1.I'm not afraid to work hard, but sometimes my effort is lacking.
2.I can't really get much work done without my medication.
3. I'm not spending numerous hours a day studying
4. I also never have to be on my medication at all times but it sounds like I'll have to do that once I start medical school.
1. That is contradiction right there. Hard work is about
constant effort, that is what makes it
hard, otherwise anyone can do " occasional hard work " or " hard work
when you feel like it " , but that is not truly hard work, because hard work is
constant + when you do not feel like doing it.
2. Use your medication then.
3. Define "numerous". You might not need to get 8 hours of studying done every day, but you have to be able to do it from time to time, no one can predict what your need is going to be, some students can study 6 hours and get good results, others need to study double. The golden rule is this :
short breaks and you can study almost all day long - no one believes it until they get into Med school, but yes, studying for an entire day is often required, that doesn't mean you have to stay at your desk all day, because you can do 20 minutes of jogging in the morning, you can have 10 minutes of relaxation between sessions, you can even go swimming 60-90 minutes to relax your mind and muscles ( I am describing my schedule right now and it works like a charm ) , so all in all, you're not studying all day
without breaks, but you do have to design your whole day to fit in as much studying as possible - and later you will even have to work + studying, so never underestimate the things that can be done in a day.
4. This sounds like the most students' relationship with coffee.
Yes, it's true that Medical school amplifies whatever condition you already have : depression ? You're going to be even more depressed. Addicted ? You're going to be even more addicted. Poor time management skills ? You're going to have even more trouble managing your time.
However, all these problems are called
resistance - There is a resistance each time you want to evolve and to achieve a new level in your life. The difference between people who succeed and those who fail is
how they handle this resistance, how can they overcome their problems and themselves.
This is the reason for why no one can tell you whether you will succeed or not, because it's not about who you are right now, it is about who you are going to be in the next second : are you willing to change ? Are you willing to sweat blood for it ? Are you willing to sacrifice your comfort for it ?
Yes, I had ADHD and I still have it, but I have never taken Medicine for it. If I would have listened to all the people who told me that I'm not going to make it, then I would not be here, but I have done all I thought it was good to do and I have often gone through immense pain until I have learned to focus and to discipline my otherwise wild mind , because I did not let my ADHD limit me. I founded ways to look at it from a different perspective : what is the advantage of it ? Can I exercise more than my peers and not lose energy, but even be able to focus more ? Yes, I can ! I could. Every time I tasted success it was a sign that I can transform myself without being limited by the ADHD label.
You want to know why most people don't ever make it and they rely on medicine ?
Because
it is damn hard, but in a subtle way. For example, many people would not believe that meditation is difficult, but try doing it having ADHD and tell me how many minutes can you resist at the beginning. See ? That's what I'm talking about. And yes, meditation is incredibly powerful when it comes to managing ADHD.
OF course, medicine is always there, medicine is there for everything you can imagine, but the side effect is that you can get addicted to it, you will not be able to function without it, and that is not a good place to be. For me it was never an option. But many will disagree. Not a problem - The proof is in the pudding and I've made mine well.
