This reply was originally posted by user cliftonprince in ADDitude’s now-retired community.
putting in lots of effort but none of it is paying off / trying really hard, much harder than anyone else around me seems to be trying / not able to control other people’s reactions, which are often inexplicably adverse and irrational / getting less reward but doing much more work, than other people / knowing that I HAVE TO put in so much so much effort and again and again I see the injustices of how the rewards don’t come to me / keep on losing jobs even though I know my work is really up to very high standards, and even though co-workers or supervisors never seem to have problems with my actual work product /
The above set of ideas could come straight from my life and career, too. I know how you feel. I don’t mean to belittle it, but, it’s very highly probable that it’s just ADHD, really.
My quick suggestion is, stop trying to be a “farmer” type, and learn about trying to be a “hunter” type. We have to make a living, in this world, but the livings that are afforded to us have been invented these days by people who don’t have ADHD. Well? No WONDER we don’t fit in!
This is a metaphor from the work of Thom Hartmann, the farmer-versus-hunter thing. I don’t really agree 100% with the whole thesis, but there is a Wikipedia page about it where you can start reading about it, if you’re not familiar with it. It has some major weaknesses, but it’s a great starting point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_vs._farmer_hypothesis