I am a highly ambitious person. I have lots and lots of dreams, goals, plans etc.. I know what I want done and I am determined to do it all. I am one of those strong believers in "you can do anything you put your mind to". But I have a very big problem...

Right now my current plans that I would like to begin are(and despite what some maybe think, I am completely sure I AM capable of it all):
learn 2 languages
learn to work on my car
get good grades in school and being my journey to some sort of degree or phd

I have the means and the equiptment and everything I need to actually do this stuff all ready to go, but I cant for the life of me get myself moving on it!!!!!!!!! Even if I have an entire day, or week or 2 like I just had, I will sit here and do nothing the entire time just thinking about it. The ambition, want, interest is all there...but I have no motivation. I don't understand why I can't just do it!

I struggle with this with everything in my life. School work..I can sit at my computer for 12 hours and get nothing done on an essay no matter how hard I try. Even writing this post has been super delayed... things THAT small! I am just sooooooooo lazy but really I'm not a lazy person!!!!

Does anyone else have this problem?? I really want to get somethign accomplished in my life, I feel like I'm a waste of space right now. If you do have this problem, how do you cope with it?

Hi there, No,you are not alone with this. At this moment I am wanting to start a buisness and have people that want to do this with me, and I know it can happen, I know what has to be done, But..... I seem to have so much flying through my head at once. I seem to get at a loss where to start at times.
I am not a lazy person either,I have been taking a new medicine that seems to help more called Symbrax. Maybe we could stay after each other and check in to make sure something gets done.
I notice at work I do better cuz I have to. I feel pressure I do better.

I want to do some on line courses.

One of the many things I learned when taking a Dale Carnegie 12 week class at work was that you should write your goals and ambitions down in writing.

For instance on yours, you could write down:

In order to learn 2 languages, today I will surf the internet in order to find what languages I am intererested in learning; or

This week I am listening to language tapes in the car so that I can see if this is the type of learning that works for me; or

In order to pursue my goal of learning 2 languages, today I am going to talk to my guidance counselor about the classes that are available.

Notice the "I am" instead of "I will" or "I want to". Write it like YOU ALREADY ARE.

After writing our goals, we had to do a presentation on putting ourselves 6 months down the road but in present tense. It would be like: "I am happy. My job is going great. My family just went on a vacation to Florida and had a great time. My son is getting outstanding behavior charts at school. I am currently enrolled in a language class and a car repair class and I love it"....

Give it a try.

Motivation is always tough for an ADD'er. It is for me. Getting started is always the hardest part. I know I avoid starting projects because I don't think I'll ever be able to overcome my poor attention span.

One of the things I've been talking to my therapist about is my lifelong habit of calling myself lazy. It's really self-destructive. We have ADD. We don't think like most people. It's not laziness.

That said, I think you have great goals, but they really are challenging ones. When you say you want to learn to work on your car, is it learning to change the oil and spark plugs, or is it rebuilding the carburetor? First learn to do one small thing on the car, and applaud that small victory.

Learning two languages is a great goal. But start with one. Many foreign students will help you learn their language if you help them with English. You can't beat a free education.

Likewise, focus on the first degree before thinking about the PhD. If studying is a problem, meet with a counselor. Talk to the doctor to make sure you're on the right meds. Had I done this while I was in college, life would have been so much simpler.

Good luck.

My in-laws have a sign hanging on their back porch that I have always known true.

"ACTION PRECEEDS MOTIVATION"

That statement is so true. Many people believe it's the other way around-that you should first be motivated and then you will act.

I also dream so big and have many goals. I have realized though, that to some extent that is part of the problem.

In order to act without feeling completely overwhelmed (How/where do I start?), I think it is important to pick one priority at this time, and do babysteps or baby actions to reach it.

Little actions can make such a huge difference and get you so far-you just have to stick to it.

I spoke to one of my very productive friends today, and she shared with me something.

She said that many of the things she does like getting up early, cleaning, etc. she really does not enjoy, but she really pushes herself by always thinking of the end result. Like, "if I do this, I will really feel great afterwards or I'll have time for something else,etc"

I am definitely still working on this-big problem for me-to focus on the priorities. The real priorities, not the 100 of them in my head.

Too True! Motivation comes from action and not the other way around.
There is a great chapter on this in a book "Feeling Good" but I don't recall the author.
Most people, even those without ADD, wait for some kind of motivation before they take action on anything.
What usually happens is that you get so stressed out waiting for the motivation and not getting anything done that at some point taking even the smallest action in regards to this task seems like a monumental undertaking....so, we wait for GREATER motivation to help us climb what we perceive as a mountain.
I have found that taking even the smallest action such as putting something on a todo list helps me get motivated to do it.
The trick though is to put the next small step down on the todo list.
For example, I want to learn 2 languages I would write "Decide ONE of the two languages I want to learn."
Once completed... "Decide the other language I want to learn"

Next step: Decide how I can reward myself for following through with learning language 1.
It has to be specific and it has to be achievable.
So, if you want to learn Italian but you can't see how you could afford a trip to Italy then make the reward a date with someone special at the nicest upscale Italian restaurant you can find where everyone speaks Italian and you can too.

Again, motivation comes from deciding what you want and TAKING ACTION. Making yourself continue to take action and increase your motivation to achieve what you want requires deciding what the prize is for achievement and focusing on the prize.

David Burns.

That is the author's name of that great book, Feeling Good Handbook.

That is also where I finally understood the concept of motivation, and the one book that my psychologist asked me to buy because it offers very practical advice-(exercises you could do rather than just read).

I have read sooo many self improvement books, and this is one of the best ones.

I found a lot of help in David Burn's self-help program, "10 days to Self-Esteem". In fact, I need to revisit a lot of that, but it helps a lot with overcoming cognitive distortions.

He addresses motivation and procrastination, not from an ADD perspective, but I still found it very helpful. The #1 quote I remember is this (and I should have it posted everywhere): "Motivation follows action, NOT the other way around".

I find as an ADDer, I have to just DO SOMETHING to get the ball rolling. If I try to plan every step, I feel inadequate, overwhelmed, discouraged, and never get started. If, however, I borrow NIKE's logo and "JUST DO IT", I get hooked and interested in whatever it is, and it snowballs. It doesn't always work perfectly for me, especially in the software development profession where you're expected to document everytime you go to the restroom, but I've managed to be moderately successful at it (Employee of the Month 12/04, same month diagnosed ADD. And no, I am not self-employed, this is in a company of 400 people). And yes, right now I'm screwing around out here becasue work is so bloody boring!

Wow, I finally read some of the other replies and saw another Burns reference. Great stuff, much more help than meds for me.

I'm non add but still find that sometimes it takes me forever to get jobs done, e.g. I still haven't repainted my windows and I've been in the house for 6 years.

Anyway, what I have decided is that it is just as valuable to get things to happen as it is to personally do it myself and that I need deadlines and stuff to help.

So if I want to learn a language, I would just sign up for a course. that way, the scheds and deadlines require my effort and participation. This would also work with the car thing, whre local colleges and sometimes veven car dealerships do provide orientations and courses on car care.

As for the career, to start my new career asa poet, I've made some poetry friends and taken some courses and the challenges form others as we learn together are helping to keep me on trakc.

just some ideas bfore breakdfast.

You're not the only one i'm sure of that, motivation and boredom are my 2 accomplishment killers. I have so much i'd like to do, i usually wind up just putting it off.

Your story sounds like possible depression. I don't mean "the blues" , I mean biochemical depression that might benefit from an antidepressant. If you're already on one, I would call your doctor to see if the meds might need to be changed or the dosage needs to be tweaked.

For me it's not knowing where to begin. I have so much I want to accomplish yet I have too much clutter in my mind, not to mention my home. I think, at least for myself, when my surroundings are cluttered and there's no organization whatsoever, I have no clear path ahead of me.

I'm so determined though and I know I'll make it through! :)