why did you internalize that? Personally I think being bullied is a significant part of why I feel I’m not good enough. That’s what I was told for years! Unfortunately, I was young and dumb, very impressionable, and it stuck. Oh well, keep at it and try to do better. You aren’t someone who deserves to be bullied and I’m just fine at what I do. We’ll get there eventually.