ADHD

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Once I achieve I lose motivation (lemmy.ml)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/adhd

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So I've noticed a pattern in my life that I was hoping someone could empathize with.

I've been training for over a year for a physical test that I really want to pass. The other day I tried to do the exercises that I'll have to do in the test and I completed all of them successfully and now I feel that I've lost some of my motivation to get better. It's as if I was trying to prove that I could do it and I feel that I have, although I really haven't since I haven't taken the test. I've noticed this before. A couple years ago I tried really hard to get into a prestigious degree in a reputable university through my own merit. I managed to get in and soon after I lost interest and quit. Has anyone experienced something like this before?

Thank you for your time :)

Ps.: I'm not sure this is related to ADHD, I just figured it might be and the people here might be able to advise me.

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[–] Acamon 19 points 7 months ago

Yeah, I think challenge can be a bit motivator for adhd folks. Once I've completed the main part of something, I find it really hard to care about the details, to the extent that the unfinished parts sometimes spoil the bit I had completed.

I feel like it's the dopamine of the chase is actually what's motivating, and challenge is a version of that. I'll get sucked into finding some obscure game and getting an emulator working to be able to play it and all the way I'm super engaged. Then I start playing this game I was so excited about and meh, don't care.

Maybe you could think about ways to refocus that drive? A therapist told me once that adhd people don't get satisfaction from completing things, but are excited about new things. So, instead of feeling proud of getting into college try and immediately find the new challenge (now I want to get a prostigious internship!) if you succeed at your fitness goals, maybe you can raise the stakes see if you can beat a friend or a record or something?