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Episode: Leaving the ADHD Label Behind (with Joseph Pack)

In this conversation, I sit down with my coach, Joseph Pack, to talk about something that might ruffle a few feathers:
What happens when you loosen your grip on the ADHD label?

We both have ADHD. We both coach ADHD’ers. And yet, we’re both speaking about it less and less. Not because we’re denying struggle – but because we’re more interested in the human underneath the diagnosis: values, environment, habits, food, sleep, connection… and what’s actually possible when you stop treating four letters as a life sentence.

We talk about:

• How an ADHD diagnosis can both validate your experience and quietly limit you
• The difference between understanding your brain and living inside a label
• When diagnosis helps – and when it becomes an excuse not to try
• Medication, side-effects, and why Joe had to go looking for alternatives
• Ultra-processed food, inflammation, sleep, and why your “busy brain” might be screaming for a reset
• The power of coaching, challenge, and having someone who refuses to buy your limiting story

This is not an anti-diagnosis episode. It’s an honest, messy, hopeful chat about identity, agency, and what changes when you start asking:

People, books & ideas Joseph references

If you want to go deeper into some of the thinkers Joe mentions:

• Dr Sami Timimi – Searching for Normal: A New Approach to Understanding Mental Health, Distress and Neurodiversity
  Book link: Searching for Normal
  
• Prof. Tim Spector – ultra-processed food & gut health
  Channel 4 series What Not To Eat: Show info
  
• Dr Chris van Tulleken – Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food… and Why Can’t We Stop?
  Book link: Ultra-Processed People
  
• Dr Gabor Maté – ADHD and trauma
  ADHD page & his book Scattered Minds: drgabormate.com/adhd
  
• René Girard – Mimetic desire
  The idea that we often desire what others around us desire, which shapes behaviour and identity in deep, often unconscious ways.
• Opal – screen-time & focus app Joe mentions for cutting down distractions
  Website: https://www.opal.so
  

Connect with us

• Host – Ben Cook
  Busy Brain & ADHD Coach
  Podcast: Something for the Busy Brain
  Email: ben@goodtothinkdifferently.com
  
  
• Guest – Joseph Pack
  ADHD coach, founder, consultant (and my own coach)
  Email: hello@josephpack.com

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to ADHD and Busy Brains
02:53 The Impact of ADHD Diagnosis
05:39 Memetic Desire and Identity Crisis
08:44 The Weight of Diagnosis
11:30 Shattering Limiting Beliefs
14:31 The Role of Coaching in Self-Discovery
17:33 Challenging the ADHD Narrative
20:29 The Subjectivity of ADHD Diagnosis
23:21 Conclusion: Beyond the Diagnosis
24:15 The Missing Heritability Link in ADHD
26:18 ADHD Medication: A Controversia

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Yesterday I tried to record this episode and I couldn’t get one word in front of the next.

But because my brain was completely and utterly fried.

This episode is about that place.
Wired but tired.

I’ve been building something that matters deeply to me these last few weeks. Up at 6am. Laptop by 6:05. Every waking moment has been consumed by this.

Caring is expensive.

This isn’t about laziness.
It’s not about discipline.
It’s about complete nervous system dysregulation.

Key takeaways:

What “wired but tired” actually feels like (and why it’s not the same as being sleepy)

Why ADHD burnout often looks like talking more, not less

The hidden cost of hyperfocus and caring deeply

“We don’t lack capability — we lack containment”

How to spot your personal burnout warning signs

Why external scaffolding is regulation, not weakness

How body doubling and accountability can stabilise your nervous system

The concept of “borrowing energy from tomorrow”

A simple way to start your own energy audit today

The reframe: energy management = nervous system management

Hit follow/subscribe, and if this lands, send it to someone in your world who needs a push to press go.

About the host:
I am a mental health and wellbeing coach who supports adults with busy brains — including ADHD — to find calm, clarity, and self-trust.

Support beyond the podcast:
I offer a free, no-obligation 30-minute call.
You’ll find my contact details below:

https://www.goodtothinkdifferently.com/coaching
ben@goodtothinkdifferently.com

Send me a message, from episode feedback to theme requests.

Why would someone already 100 miles an hour like me choose to get a puppy?

Because it’s not about being less busy - it’s about adding the right kind of energy.

This episode explores playfulness, grief, connection and designing a life that actually fits who you are.

Key takeaways:

1️⃣ Busy Isn’t the Question - Alignment Is

It’s not about how full your life is.
It’s about whether what fills it aligns with who you are.

2️⃣ Know What You Need - Then Build Around It

Clarity about self makes decision-making simpler.
Not easy, but simpler.

3️⃣ One Word Can Be a Compass

My word is: Playful.

Playfulness isn’t trivial.
It’s a regulation tool.
It’s a processing tool.
It’s a survival tool.

4️⃣ Playfulness Is a Doorway to Hard Emotions - Not an Escape From Them

Humour and play can create safety around pain, without diminishing it.

5️⃣ Design Your Life Around What Works for You

Instead of asking “Does this fit my current life?”
Ask “Can I design my life to support who I want to be?”

6️⃣ Focus on What It Says Hello To - Not Goodbye To

Expansion requires choosing where you place your attention.

7️⃣ Structure Isn’t Confining - It’s Containing

Sometimes the thing that feels like “another commitment” is actually regulation disguised as responsibility.

8️⃣ Connection Is a Non-Negotiable Human Need

The puppy becomes symbolic of leaning toward:

• Companionship
• Love
• Presence

9️⃣ Choosing Growth Despite Nerves

If you’re both nervous and excited, you’re probably expanding.

Hit follow/subscribe, and if this lands, send it to someone in your world who needs a push to press go.

About the host:
I am a mental health and wellbeing coach who supports adults with busy brains — including ADHD — to find calm, clarity, and self-trust.

Support beyond the podcast:
I offer a free, no-obligation 30-minute call.
You’ll find my contact details below:

https://www.goodtothinkdifferently.com/coaching
ben@goodtothinkdifferently.com

Send me a message, from episode feedback to theme requests.

Ever had a burning idea or project you keep coming back to?

The potential is staggering.
You can feel what it could become.
All you’ve got to do is put it out into the world — and everyone (including you) will finally see what you’re capable of.

But then… the inner critic shows up. Every. Single. Time.

I’m on the edge of launching something big — and I’m absolutely sh*tting myself.

Recorded at my dining room table (with the cats loudly having their tea), this episode is a pep talk for me and for you about what happens when your creativity is massive… and your confidence decides to wobble at the exact moment you need it most.

In this episode:

• The difference between “just another exciting idea” and the one that burns until you act
• Why your tribe matters (the people who let you run wild — then help you make it real)
• The naysayers, the cynics, the “you’re doing it for the money” noise — and how to stay steady anyway
• The truth about bravery: sometimes it’s just doing the thing with a loud mind
• One of my favourite lines: going against the grain will always give you splinters — so let’s learn how to keep going with splinters

If you’ve got something in your heart that you know could help people… but you’ve stalled right at the starting line — this one’s for you.

Hit follow/subscribe, and if this lands, send it to someone in your world who needs a push to press go.

About the host:
I am a mental health and wellbeing coach who supports adults with busy brains — including ADHD — to find calm, clarity, and self-trust.

Support beyond the podcast:
I offer a free, no-obligation 30-minute call.
You’ll find my contact details below:

https://www.goodtothinkdifferently.com/coaching
ben@goodtothinkdifferently.com

Send me a message, from episode feedback to theme requests.

Getting vulnerable with yourself might be the most attractive thing you ever do. This kiss-and-tell episode unpacks why my relationship ended, and what I learnt.

I’ve just kissed goodbye to someone I dated three years ago. She couldn’t really remember why we split… but I can. The truth is simple, but uncomfortable: it wasn’t her. It was me.

In an honest, very vulnerable reflection, I talk about the gap between looking confident and feeling confident, how neediness can show up when you’re not meeting your own needs, and why people-pleasing + over-giving can quietly wreck your emotional availability.

The core takeaway: you’ll only get what you want from a relationship when you prioritise self-care and protected time out. Not as a luxury—as a prerequisite.

If you’re navigating dating, ADHD overwhelm, emotional burnout, or you want healthier relationships with better boundaries, maybe this episode's for you!?

About the host:
I am a mental health and wellbeing coach who supports adults with busy brains — including ADHD — to find calm, clarity, and self-trust.

Support beyond the podcast:
I offer a free, no-obligation 30-minute call.
You’ll find my contact details below:

https://www.goodtothinkdifferently.com/coaching
ben@goodtothinkdifferently.com

Send me a message, from episode feedback to theme requests.

Jump in the car with me (literally) for my first truly rambly recording on the way to work.

I had no idea where this one was going!

I kick off with two years of stress headaches and end up covering:

- My experience from not drinking

- What podcasting has brought me

- How my limited company was holding me back

- Finally unmasking at the age of 50

- Authenticity, owning your personal brand and getting out your own way.

- A beautifully morbid but powerful question I ask of you too

- Finding the right coach for yourself

It's a messy, honest, but passionate episode and I really enjoyed recording it.

If you like heartfelt bollocks with a side-serving of “Shit, that’s me,” you’re in the right episode.

About the host:
I am a mental health and wellbeing coach who supports adults with busy brains — including ADHD — to find calm, clarity, and self-trust.

Support beyond the podcast:
I offer a free, no-obligation 30-minute call.
You’ll find my contact details below:

https://www.goodtothinkdifferently.com/coaching
ben@goodtothinkdifferently.com

Send me a message, from episode feedback to theme requests.

Episode 7: Get Comfortable Asking for Help

If you’re the one people come to, it’s hard for you to ask for help or admit you need some. It doesn’t come naturally to the people-pleasers among us.

In this episode of Something for the Busy Brain, I am talking about why asking for help can feel so hard, especially when you’ve got ADHD or a brain that never switches off. Not because you’re unwilling. Not because you’re difficult. But because you’ve learned, over time, that coping alone is what makes you “good enough.”

And I want to gently challenge that.

Because so many people with busy brains are walking around with invisible weight: overwhelm, decision fatigue, emotional overload, self-doubt, shame, the constant feeling of being behind… and a private fear that if you stop holding it all together, everything will fall apart.

This episode is a reminder that support isn’t weakness - it’s scaffolding.
It’s the thing that helps you breathe again.
Sleep again.
Think again.
Feel like yourself again.

I talk about what real support looks like (not being “fixed” - being supported), why the right people make all the difference, and a few simple ways to start asking without needing a full meltdown first.

And I’ll leave you with a small challenge: in the next 24 hours, to ask for one small piece of support - specific, simple, doable. Just one. Because you were never meant to do all of this on your own. You just got used to it.

About the host:
I am a mental health and wellbeing coach who supports adults with busy brains — including ADHD — to find calm, clarity, and self-trust.

Support beyond the podcast:
I offer a free, no-obligation 30-minute call.
You’ll find my contact details below:

https://www.goodtothinkdifferently.com/coaching
ben@goodtothinkdifferently.com

Send me a message, from episode feedback to theme requests.

Episode 6: Be More Human

Feel like tech is dominating your world?

In this episode, I unpack how digital overload and cognitive offloading (outsourcing your thinking) can leave you anxious, distracted, and disconnected — even when you’re “connected” all day.

You’ll hear why the algorithm isn’t built for your peace — it’s built for your attention.

And why attention is your steering wheel.

Then I give you a simple, practical reset:
✅ a 7-day Think For Yourself Challenge
✅ boundaries that actually stick
✅ more calm, more space, more self-control
✅ more real connection — because humans need humans

About the host:
I am a mental health and wellbeing coach who supports adults with busy brains — including ADHD — to find calm, clarity, and self-trust.

Support beyond the podcast:
I offer a free, no-obligation 30-minute call.
You’ll find my contact details below:

https://www.goodtothinkdifferently.com/coaching

ben@goodtothinkdifferently.com