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This is Neuro Diverse Diary! The weekly Newsletter for professionals with Neuro Differences. It’s that time for another insight into our different world!

If I tell you how many times I've heard the phrase 'attention to detail' it's traumatic!

In my first graduate job, a lot of my work in finance was data entry, so the numbers, decimals, and spelling had to be on point.

Any errors indicate that you're not paying attention to your work.

I was going from strength to strength then I just started doing sloppy work to the point that when one manager brought it to my attention.

I'm thinking to myself, "how the f*ck did I do that?". I would beat myself up about it. It would affect my:

• Confidence

• Mood

Now I'm thinking to myself:

• "Are you sure finance is for you?"

• "You wanted to work in finance since you were a little boy"

• "Now you're here, - what's going on?"

• "Why am I getting called up for attention to detail"

The worst part was that most finance jobs would require the infamous three words in the job description:

ATTENTION TO DETAIL

I knew I needed to fix this before it f*cks me in the a**.

I boldly knocked in the CEO and Chairman’s office and asked whether he had "two minutes".

I asked him, what's the key to his success.

He responded:

• 'Passion',

• 'Love what you do'

I hate when people say that, it's like they're bullish!tting, I was expecting a more scientific answer. The convo was very short probably 5 minutes.

I thought he just wanted to get rid of me.

But when I processed what he said, he mentioned that through his passion to start his multimillion-dollar company, he invariably works hard and 'locks in'.

Upon reflection, it dawned on me that my passion for the job and company (sorry) was fading away; I resigned.

It was essentially a data entry job, so I thought I'd take the risk.

My colleagues looked at me as crazy for resigning without securing another job. I didn't care.

Fast forward to now: I can say this:

1) My attention was low in the roles and companies I didn't have an interest in.

2) My most productive work was in companies I liked and had an interest in.

If I'm working in companies I have no interest in, quite frankly, I'm doing it solely for the money.

It sounds messed up, I know, and it reflected in my work, particularly in my early career.

When I worked for companies I liked... Work for me was like:

• Art to the painter

• Music to a composer

• Laboratory to a scientist

• Garden to a gardener

I could go on, but you get the point. The attention to detail just fell into place. Hyperfocus.

That is pretty much how I approach this newsletter. I love helping my audience and enlighting them on the neurodiverse world:

• The challenges

• The strengths

All from over a decade's first-hand experience in the corporate world, and I can lock in for hours!

This is my passion!

Not to say I won’t make a mistake, but my attitude will help me be more:

• Locked in and

• Pay attention

Having said that, I discovered coping mechanisms to help me maintain attention and focus on tasks I didn’t particularly enjoy, which I’ll share in a future post.

As an ADHDer, I'm on the hunt for dopamine! Like how Voldemort from Harry Potter was on the hunt for the Philosopher's Stone.

Anything that interests me is gonna keep me:

• Alert

• Motivated and

• Attentive

MEME OF THE WEEK

You've reached the end of the newsletter!

Let us know if you have any questions, concerns in your neuro diverse world that you'd like me to address in future posts!

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