Episode 43: Sticking to one thing when you have an ADHD brain

00:54 You're listening to The Business of Stories with Susan Paton, showing you how to share stories that do the selling in your business so you don't have to. I was talking to someone recently about getting known for what you do and they asked me a great question which was How do you stay in your lane and stick to one thing if you have ADHD? And it's a great question because I don't know what the stats are, but i've certainly read that a high percentage of entrepreneurs are ADHD and that people with ADHD are significantly more likely to start their own business. Which makes complete sense to me because their brain wants autonomy and flexibility and variety and creativity and stimulation and all of those things

01:48 But, of course the challenge can be that one of the classic ADHD traits is wanting to do new things chase new ideas and constantly reinvent yourself. So the idea of committing to just one thing that you want to be known for and then staying consistent enough so that you actually get known for that thing is a real challenge And can be the cause of a lot of stress for some people So I wanted to do an episode on how i've managed to talk about just one thing consistently for 10 years and keep things fresh, interesting fun varied so I never get bored. And hopefully give you some ideas that can help you see that you can get known for one thing and build a business you love AND keep your ADHD brain happy!

02:49 So I recently did an episode on how to get known for what you do. And a big part of that was obviously being consistent and repetitive so that people start to associate you with that thing you want to get known for, but i get that might sound restrictive to someone with ADHD brain – that you'll feel trapped or boxed in and become bored or struggle to stick with it Sticking to one thing can be really hard when you have an excitable, creative brain that wants those dopamine hits that you get from starting new things and having a million-and-one ideas. And doesn't want to do the same things over again! So that question I got from someone really got me thinking... How have I managed to talk about one thing? Storytelling

03:40 For the last 10 years, when I have a brain that wants to be doing different things, trying new things constantly coming up with ideas getting a buzz from creating new things And actually, I realised the answer is pretty simple. I picked one thing and got known for doing it by doing all the things I mentioned in episode 40 around being clear what it is keeping it simple and tangible and being consistent and repetitive but Inside that one thing, I constantly look for and find ways to satisfy my need...my craving to create new things and come up with new ideas. And have fun! Keep it interesting. In fact rather than being restrictive picking one thing to get known for has actually given me the freedom to come up with lots of new ways to help make storytelling really simple for people

04:41 Which is actually where I think my real genius is. If you've read The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks, you'll know that he talks about knowing your zones of genius and while I love storytelling in fact I'm probably a bit obsessed with it...I actually think my real zone of genius is making storytelling very simple and doable for other people And that's what I love about what I do, that I can see where other people are getting stuck and I can come up with new ways to make it simple for them so they can move forwards. That's where I get to be creative all day long and still get known for one thing

05:23 So, getting known for one thing doesn't mean you can only do one thing. I do lots of different things with my clients but always through that lens of how can i bring this back to the core thing? For instance when I found myself talking to lots of clients about things like their offers and their packages and pricing I decided to go away and create a framework that would help my clients to come up with the offers that their ideal clients want. And the first thing i did was look at how would that fit in my storytelling process? How could I bring it back to my one thing, and it was by thinking that through that I ended up creating The Storytellers Offer Framework

06:11 Which all my clients now use to find their best offers in their customers' story. And creating that then led to me creating my Story-Led Sales System So now I do trainings on the five parts of the Story-Led Sales System which is Stories, Messaging, Offers, Content and Sales But my point is that I'm creating all the time. My brain is definitely being challenged and kept busy with lots of interesting things all the time. I get to lean into my ideas and what lights me up, but always keeping it focused on the thing I want to continue getting known for. I've also designed my group program to work in a way that works for me

06:59 Because if I was teaching the same stuff over and over again, and doing the same calls week after week. I wouldn't be able to keep that going. That would have drained all of my energy out years ago! But instead…I'm always in the group seeing what people need, seeing where they're getting stuck, what questions they have... And then thinking how can I help them with that? What could I create to make it simple? What would help solve their problem so they can get unstuck When a question gets asked in the group, I'll answer it but then i think is there something I could create that would help them to implement the answer that I've just given them?

07:36 I don't do the same calls over and over again. I mix it up, I listen to what people are saying, I listen to what people want. No schedule of calls ever looks the same! We do hot seat sessions and i love those because i can get really creative with them and come up with lots of ideas to help people move past the challenge that they've got And we do 30-day challenges in the group. So as a group, we did a 30 day Make Compelling Offers challenge last month and this month we're doing a 30 Day Grow Your Audience Challenge and I created resources for both of those. I love doing one to one calls with people because again i get to hear where they're stuck and my brain goes to work coming up with simple solutions

08:25 Which then often inspires me to go away and create something for everyone to use. My storyteller's content framework came from me doing a VIP day with somebody, where we'd come up with lots of ideas for her messaging and content and stories but I wanted her to have something that she could fit on one piece of paper so she could print it off put it on our wall and use it over and over again to keep her messaging and content and stories really consistent around I had another one-to-one call with someone where i could see that what was missing for her was her own methodology or process, or IP that she could take ownership of. So that's what we worked on on the call and then I went away and created a training on Your Unique IP which I delivered in The Group and now lives in The Portal

09:18 So, I never get bored. In fact quite the opposite! There isn't enough time to do all the stuff that I want to do so I pick and choose ones that are definitely most helpful and over time I'm building up a bank of resources and trainings that pretty much now when anyone comes into Storytelling Mastery and they've got a question or Or they've got something, they want to make a priority or they want to do something specific in their business. There's a good chance I've got training there to help them because I almost certainly heard that question before and if i haven't I'll go away and create one but I also look for ways to be creative in my content and the things I do outside of my group and my clients

10:01 So, every year when I have my book birthday, I do something fun. One year I dressed up as Willy Wonka gave away a hundred books and one of them had a golden ticket inside it Another year I sent out bingo cards and we played Book Bingo so they're always a lot of fun And this podcast! I'm constantly thinking what can i share on this podcast? What questions can I answer? What topics can I cover I notice what i'm talking to clients about and think, ah could that be an episode? I notice when people I am working with get an aha moment. And how can I help more people get that same aha moment? I notice the reframe that really shifts something for someone and think, oh I need to talk about it on this podcast! So this podcast is great way of keeping my brain happy by keeping things varied

10:55 I also think about things that I could create to help other people be creative in their content. So one summer, I think it was 2024...I decided that every day for 30 days through August I would send people a story prompt and real-life example of a story that had worked well for me That idea became Story Prompts for Business, which turned into a 12-month automation that people still buy and join now. And in April this year 2026 I came up with something brand new called the Storysauce because I wanted something really practical that people could buy once and have lifetime access to

11:36 But here's the thing. What do all of those things have in common? Storytelling mastery, the storyteller's content framework, the storyteller's offer framework, story prompts, the stories' source, the story-led sales system... The Business Of Stories! I keep my ADHD brain very happy. I'm always coming up with new ideas, creating different things getting my hit of dopamine keeping things fun and interesting but from the outside looking in i'm all about one thing storytelling And I'm very intentional about never detracting from that, never confusing people. Never weakening my positioning always strengthening it Always showing people why i'm the person they should be following and working with. I think sometimes people with ADHD confuse consistency with sameness but they're not the same thing Consistency allows your audience to understand what you do

12:41 Sameness is doing the exact same thing every day in a way that kills your soul. Those are two very different things, so rather than switch from business idea to business idea because you think that staying in one business means doing the same things over and over again here's what I suggest you do be absolutely crystal clear what your thing is that you want to get known for have a core message that you repeat again and again Have a methodology that you take people through so you have a unique process because that helps to set you apart, whether you work one-to-one or one-too many. And then get creative! Listen to your clients. Create things using all your skills and experience and uniqueness to help them implement the things they need to implement to get where they want to go and achieve what they want to achieve

13:41 And once you do that, you won't need to look for other business ideas. You'll keep your busy entrepreneurial brain very happy! I'll never stop talking about storytelling. I'll keep creating new things to help make it really simple for business owners but i won't deviate from the core thing my core message...my unique storytelling process And that's how I stay creative and happy, and get my hits of dopamine with a very busy often chaotic sometimes overwhelmed ADHD brain. So as always before i go let me give you a quick action step that you can go away and do here is your action step for today

14:33 Share a story about how you keep your business creative and interesting without losing sight of the thing you want to get known for. Because whether you're neurodivergent or not, most entrepreneurial brains crave creativity, freedom new ideas and variety while still needing clarity consistency and a strong core message So that's your action step for today. Share a story about how your business fulfills your needs for creativity while staying true to the thing you want to be known for and I'll see you next time with more stories that do the selling for you so you don't have too!

15:24 Thank you so much for being here. I love that we get to do this together! Would you do me a huge favour and please rate, review and follow this podcast in Apple Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts? And i'll see you next time for more honest conversations meaningful connections and of course stories