The Mind of the Entrepreneur With Ned Hallowell

Episode Summary

In this episode, you’ll learn about the mind of the entrepreneur, what to know, what to watch out for and more with Dr. Edward Hallowell.  

Dr. Edward Hallowell is a leading authority in the world for ADD and ADHD, a psychiatrist, and a NY Times bestselling author. He was a Harvard Medical School faculty member for 21 years and now devotes his full professional attention to lectures and writing about attention deficit disorder, the power of human connection, the childhood roots of happiness, how to help your people SHINE, forgiveness, managing worry and managing excessive busyness.

 

Recorded live from the Genius Network Annual Event.

Here’s a glance at what you’ll learn from Ned in this episode:

 

  • What is the Entrepreneurial Trait and how to make it work for you.
  • Why faith is an essential quality in an entrepreneur.
  • How being aware of the entrepreneurial arc can help you reach your goals.
  • How to stop procrastinating and overcome obstacles with the power of imagination.
  • Five common pitfalls for entrepreneurs and how to navigate them.
  • Why having ADD is like Niagra Falls.
  • The one most important thing that increases health, longevity and happiness in life.

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Show Notes

  • Ned is a popular speaker and best-selling author of many books including CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! Strategies for Handling Your Fast- Paced Life and Driven to Distraction. He’s appeared on Oprah, Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, 20/20, Newsweek, Time, Good morning America and more and has sold more books on add/adhd than any other psychologist.
  • His specialty is bringing psychological insight and assistance to entrepreneurs.
  • “I think we should rename ADD the Entrepreneurial trait.” 03:47
  • After Ned met Dan Sullivan, who has worked with entrepreneurs for 30 years, while Ned has been working with ADD patients for 30 years, they realized they are essentially helping the same people.
  • “I thoroughly abhor the term Attention Deficit Disorder. Rename it the entrepreneurial trait.”04:25
  • Probably 90% of you in this room have it and It’s really because of it that you are achieving the remarkable and interesting things that you are. 04:55
  • Ned relates a story from ancient Baghdad about a servant encountering death in the marketplace. Like the servant in the story, many people are galloping as fast as they can toward what the believe is salvation, yet they are really heading toward their destruction.  05:13
  • “A psychiatrist is kind of like the Fool in classical literature. We’re paid to whisper insights to people who might not want to hear them. Then it is up to that person to reverse direction or not.” 07:58
  • The arc of the entrepreneur:
    • Begins with some kind of success. 08:14
  • “Don’t wonder if your ideas are crazy. Wonder if they’re crazy enough”. 10:50 This country was colonized by people like you: adventurers and innovators.
  • All entrepreneurs need faith to succeed. Faith is the assurance of things of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen. You make it happen!
  • The avid and faithful pursuit of an idea then leads, almost always, to disappointment.
    • After disappointment, one of the key qualities of the entrepreneur kicks in – “Grit” 12:04
    • You don’t have “give up” in your vocabulary, you don’t have it in your DNA. It’s unthinkable. When you encounter disappointment you just say “Well, no is the first step on the way to yes.” You keep trying. 12:30
  • Intervention comes next. Someone gives you an idea, you partner with the right person, something happens that gets you past that stuck place.
  • Realization of the dream is the last step in the process Ned calls the Arc of the Entrepreneur. It’s what makes life exciting, productive. 13:21
  • “The world has never teemed with so much opportunity for so many people.” Never. 13:45
  • The only obstacles now are psychological.  13:54
  • Now is the greatest time to be alive. If ever there were a time for an entrepreneur, this is it. 14:20
  • Ned has an ADD brain and dyslexia too but wouldn’t trade either one of them for the world. It’s a terrible mistake to call these conditions disabilities. They’re traits. If you manage them right they become enormous advantages in your life. 14:39
  • “I tell people, I don’t treat disabilities, I help people unwrap their gifts. These conditions are markers of talent.” 15:01
  • My motto is “You have a Ferrari engine for a brain, with bicycle brakes.” I’m a brake specialist. 15:13
  • 5 common pitfalls for entrepreneurs to watch out for:
  • 1. Don’t give in to the devil of negativity.
    • Watch out for it and don’t ignore it – it will just keep coming back.
    • Recognize it and then subject it to rational analysis. “Worry is a disease of the imagination.” It’s the imagination turning against itself.
    • Never worry alone but pick your worry partner wisely. 18:33 The minute you partner with someone, the two key variables in toxic worry go away: heightened feeling of vulnerability and diminished feeling of power and control. 19:20
    • Modern paradox: We have super-connected electronically, but we’ve been disconnecting interpersonally. 19:29
  • 2. Don’t become the victim of your own enthusiasm.
    • Overcommitment creates chronic frustration and keeps us from full maturity and growth.
    • Consider that you might have ADD if you are a visionary, pioneer, full of ideas and trouble with follow-through, impatient, low tolerance of frustration, tendency to procrastinate.
    • Remember, the treatment in no way takes away your “special sauce.” Quite the contrary, it allows you to use it. 22:38
    • Analogy: Having ADD is like Niagra Falls. Niagara Falls is just a lot of noise and mist until you build a hydroelectric plant. Then you light up the state of NY. That’s what treatment can do. 23:09
  • 3. Don’t let success turn you into a jerk. 23:19
    • Give people closest to you permission to tell you when you are being a jerk. 25:17
    • Use a simple intervention that Dan Sullivan teaches: If someone is exhibiting a difficult behavior, you don’t have to have a year of psychotherapy, just tell them to cut it out! If they’ll listen, it will save them a lot of time and money. 25:34
  • 4. Be careful how you satisfy the entrepreneurial itch for more.
    • The maladaptive ways of scratching the itch cause enormous trouble. Drug abuse, alcohol abuse, extreme danger seeking. 27:02
    • Find adaptive ways of scratching the itch. At the top of the list is connection. The other vitamin “C”. Vitamin Connect is infinite in supply and it’s free, but people don’t take it seriously resulting lethargy, loss of ambition, loss of hope, low grade depression.
    • Turn off electronics, and sit down and talk to somebody. 29:45
    • Get physical exercise. Exercise is miracle grow for the brain.
    • Find a creative outlet. 30:40
  • 5. Don’t fail to take seriously and develop your loving connections.
    • All the studies on health, longevity, and happiness in life come back to the importance of one word: Love.
    • Take it seriously. Honor it. Nourish it. It will pay you back over and over again. 31:44

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