jimmypat's review against another edition
4.0
Peter Shankman is an absolute lunatic. This book is the literary equivalent of being in a Formula One car - you can feel the intensity in his prose and the intensity of how he lives his life blazes forth from the pages. At time, the book feels a bit bloated and sometimes feels like an infomercial about his favorite products that help him with ADHD.
HOWEVER, unlike a lot of self-help books, this book was extremely genuine and you could tell it came from someone with experience with ADHD. I recognized myself in most of what Peter talked about and I gained some truly valuable ideas on how to better my life. The book's chapter for people who live with someone with ADHD was extremely funny and extremely accurate. I'm grateful that he wrote this book and that I can gain some good insights, even though I didn't always agree with all of his perspectives.
HOWEVER, unlike a lot of self-help books, this book was extremely genuine and you could tell it came from someone with experience with ADHD. I recognized myself in most of what Peter talked about and I gained some truly valuable ideas on how to better my life. The book's chapter for people who live with someone with ADHD was extremely funny and extremely accurate. I'm grateful that he wrote this book and that I can gain some good insights, even though I didn't always agree with all of his perspectives.
scipiokento's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
"Different will save us all."
I've always known I was different and I recently found out that I have the gift of ADHD. I'm an adult at this point and finding this out was like a huge weight off my shoulders. Everything finally makes sense. Knowing I am ADHD hasn't given me an excuse, it has given me strength. I used to only focus on my faults, obsessively, but when I learned that these are just the side effects of ADHD, I was able to finally shift my focus. Now I can look at myself from the vantage point of strengths and see that my "faults," can be managed, but how?
Enter this book. The information in here is great and I can already see changes from the tools that I have chosen to implement into my day-to-day. I'm not a note taker but I definitely wrote down pages worth of information for this one. I plan to give copies of this to my family members; especially the ones who were hesitant when I excitedly told him I am ADHD. It's not a weakness it's a strength, and Shankman does a great job at showing this. He also provides manageable amounts of information, makes sure to alert you when a key point is coming up, and also provides all perspectives of the experience (i.e. of those who are ADHD, of loved ones of someone who is, and of parents who's child is).
All around it's a lens you can use to understand ADHD more and apply it where you need it in your life.
I've always known I was different and I recently found out that I have the gift of ADHD. I'm an adult at this point and finding this out was like a huge weight off my shoulders. Everything finally makes sense. Knowing I am ADHD hasn't given me an excuse, it has given me strength. I used to only focus on my faults, obsessively, but when I learned that these are just the side effects of ADHD, I was able to finally shift my focus. Now I can look at myself from the vantage point of strengths and see that my "faults," can be managed, but how?
Enter this book. The information in here is great and I can already see changes from the tools that I have chosen to implement into my day-to-day. I'm not a note taker but I definitely wrote down pages worth of information for this one. I plan to give copies of this to my family members; especially the ones who were hesitant when I excitedly told him I am ADHD. It's not a weakness it's a strength, and Shankman does a great job at showing this. He also provides manageable amounts of information, makes sure to alert you when a key point is coming up, and also provides all perspectives of the experience (i.e. of those who are ADHD, of loved ones of someone who is, and of parents who's child is).
All around it's a lens you can use to understand ADHD more and apply it where you need it in your life.
chachariot's review against another edition
4.0
Good tips, overall good message, his goal is to have you think differently about ADHD. To that end I believe he’s successful.
Docked it one star as it’s a little braggy and felt like reading a blog post with affiliate links for some of the products he suggested. “use the code PETERSHANKMAN at checkout for a discount on everything they sell. You’re welcome.” - p 165.
You’ll get something new out of this book while rolling your eyes through portions of it.
Docked it one star as it’s a little braggy and felt like reading a blog post with affiliate links for some of the products he suggested. “use the code PETERSHANKMAN at checkout for a discount on everything they sell. You’re welcome.” - p 165.
You’ll get something new out of this book while rolling your eyes through portions of it.
ironskin's review against another edition
4.0
Actually found tips that were useful (as a late diagnosed woman lots of hacks are already stuff I use to cope) and while he’s a wealthy dude, it was still mostly relevant. Also useful for partners of or parents of adhd folk
steph_84's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars rounded up. I thought there were two good things about this book: (1) the framing of ADHD in a positive light, which is a welcome constraint to all the books about how ADHD kids need to be forced into faking neurotypical behaviours (yuck), and (2) the reminder that ADHD is basically caused by a lack of dopamine so anything that increases dopamine (exercise, racing a deadline, public speaking) is helpful.
But the rest is bad in all sorts of directions. The author is like a parody of all the reasons that other people find American entrepreneurs annoying, gives advice that is totally impractical for anyone who isn’t self-employed with a wife who does all the parenting, and says a bunch of things that are blatantly untrue. Throughout the book I also often thought of the big overlap between ADHD and Autism, and how most of the ADHD Autistic people I know would hate many of the things that he claims most people with ADHD love (frequent international flights, skydiving, constant networking). He doesn’t seem to understand the reality of anyone’s lives that are different from his own.
On balance I guess I’m glad I read it? But also glad that I didn’t spend any money on it.
But the rest is bad in all sorts of directions. The author is like a parody of all the reasons that other people find American entrepreneurs annoying, gives advice that is totally impractical for anyone who isn’t self-employed with a wife who does all the parenting, and says a bunch of things that are blatantly untrue. Throughout the book I also often thought of the big overlap between ADHD and Autism, and how most of the ADHD Autistic people I know would hate many of the things that he claims most people with ADHD love (frequent international flights, skydiving, constant networking). He doesn’t seem to understand the reality of anyone’s lives that are different from his own.
On balance I guess I’m glad I read it? But also glad that I didn’t spend any money on it.
shewantsthediction's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Some of his suggestions came off as common sense or out of touch, but I liked the overall attitude of the book and the ADHD-friendly way he wrote it. I love the destigmatizing concept of our brains being "faster than normal." However, most people can't afford a housekeeper who can do the majority of their housework for them, nor can they make a career out of traveling and speaking about it. Please avoid if you hate the "ADHD is a superpower" mentality... because he reps it HARD. I might just check out the podcast after this.
christineparkerco's review against another edition
4.0
I don’t 100% agree with everything Shankman writes in this book (I can’t remember what I disagreed with, only that I disagreed), but it was really fun to listen to (“SQUIRREL!”) and I learned some interesting facts about my ADHD. I used the “throw 90% of the crap on your desk into a box and put it away and if you haven’t touched it in a month get rid of it” tip to clean my office and felt INSTANTLY calmer and more focused.