Careers For People With ADHD: What Pizza Pie Teaches Us About Career Discovery (2022)
- Sean McCormick
- Nov 7, 2022
- 3 min read
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You may be asking, “What does pizza have to do with my career discovery?"
A lot! So, let’s jump in.
Picture the hot delicious pizza you love. Straight from the oven, the pizza is a "whole" pie. Career & Life Coaches believe every person is creative, resourceful, and WHOLE.
Whole means complete as is despite experiencing confusion about what’s next.
I’ve noticed with my ADHD clients, you don’t always feel whole. Sometimes when things have been challenging, and you’re frustrated and doubting yourself and your decisions, you can feel the opposite of whole.
You think that something is missing and incomplete about you or your future plans.
It’s natural you feel a little stuck as you navigate future decisions about your college or career plans. It’s totally normal.
And the great news is, ADHD also reveals to us our many strengths. Sometimes we just have to go looking for them. Do you know yours yet? That brings us back to the pizza!
Whether you order a plain pie, half pepperoni and half mushroom, half anchovy and half meatball, each portion of pizza will be unique and serve its purpose – to serve the hungry!
Understanding our strengths becomes much easier when we think of it in smaller pieces.
Picture a typical small pizza divided into 6 slices. Similarly, like pizza, in career discovery, 6 different categories help you better understand how to choose a future pathway. Things about you and your future become clear when you separate your qualities into smaller chunks to help you understand your WHOLE self and how your strengths can be used in your career.
Below is a visual of the six parts of career discovery, and beneath it, a brief description of each area.
VALUES: What’s important to you, beliefs, principles and ideals that move you to take action? INTERESTS: What arouses your curiosity and fascinates you? How can my love of X benefit others? SKILLS: What are your learned abilities?
NATURAL ABILITIES: What are your inborn natural attributes?
PERSONAL STYLE: What’s your personality attributes?
CORE MOTIVATORS: What drives your actions and behaviors?
If you don’t know yet, that’s ok! Discovery takes time and it’s not an overnight process. But it can be interesting and even fun.
Picture how you choose your slice of pizza. You pause to admire the pizza as a whole, look at each piece, and you are intentional about finding the good in each piece.
Likewise, with career discovery, it's necessary to pause and be intentional about exploring your unique parts. This process helps you to make informed decisions about your future.
Andrea Tropeano is a Certified Career & Life Coach helping high school, college and adults with career discovery and coaching during challenging circumstances.
Andrea coaches ADHD students and adults and is currently enrolled in ADDCA (ADD Coach Academy) to obtain the next level of certification to best serve her clients.
You can find out more about her work at https://impactcareergrowth.com where you can discover your 6 pieces of strengths as you learn about your WHOLE self.
Hope this helps 🤙🏻
P.S. If you want to work on executive function skills with your students, consider joining hundreds of other educators and parents who have completed my Semester Success Blueprint Course. In less than 2 hours, this comprehensive course will teach you and your student the system I developed to help hundreds of students learn how to manage school effectively and raise their self-awareness and engagement with school.
About Me
Hey! I'm Sean 👋
I'm a former public school special education teacher who realized that executive function skills are more important than knowing when George Washington crossed the Potomac.
Since then, I've made it my mission to teach anyone who will listen about how to develop these key life skills.
In 2020, I founded Executive Function Specialists to ensure all students with ADHD and Autism have access to high-quality online executive function coaching services. We offer online EF coaching and courses to help students and families.
Realizing I could only reach so many people through coaching, in 2021 I started the Executive Function Coaching Academy which trains schools, educators, and individuals to learn the key strategies to improve executive function skills for students.
In 2023, I co-founded of UpSkill Specialists, to provide neurodivergent adults with high-quality executive function coaching services.
When not pursuing my passions through work, I love spending time with my family, getting exercise, and growing my brain through reading. You can connect with me on LinkedIn.
Want me to speak on executive function skills at your event? Learn more about my speaking topics here.