(whistling)
(laughing)
- Today we're gonna be talking
about should you pursue
being an entrepreneur,
should you not?
What should be the best choice for you?
I'm gonna share my experience as far
as why I decided to
become an entrepreneur,
growing up with ADHD and
dyslexia, why I decided
to go that route.
So let's go ahead and get
started right after this intro.
(swooshing sound)
Welcome back my optimal mind performers
and my optimal mind leaders
and of course for people
who are new here, welcome.
I am Dr. LeGrand Peterson
I treat patients with ADHD
but I also, guess what
have ADHD and dyslexia.
Yes, it is rare to see
a doctor that has ADHD
but I do and I grew up
with it and have learned
lots of different strategies.
So on this channel, if you are new here
and haven't subscribed already,
we talk everything about
ADHD on this channel
to help you achieve
optimal mind performance.
That's why it's called
optimal mind performance.
So if you're new here,
go and hit the subscribe button.
What are you waiting
for, as well as give us
a like if you liked this video,
and of course, hit the notification bell
so you don't miss out
on any future videos.
So lemme first talk about my backstory,
what happened with me with
growing up ADHD and with jobs.
So pretty common for people who have ADHD,
they struggle with holding a job.
I had the same issue, it
was not about getting fired,
I just got bored all the time,
happened to go from job to job.
And I also just frankly,
did not like having a boss.
I didn't like being told what to do.
And I just couldn't handle that.
And so whenever I got bored with the job,
I go to a different job.
So I had experienced
lots of different types
of jobs for myself.
And this became a
challenge of not sticking
with something for me.
But I really wanted to be my own boss,
so I didn't have to have
anybody tell me what to do.
So I got to decide what
my hours were, you know
just have my leisure of
how I want to earn money.
The problem was it was
common and very expected
for people to of course work for somebody,
work for a corporation.
It was just common cause
that was "safe" per se,
to be able to have a consistent income.
I got this from a lot of
people a lot of you know,
leaders and stuff like that
not from my parents per se because my dad
was an entrepreneur, so I had
that kind of entrepreneur gene
but still I worked for people consistently
especially through high
school and in college,
cause I still had to earn a living.
That was the problem really
is even though I wanted
to be my own boss, I
sought to earn a living
so I was still fall into
just like everybody else
working for somebody
and that's what you have to initially do.
But I still hated having
to work for somebody
because honestly, I would just get bored
of what I was doing and because I felt
like it was just a conveyor
belt of doing the same thing
over and over again, it
wasn't exciting enough for me,
and I'd go from, you know
landscaping to cooking,
to doing sales I did all sorts
of different types of jobs.
But even though I wanted
to be my own boss,
I think really deep
down inside all the time
is I always wondered,
can I do it on my own?
Could I start my own
business and do it on my own
and I think a lot of you also
struggle with that question,
can I do this on my own?
Because once you decide
to be your own boss
and be an entrepreneur, it's all on you.
And that can be a stress in itself
and a challenge for people.
And that's what I was
dealing with it's like,
can I do it on my own, is it possible?
Can I make a living,
especially when I got married
and started having kids, you know
you have a lot more to have to provide
for versus just worrying about yourself.
Because I was having this
consistent thing on the back
of my mind that I feel like
you know, could I do this
on my own, I still need to make a living.
So I still went from job to job
even when I went through medical school.
You know, when I got
out of medical school,
and I worked at a clinic still
was working for somebody,
but I hated it.
I absolutely hated working at a clinic
cause I thought that you
know now I'm a doctor
so therefore, I could do anything I want.
I can treat patients how I want.
That wasn't the case.
When I worked for a clinic
they basically dictated
how I should see patients,
what I should do for treating,
how I should do my charting
all these different
kinds of things, these different protocols
that just was just too much
for somebody who has ADHD.
And I know for people who have ADHD,
they struggle with challenges
not giving the creativity
freedom that we need that just
makes it a roadblock for us.
But I had this realization
is as I was experiencing
that and I in fact,
I was hating being a doctor.
Here I've already spent hundreds
and hundreds of thousands
of dollars becoming a doctor
and then having the challenge
of hating being a doctor was
a really big roadblock for me.
And I had this realization, it's like,
why don't I just try it?
Why don't I just try being my
own boss, and see how it goes.
By this time I was already married,
I was having my first kid on the way.
So this was maybe not the
best time to pursue, you know
starting my own business,
starting my own practice,
but I decided to just take
the leap of faith and do it.
But the whole plan was
not to leave completely,
I was still gonna work
part-time at the clinic
at the same time trying
to build my practice.
So I'd start out slow try to
keep my overhead costs down,
that was the plan.
Well, the conflict that I had
just like with any business
that starts, it starts out really slow,
it was really hard to build up a practice
getting enough patients to be coming in
to have a consistent basis.
But as I was learning all about marketing,
and I had to actually wear a different hat
of being a business person,
and not just a doctor.
Which I did find in myself,
and this is probably
just because of my dad,
who's an entrepreneur,
also, a lot of his family and his dad
were entrepreneurs as well
so it's probably was
ingrained in me, you know
especially having ADHD,
I felt like this type of method,
I was really liking being a doctor again.
In fact, I really like the
business side just as much,
if not more than being the doctor
and it was just something
that was so intriguing.
I just loved how marketing worked,
learning about different
business strategies.
These were all just really,
gave me a passionate fire
that I was craving for and missing out
when I was just trying to
just work for other people
or going through medical school
and then working at a clinic.
These were all just challenges
that I just didn't like
and it wasn't what I signed up for.
So eventually, just like
pretty much after a year
and a half being in that
clinic, I left completely.
It was even a bigger leap of faith in me
because I was getting to the point
where I really was hating
where I was working,
it was just too much stress,
too much for me to be there.
I decided to take a leap of faith,
of going full-time with my practice
and it was the best decision I ever made.
Even though it was scary, you
know I had a newborn child
was married and had to
provide for a family
and making that leap of
faith was a big challenge.
But it was the best thing that I did,
because then I really
went full hundred percent
for my business and I haven't
looked back ever since.
Now, of course, there's challenges
for any type of business.
You might be "oh, you're a
doctor so it worked for you," no.
In my industry there's not
too many family doctors
that are starting up new practices.
They all now start working for hospitals
because it's hard to be able to do that.
Especially right now, during
this whole crazy pandemic.
Even a lot of my own colleagues
have had a shutdown of their practice.
Now I haven't, because of the strategies
that I learned and sure it's slowed down.
But I've been able to
survive through this.
And if you're trying to contemplate
whether you should be
the common entrepreneur,
especially during this time,
I would have you start looking into it.
Don't hold back like I
did, try to look at things
that you're passionate
about that's the first key
is to try to find something
you're passionate about,
especially for people
with ADHD, I feel like
they have a good niche of
becoming an entrepreneur.
Why, because you could
become your own boss.
And that's what I love
about being my own boss,
I can decide when I set my scheduled hours
when I work, how I work,
how often I see patients
how often I decide to
work on the business,
or how often I work on marketing,
I get to decide all that.
Those are my decisions it's all on me.
You know that's the big
stressful part it's all on you.
But you get to make
those decisions yourself.
And I feel like people
with ADHD need to have
that freedom of creativity
to be able to do
that versus having somebody else dictate
everything that you do.
Because I decided to
take this leap of faith,
I feel like you know I love what I do now.
And I can actually impact
more people because of it.
I want you to leave in
the comment section below.
If you're an entrepreneur,
please put that in the comments
section below, yes am an entrepreneur
and what are you an entrepreneur for?
And for you people who are holding back,
put in the comment section below
of what is holding you back.
Let's have this conversation going
to kind of help each other out
as far as when it comes to trying
to be an entrepreneur, when you have ADHD.
And before you go, if you're new here,
like I said, hit the subscribe
button right over here,
check out these other videos on ADHD
and I will see you guys next time.
And remember, you have an optimal mind.
Doctor LeGrand, signing out.
Thanks, bye.
(whistling)
