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Neurodivergent: think different.

(10 minute read.)

'Neuro... what? No I'd never heard of it either.'

Some of my characteristics I mask, and others I allow to run unchecked—celebrate, even. And although I've often been and am troubled by my foibles and oddities, I cheerily self-deprecate about them. I certainly don't see myself as a 'victim/sufferer'.

From a business/entrepreneurial viewpoint, I've advantages and disadvantages.

My view is that my characteristics are like 'fire and water'…

Individually, each is very powerful and they can be powerfully combined to produce steam.

Conversely, if incorrectly mixed they neutralise each other as the water extinguishes the fire.

And that's the situation with me; sometimes I use my characteristics well, other times disastrously.

Overall, I'm relatively creative and disciplined—though not as much as others: 'creative people' are more creative than me, and 'normal people' are more disciplined.

Additionally, because I'm not particularly motivated by money, but by the desire to do 'the thing itself and to do it well', I don't structure projects as commercially or guide/drive them as hard as others might do.

I've always organised my life around 'activities rather than acquisition (of money and stuff)'—leisure rather than work… and I long-since favoured self-employed rather than employed.

I've often wished I'd been a little more (though not hard-edged) money-oriented… it would have been useful, and I'd likely not have felt so bad about how I couldn't be like others with much less ability and working regular jobs from which they're seemingly financially prosperous, etcetera.

So… I have some of the 'entrepreneur gene' but not enough—and that's why I use the 'songwriter rather than singer' analogy.

My strength is conceiving the initial concept, developing a strategy for the development thereof, and thereafter guiding accordingly—somebody else can undertake and manage the day-to-day stuff.

And there'll always be a little money left on the table (a healthy business can provide better value than might be considered wise, and doesn't have to do some things simply because they're profitable).

Historically I've tended to consider myself flawed and inferior (compared with many people who're 'normal' but with just a fraction of my intelligence/abilities/experience/decency) and it's only recently (2022-23) that I'm beginning to change this view and better accept myself.

Although I'm genuinely good at what I do and have a lot of experience, I'll likely continue with 'Imposter Syndrome'…

A cognitive distortion which causes the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills, leading people to doubt their abilities and accomplishments.

But I prefer this to the 'Dunning-Kruger effect'… which suggests that unknowledgeable people lack the ability to recognise their lack of expertise, and thus overrate their knowledge and performance.

In practical terms… people who are really bad at something feel irrationally confident in their abilities because they are so ignorant about the subject that they don’t know how bad they really are.

They lack the proper context to assess their skills in any meaningful way. This overconfidence can lead to misunderstandings and mistakes that they could have avoided.

And while not wishing to be unduly critical, I've met many business owners/executives and entrepreneurs who vastly over-rate themselves and whose success has been largely due to luck or priviledge or inherited money or outright exploitation.

Anyway, having made my points, and in a rather lengthy manner, I'll now stop.

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