ADHD and Business

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

ADHD, tick tock, people, work, videos, business, started, accounts, coach, Harvard, blow, content, hacks, audience, niche, algorithm, thought, tik tok, posting, 

Hello, and welcome to the show. My name is Robert Lyon, your favorite business coach, and your favorite host. And today we have the great opportunity to talk to Aaron Croft. He's an ADHD coach. He's just a cool guy. He's got a large following on Tik Tok and YouTube and went to Harvard. So Aaron, once you kind of introduce yourself and tell everybody a little bit about who you are, and kind of what you're up to. Cool. Thanks, Robert. So good to be here. Appreciate it. Yeah, so I, I was basically like, my life was on rails at 18. But I hadn't made gotten to Harvard. And that just started a 15-year shitshow failure until it 33 ended up broke divorced and earning minimum wage. And then really, you know, my original coaching business was around, you know, how I rebuilt my life from that to a successful fortune 500 careers getting remarried, and then, you know, starting a side hustle, which now became my full-time gig. And then just recently, in the last, you know, few months, I've sort of repositioned what I was doing, instead of just doing pure kind of ADHD coaching and running group programs, you know, five-figure launches, started helping other coaches and content creators and course creators who have ADHD, to overcome those challenges, and also do what I did, and sort of, you know, leave the corporate world and make this your full-time gig.

That's awesome. And so I kind of want to live a little vicariously through so what, what was it like going to Harvard? You know, I just picture you guys like sipping brandy and reading leatherback books and stuff like that. Well, what was the reality of actually going to Harvard, and kind of what was that experience? Like? Yeah, I mean, you know, so like, a lot of like Sherlock Holmes esque type, law, lot of a lot of like tartan and Burberry. No, you know, it was, um, as honestly super intimidating. Because, you know, the way I got in was, I just am a naturally good test taker, I had a really good social support structure growing up, like, you know, older sisters who were also smart, like Jewish parents who forced me to, like, not goof off in school, and like, really smart friends who would be like, Hey, Aaron, you want to study and then we'll play basketball, I'm like, Sure. And so I lost a lot when I got to Harvard. And you know, I still didn't know I had ADHD. I just thought I was like, the lazy kid who like thought he was too good to like, read a book cover to cover because I didn't in high school, and like, always read the CliffsNotes and always did everything and like the absolute last minute, like, in an utter panic, I just thought that it was like Aaron's just like too cool for school, because that's what my mom said. But then I got to Harvard. And like, all these smart people like could just sit down and do shit. It was, it was so intimidating. I mean, that's kind of why I do this podcast. So I get to talk to smart people. You got to go to Harvard. It's pretty cool. I mean, I just think it's like, interesting. Well, also having ADHD and being able to get into Harvard and survive Harvard Man, that's like an accomplishment in itself, if you think about it, because, I mean, my thing is, like, I'm ADHD got, you know, all the learning disabilities, whatever they all are, but I turned it into like a superpower. I got like, so pissed off at just life in general, that I basically had to force myself to start learning. And I use that as a launching pad to get me where I am now and all my successes and things like that. But in the beginning, you know, reading just sucked writing just sucked. Like, it just wasn't my thing. You know, I was a communication person and things like that. So I think that's pretty neat. So no, I'm totally Sorry. Go ahead. Yeah, no, I was just going to ask you what do you what do you go to Harvard for what would your degree what is psychology? I think I read that right. So I wanted to do psychology, which is really important for us ADHD is to kind of pursue what we have natural interest in. But my my mom had gone to college in like the 60s and stuff and she said, psychology is like a major like psychology used to be like the whole like, get like an art history degree. Like it was just the thing, like you got a degree in like you couldn't do anything with unless you got a PhD. And like, you just hated your parents afterwards. So my mom was like, You're not doing psychology. So I did computer science and at university you're a coach so that's kind of more psychology I feel like Oh, yeah. Oh, no, I completely went back to psychology like right completely went back. Yeah, I mean, you like it's an accomplishment to get through like short version is I graduated with a total of three years of credits because I had so many high college credits from high school, and that included dropping out twice. So it took me five years to finish three years of college. So like, that puts me on like the six or seven year plan. So it was an accomplishment, but I wouldn't say it was a pretty accomplishment. Yeah, it was. Oh, it was your upbringing, though, it's still pretty badass that you managed to do all that. So, now forward to today, you know, what are you doing now? What's going to get you excited about what you got going on? Well, what's really got me excited is, you know, I was sitting there like two and a half years ago now, sitting in this corporate job. And I finally like rebuilt my career, I was a senior manager at a fortune 500 company like Whoopty Woo, like putting on little fancy clothes every day. A little feeling all important. There's only one problem was that like, it was just one of those things where like, you're like, if I died in a year, I would have hated the choices that I'm making. Like, like I started making choices that are purely like, I'm making this choice because I'm planning to live for the next 20 years. But like, I'm actually not happy with what I'm doing. It doesn't fill me up. And gas. So then my wife was like, Well, why don't you just share people with like your ADHD hacks. I'm like, what HG hack. She's like, you have a lot of hacks that you use, but like, so much of like, our natural gifts, and the things that we can contribute are transparent to us, because they're so natural to us. And so just part of who we become that we can't see them, right. So anyway, she helped me see them, I started was able to quit, and which I never thought I'd be able to do. And now this is like my full time thing. I pulled in six figures in my first year, blah, blah, blah, like Whoopty Woo. But now I'm just excited because I see that not only do other people struggle with the ADHD productivity, but there's a lot of ADHD are sitting in these jobs that they don't like, no, they want to do something meaningful. No, they want the time freedom that comes from the kind of work you and I do around being entrepreneurs setting up your own business, but are just are stymied, like they can't figure out how to get themselves to do what they want to do. I mean, I'm more the opposite. We're all just do a billion things as hard as crazy as I possibly can get bored, and then jump ship and start a new thing. It's awful. It's it's a nightmare, to be honest with you. But it also is, you know, it's taken me places that, you know, I never would have imagined and I've gotten to do so many different things. And I've learned so much, you know, so there's just so much. So there's there's two ways of questions that I kind of have for you like, the first one is do you believe people with ADHD should be? There's this weird, it's called like a multi potential light where they try and do all these different things? Or do you believe more like, you know, the same avoidance thing where like, you just focus on one thing, and you just have to force yourself to do it, and you will get more success? What is kind of it come down to or how have you been helping people? I guess? Yeah. Well, so.

So I guess one quick clarification to offer, Robert, is that with ADHD years, there's, you know, there's really, there's three kinds of ADHD, there's kind of a hyperactive impulsive, which is sort of the stereotypical Titan there's combined. And then there's just inattentive type. And that's what a lot of women deal with. That's what they tend the inattentive type is kind of just you have trouble just getting stuff done that you want to get done. But you're not hyperactive, you're not a behavior problem. So you never really get diagnosed, unless you're not causing problems. So you're much less likely to get diagnosed. So I don't know where you'd fall in that category. But I could be all three, you know? Yeah. I don't know. Right? So you probably be a combined, right, like, you have some hyperactive impulsivity and,  so look, they all come with their benefits and challenges. But in some ways, the hyperactive impulsive presentation like where you bring some of that is actually an asset, right? Because a lot of people I've worked with in that space, like you will just get out and do a bunch of stuff. Like, I mean, I knew, I knew some people that like got more done in a day than I ever even dreamed of. They just had trouble kind of directing their their focus on what they chose to get done. But they were like the most hardworking, productive people I've ever met. Me. And a lot of my clients are like, super lazy. Like, we get like a few hours of work done a day, if we're lucky. In my, in my experience, doing the multi potentiate or however you say that doesn't really work for that crowd. I'm okay doing it as a experimentation pilot beta test iteration process, like, let me figure out where I can best contribute. But then as quick as possible, like narrow that shit down and really focus on those few things that you can do exceptionally well and free your focus up from the rest, right? So what's the word like find your golden gifts or whatever it is, and then just focus on that. I mean, so I've, I was counting the other day, and I've started over 25 businesses, right, and I'm not saying that to brag, I'm just saying that it's ridiculous. So that means that I went from this is going to be Plan A all the way to plan Z and I'm back on Plan A now with another business that I'm gonna launch and it's going to start but as I've gotten older and and I've kind of figured it out, it's like I really just need to focus on one thing at a time, right? So in order to focus on one thing at a time, I just have to do all these different tricks and different hacks, you know, Gotta put like earplugs in or something, like focus on one thing for one business. And also sometimes life will just just beat you up. So you have to do things, you know what I mean? And that's my get the most work done is like the last minute, the dire straits or whatever, I'll finally finish a whole report or do whatever I got to do. So what are some hacks for that you have found that helps people to be more productive and just kind of get things done as a add? person, I guess I really, I really break it into three pieces. So the neurotypical slogan, so I contrast them with the neurotypical slogans, the neurotypical slogans, right, that are very common, and everyone has their various versions, right? There's things like, just do it, you know, it's not that hard, no pain, no gain. Right. And on the flip side, I sort of built this ADHD productivity model, which is basically people power, easy prevails and pressure free practice. So the idea is on like, the people power stuff, right, is our brains kick in when we have deadlines, when we have other people counting on something from us? And so and so, literally, you know, how do we then artificially create that in a way to support our goals, because it exists by default in other people's goals, right? Like, your spouse wants you to do something your boss wants you to do something your colleague wants, you do something like that exists, because they make the request and then they hound you and follow up till it's done. But for your own goals, it doesn't exist by default, because you're the only keeper of it right? And so we need to artificially set up or create or find accountability structures, masterminds, you know, coaches, other people who can hold for us those commitments so that we get the same Oh, crap, I said that was going to happen to that person. And I don't want to let them down that we do on everyone else's goals. That's so crazy that you say that just because the business coach had been doing it for years. But I would have these moments where I would kind of fall off and you know, get into the what did you like the negative sayings of things in my head or whatever. And then I started doing sales instead of business coaching, right, so I veered off a little bit. And then I started doing sales for a business coach who wasn't that great of a coach, but it just wanted to kind of get back in the game. And as soon as I started working with him, even though I was a better business coach than him, I started to, like light that fire under my ass, like, oh, yeah, this is what I want to do, this is the thing that I have to do. So just just having someone there, even if they don't do anything, he literally didn't do anything he was he was a terrible business.

But just having someone there who can at least just say, hey, let's just do this go this direction, allowed me to just get 10 times more energy done, just because I had someone to bounce ideas off of, and kind of not necessarily hold me accountable or anything, but just have I don't know why I just needed somebody else there just to stand there and be like a random, like a blob that just told me sometimes ideas that I could talk to you. I mean, but as long as I knew where I was going, I was so much more focused and more just going in the right direction. So I think you're 100% Right. So you would recommend, find mentors, find coaching programs, find things like that? Is that kind of like one of the hacks that you found that has helped you? Or is that what you're saying? 100 100% Yeah, that's cool. Because what happens is, as I said, like, everyone else's goals have default people power built in, because the other person's gonna bug you. And all the most important goals, your goals don't have that built in. But it's really hard, especially like, you at least get shit done, Robert, like, especially if like, you know, some of your listeners are kinda way, way less successful or effective than you are. And it's scary to set up an accountability structure with your spouse or your best friend or your colleague, because there's because you're just gonna give them more evidence that you suck at following through. Yeah, I think I think you have to get out of your comfort zone, I think you have to have somebody who's a little more alpha, or I don't think alpha is the right word, but a little bit more ahead of you in a way whereas because like if I if I tell my girlfriend, I'm going to do stuff, she's like, oh, yeah, you said that 25 times, you know, we're not gonna all agree and go with it, but I'm not actually going to hold the feet to the fire and stuff unless I have to you know, so that's just that's that's a very cool and you got any other any other tips? I guess because I like being able to hear things from other people's lives. Oh, totally. Yeah. So I mean, the second one in that sort of model right is the alternative to no pain no gain is easy prevails, right. So like James clear in atomic habits references the law of least effort, which basically says that our brains are going to do the thing that takes the least effort, like it's just natural, like they're going to flow, basically downstream, like whatever is downhill, easiest path. And so I'm really just taking that opportunity to engineer our environment, engineer our environment, such that the things We want it to become easier to do. And equally, the shit we don't want to do becomes a lot harder to do. So look, I mean, you and I know that if you want to really get good focused work done, you can't have 50 like notifications going off, you can't have text messages and email pop ups, interrupting your flow. If you're trying to like, you know, I don't know, script, a YouTube video or do something, right. Like, you're trying to do something that requires focus, you can't have all those, but sometimes it's just too tempting. Right? So it's just, it's just how do we systemize systematize? Which word is that? I think maybe they're both word. Yeah, systematize having making the stuff we want to do easier, making the stuff we don't want to do harder to do. So setting up things like notification blockers setting up Do Not Disturb setting up putting our phone away when we're doing work sessions. So just little things like, like, it doesn't have to be hard. And the other part about easy prevails, is tapping into the stuff that you intrinsically find enjoyable, and that you're just intrinsically good at. Right? Like, you're good at talking to people in sales, Robert, like, it's super clear, right, and like you're good at, you're good at like big picture, trying stuff like you don't have like, you're willing to take risks and like take a bunch of action, you've accepted that and you've embraced it kind of like that zone of genius idea, right? Like, you're like, cool, this is my unique ability, I'm just gonna roll with this. But a lot of people think that they don't have permission to do that. And they think that things have to be hard, because they've been hard their whole lives. And if it comes easy to them, then it doesn't count. If they can do it quickly, it doesn't count. And they think that that has to be a struggle, which is just not sustainable. You know, for a business. Well, also, it's a mindset thing, like, if you think it's going to be a struggle, it's going to be a struggle. Whereas if you have like, this is going to be my North Star, this is what I want to do. You can convince yourself or you can create, like a alter ego that really loves doing stuff that you hate, you know, is that that's that's, that's kind of more advanced, obviously, I don't think everybody's on that level. But I think it's a very interesting thing. You know, with ADHD, it's like, you really have to have a balance, because you can also like, number one, if you have a good coach, right? You need a good coach, okay, because some of the biggest mistakes that I've made in my life was because I wasn't 100% Confident in something. And somebody told me to do something different than what I wanted to do. And that goes against ADHD that goes against, like everything. And like that was one of the biggest mistakes I've done is because I, instead of listening to myself, which I knew I should have done, I picked up somebody else's idea who was not he was not a mentor, he was just a co worker, and I was like, Okay, maybe you're right, we should go in this direction. And that was the wrong direction. Or I'll just use him as a scapegoat, you know, blown up or whatever. But you got to have a good, good coach, like you got to, you got to have somebody who knows what they're doing, I think, because you can't just listen to everybody. And I think it also kind of comes back to like, you know, if you don't have a plan, or if you don't know where you're going, or if you don't know what you like doing, then you're gonna fall into somebody else's plan, and you're gonna end up doing what they want you to do in a way. So kind of interesting about it. Yeah, I love what you said there. Right. So and I think that I think that a lot of people are still a little bit slow to catch up to this change, right? So there's this idea of information versus education, pre internet days, pre explosion of the internet, like information was super valuable, right? Because it was hard to find, where are you going to get it, blah, blah. And a lot of people are still stuck in that pre internet mindset. Whereas in reality, what all of your people want, all your listeners want everything right is they really want education they want. They don't want it as no stuff. They want to be able to do stuff differently. And you know, a lot of the old school stuff was just focused on information, right? Like, you know, you just said, you know, you just sort of like, Oh, here's the information, pay $2,000 for it, but really like what people need now is, there's too much information, there are too many things to do. What people need now is they need someone that can one help them on the education, support their transformation, not just kind of be like, Oh, here's all things do. But equally kind of as you were saying, they need people to tell them all the things not to do for myself. I'm the person that has to go run headfirst into a wall and then find the door somehow. Like I got to do everything the hardest way possible, as opposed to just listening. Oh, yeah, totally sane, like super stubborn. But like all these people I've talked to are like trying to start a podcast, a Facebook group on Instagram, run a bunch of lives on YouTube, get their LinkedIn going, figure out what they're offering is trying to figure out their target customer trying to do this in like,

like they're just trying to do too many things because they've read about all these things. And they've, they've heard about all them and they've consumed them in free content and they need they need help figuring out what not to do in those areas. Like okay, you know what, why don't you put your LinkedIn aside for now, because given your target audience, and, you know, why don't why don't you order it in these ways? And you know what, let's hold off on the Facebook group or let's hold off on starting your podcast. Yeah. Right. I mean, you should really listen to one mentor at a time to I feel like are one source of information like we're talking about, there's just so much information out there now. And it's just like, you can go down a rabbit hole at any time during the day just randomly, because especially if you have ADD, you're just like, Oh, I'm gonna go learn e commerce for the next six months and then not do anything.

So it's very interesting. So, I mean, you just have to pick your Northstar. And I mean, sadly, like I said, I've done so many different things, almost all those businesses I've sold, or they've just blown up in my face, or, you know, I still have them and I'm still half assed running them. And they're still sometimes making money and things like that. I've been having this epiphany. So I mean, from sales, and from everything else, it's like, whoever has the biggest dream, kind of wins in sales. And it's a kind of a marketing thing in a way, so but if you're gonna have a big enough dream, right, so I sold real estate coaching, and I did all this other stuff for real estate. And the reason people loved real estate is because it's such a big dream. It's like, oh, I have all these houses and make all these big money. And that would actually get a lot of people really motivated, though, to actually take action and to, you know, want to quit their job and go where they want to go. So you need to figure out for yourself, you know, what's your big dream, I feel like and then you have to keep that focus. And you got to like write it down every day, or every time you go to sleep or put on the background of your phone or something like this is what I'm going towards so that you can get rid of all the noise and only focus on going where you want to go. You know, that's kind of the the secret that I've personally found in order to not keep reinventing the wheel and doing all this other stuff.

Well, it's tricky, dude. It is tricky, man. It's his life, you know, there's no real right answer. Everybody has to figure it out for themselves. But you know, having a good mentor, having a big dream, and then staying focused on it. And just driving all out is kind of what I've found kind of works, you know what I mean? It's working and hopefully I'll get better and better and keep growing and keep getting better as it is so.

So now you kind of launched into this awesome ADHD coaching thing and and I want to learn a little bit more like, how did you start? And then like, when did you kind of blow up on tick tock? Is that kind of how you got a lot of customers? Or what, what was the recipe for you to get that business off the ground? Yeah, it's good question. It was a pretty crazy story. So like, I was sitting there, I think it was 2019. New Year, I was doing some journaling exercise and actually did a journaling exercise, basically, which was like if you if you were to die in a year, a doctor told you that like what would you regret or what would you do? And I was like, Man, I would regret going to the grave with all of the like hoarding all the knowledge because I've just been like, you know, one of these like, self development like nerds like gurus going up all the Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey, Brendon, Burchard, like, you name it, I've been into it. 

I was like, I'm gonna go to my grave, just having only just consumed it, right, like, not shared it with anyone else. Like, it was just purely just selfish for Aaron. And, and so that kind of lit a fire. I was like, Alright, I want to like I want to start helping other Share, share what I've learned, it doesn't even have to be a business. I don't even care right now, I just want to do this. So that like, if I were to die, like I wouldn't be like super regretful. And then after a few months, I was like, Ah, I can't do this. It's too hard to like, quit my job. So like, stormed into my office and saw my saw one of my mentors told him, he was like, take a deep breath. Let's, maybe you can find ways to do that in your job anyway. So he kept me from quitting, which was awesome. That was very nice of him. Because, you know, as you and I both know, like, this isn't like very little of online business is like a get rich quick scheme overnight. Like, it's a lot of trial and error. It's hard work. And so thank God, he kept me from quitting on the spot, because I wouldn't I wouldn't be here where I'm at right now. Had I done that, because that would have set me up for failure. But he gave me the idea of like, why don't you just do this on the side, effectively, and so I then just started prioritizing it as a side hustle. So I simplified it down to make videos. As long as I share what I'm doing, and sort of like Seth Godin says write like little kids make art for the sake of making art, they don't say how am I going to get paid for this art, like they make it for the joy of making so I kept trying to tap into like, let me make this for the sake of making it as a way to contribute without trying to figure out where it's going to take me but I know that if I contribute enough, like, you know, good things will happen and I'll just enjoy it. And so I was posting on YouTube for like six months. And you know, it was like, let's get in like a little bit of growth. I think I hit 1000 subscribers, which is like a pretty big deal in YouTube land by like five months, and that was like hard ass work. And and then Alima to who has a YouTube channel, it's like 130,000 subscribers called like the psych show or something. He said, Why don't you on Tik Tok? Like if I didn't have so many YouTubes try First, I would start on tick tock. Yeah. And then I just started like filming content on there. And like, then a few months I was 30,000 subscribers, everyone was like really diggin my stuff. And then it grew to over 100,000. But when I hit the 30,000 mark, this was like, shortly before my 40th birthday, and I had set the goal to quit the corporate prison by my 40th birthday. And so a couple of weeks before that, I was like, I got 30,000 followers. I don't know how I'm gonna make money. But I know if you have an audience, it means you can monetize it in some way. And so I gave notice, and said goodbye to my multiple six figure corporate salary. No. So was this around like, sorry, it was around like, 2020 that you went viral on Tiktok. So you might have got in pretty early? No, it was March 2021. It was like a year and a year and a half ago. Yeah, that's, it was real. Tic Tac was just like blowing up. Like, you could get really good. So that's, that's pretty awesome. Did you know that your niche was ADHD, like entrepreneur stuff when he first started? Or did you just start making videos or have that workout? That's See, this is how I know you're a business coach, because most people don't even necessarily think to ask that question. Because they just assume that like a niche thing, you just kind of, you know, do like a one hour brainstorm session. But like you and I know that like, that's Yeah, exactly. That's not That's not the process, right. So. So, rewind, so So Tiktok was March 2021, which is like, you know, 618 months ago, whatever, 17 months ago, rewind, a year before that, when, you know, when I kept myself, my mentor kept me from quitting, I started creating content. So I started with book summaries.

And I made, I made six book summaries, and then quit doing that.

Then I started a blog, published 21 articles and 21 days, and then realize that I still hated writing as much as I did in high school, quit that, then I started doing 21 day challenges, and running 21 day challenges. So did that to stop drinking for 21 days, stop complaining and build my first online course, all that stuff, but then then quit 21 day challenges after, you know, a few months. And you know, it was really only at that time, about six months in that I realized a lot of my articles were about productivity. But I had this really interesting conversation with myself. And then with my wife, which was, what is it that I'm afraid to share? What is it that I'm afraid for people to know? And I would encourage all your audience to really ask themselves that question, because so much of you know, what has people connect with us today on social media is that authenticity and vulnerability, because everyone's dealing with their shit. But very few people are willing to be authentic about that. They're dealing with the same stuff. And so I started making a list. And it was like, oh, you know what, that I dropped out of Harvard twice before graduating two years later, right. Like, like, it was things like that I have ADHD in the corporate world, it was things like that I was broke divorced and earning minimum wage, like not that long earlier. Um, you know, it was all the that I'd failed on my first seven jobs and businesses. And as I really talk through these and said, you know, what's the worst that would happen? If I if I went public with this and really kind of put some thought into it. And I realized that a lot, one a lot bad wouldn't happen to I had answers for, you know, if my boss found my social media posts, and, you know, I pre scripted things, and all of a sudden, that gave me the permission. So instead of saying things like, you know, with ADHD with productivity, like, oh, you know, if you're kind of tight, B and lazy like I am, and you have trouble getting stuff done, I just got to be out front and be like, if you have ADHD, and you struggle to get things done, like I do, so it was sort of like, I'd been talking about it encoded language, but I didn't even know that until I asked myself what I was afraid to people would find out. That's profound. And I like that. So, I mean, I just, I don't know if I 100% agree. I mean, I thought I go through these phases, right? Where I'm like, I'm just gonna be 100% authentic online, and everyone's gonna see who I really am. And then I go back to just like, you know, trying to be smarter than I am and act like, you know what I mean? So like, it's, it's a, it's a fine balance. I think authenticity feels better and it's amazing. But sometimes you also have to put on a little bit of a, an alter ego and a little bit. You can't be 100% yourself all the time.

 I feel like in some cases, so I agree with you, that it has to be a thing but also, if you really want to have become the next version of yourself, you kind of have to pretend to be that next version of yourself before you actually are there, you know, and it doesn't really matter. I mean, I guess social media, like, if you think about it, who cares, the social media thinks you should be 100% authentic. But at the same time, acting a little bit, having an alter ego that is a little bit further ahead of you in life is going to pull you into that person that you want to become. So I feel like I think there's a little bit of a balance there. If I think that's I asked really good, nuanced forever. I'm glad you said that. Right? Because, um, yeah, I think you're, I think you're 100% right there. So yeah, let's let's dissect that. I think the I think the authenticity piece comes into simply just being willing to share our failures and our challenges, and not pretend that, you know, not pretend that it's easy to just get riches overnight, and that everything's just gonna fall on you. And you could do this 20 minute niche exercise and have your niche picked out for the rest of your life. Like, you know, I think it's just, you know, what, I tried this, and you know, what, I started these 25 businesses, and, you know, some of you know, like, it's just, I think, I think people know, deep down that it's not as pretty as the glossy marketing stuff. So I'm all fine with putting with being who you with living into your future self. So I love that you said that. I love that idea of like, We honestly, we're not just sitting there like, oh, man, dude, I'm just like, I've been feeling like a terrible human all morning. And I'm super, you know, like, like, we get on with stuff. And like, we show up the way we want to.

But I think a lot of people are better at doing that better at putting on better at being, you know, acting for the camera, social media the way that they want to, and they're not as good at being like, you know what, I'm also a human. Yes, I'm further along the path than you on this thing that you want to achieve. Yes, I can help you. Yes, I have some expertise here. And I'm also like you in a lot of ways, right? I struggle with the same things, you know, and I'm not gonna pretend I didn't or pretend that like, I'm so smart that I just got to skip those steps. No, I agree. I think authenticity. I think it's a balance, though. I think I think I think you're right. The fact what you said before is share in what you're afraid of, you know, like that. That's, that's incredible. That's powerful. That's the hook. Right? That's, that's how you get people's attention. And then you can also go into a little bit more. But yeah, I think there's a balance. So I think it's pretty safe. Yeah, he blew my mind a little bit. So that's pretty cool, man.

Yeah,

I go, I go for at least like two mind blows per conversation.

That's my goal. So I want to I want to get weird and get into some tick tock strategies. So what do you think helped you kind of blew blow up? Or what what? What have you found works well, for growing your audience now that now that you've, you've picked a niche, right, I think I think there's so much power in the niches, you know what I mean? And they everybody says it, nobody fucking does, or at least I don't do it.

But once you actually do get a niche, you're able to get so clear on who your audience is your customer avatar, whatever it is, whoever you're talking to, I guess what does work for you. I before I ramble on about what I think because you got 100,000, Tiktok followers, and you're doing good stuff, man. I think there's there's some strategy, and there's some tactics, right. So on the strategy side of things, again, this kind of goes into the same thing. So people are really good at creating what I would call authority content, right? Here's the five steps to do this. Here's the three things you should do to lose weight, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, and, but what I find most and then people find, they might do some dumb random trends and dances and stuff. But that says nothing about your value that you can bring to your customers in your bet you're doing with your online business, right? Because that's who you are. And I work with, where people I find tend to be weaker, is in what I would call relatability content. And so it sort of dovetails with our past conversation around authenticity. But it's really this right? If you take the premise that people aren't on tick tock to get educated, they're on tick tock to get entertained first. So you need to have edutainment, right, it needs to be entertaining first. And then then you can you know, slip in the vegetables of education. And so what does that look like in the relatability side of things? Well, one of my favorite hacks for relatability is kind of along the lines that we just talked about, but brainstorming what are the what are the secret thoughts, behaviors and feelings that your audience goes through? And then you simply act those out. And you put them on loudspeaker. You just put them on display? So like, I have a meditation coach, that's a client and it's like Oh, you know what, secretly when people are meditating, they're thinking like, what am I going to have for dinner tonight? And why is this so effing boring? And I wonder if I should get a pedicure. And so literally just like filming a video of her meditating, but then voicing over like really like, what meditation is really like, and then voicing over those thoughts. That's so relatable to her audience of, you know, females over 40 who were trying to build a meditation practice. So that's what I mean by like relatability content that I found to be a really great and that a lot of people don't do very well. I like that. Well, especially for tick tock. That's like, that's like the bread and butter of tick tock is kind of edutainment especially It depends who you are. You could just be pure entertainment but we're trying to be coaches on tick tock, I think right. Like that's kind of like your niche is like help ADHD coaches make more money online and things like that and get people's attention. I like authority content, but I like edutainment, and I think you're right with the being more authentic and brainstorming different ideas of how to be more of your authentic self. I think it works. I mean, I love like your tick tock, tick tock, so badass, everybody, everybody listening to the podcast. Go check out Aaron's Tik Tok. It's fun. It's all about ADHD. And it's just it's pure edutainment as you said. Yeah. What are your hacks or tactics? Like what are you thinking? These days? What do you like? And I've, I've, I've gone down the Tick Tock rabbit hole and tick tock is awesome. So tick tock has changed though. So I feel like last year around March, when you really blew up, it was a lot easier to get attention, it was a lot easier. And it was because you were able to get on to the the for you page. Cool thing about tick tock is the viability right, everybody likes tick tock. But the way that the algorithm works, it's kind of like when you throw like a pebble in the water, right. So you're you put out a piece of video content, and then it spreads out to a certain amount of people, that certain amount of people watches the video, it's all about watch time engagement. Basically, people staying on the platform, right. And then if it does, well, for that first little, that little pebble, it'll spread out to a bigger pond and a bigger pond and a bigger pond. So the the new things that I'm discovering on Tik Tok are, you can so I've got five of them, actually.

 But the weirdest one is that if you start multiple channels, right, so let's say like you have your main channel, that's where you're just going to put out all your content, you're going to be testing stuff, you're going to just like, just do everything that you possibly can, for once you kind of get like shadow banned, or you're not getting enough traction with that one, you want to download all the best videos that you did on your tick tock, right. And then you create like four other channels, or five or whatever other channels that are brand new, and you just put out your best content, right, but you're gonna put the same video out on each one of these different platforms, and you're gonna find that one of them or two of them are gonna get way more views than the other channels. So once you find the one that gets way more views, you're gonna delete all the ones that do poorly. And you're just gonna go with that channel, right, so that's how you gonna go. And it's because when you put out videos on certain platforms, or certain accounts, you'll be throwing pebbles into different crowds of audiences. And there's going to be one of those channels is going to actually hit a crowded audience that really views your content or really likes it, right. So this is how you can have multiple tiktoks. And you're just going to be putting out old videos that you did from your main account that did really well. And you're going to see if they're still performing really well. So that's like, that's like a really weird, really strange hack that you can do. But once you have a niche like you do, like, it's perfect, because now you're gonna have a couple different accounts, and you're gonna have one that just explodes. And that's the one that you're gonna take, keep writing up until it gets shadow banned again, or something like that. Now, you don't want to do this, Robert. So Robert, I love that right. And I can totally see your background and like internet marketing, thinking how like we A B tests, or like adcb run all this, I love it. Like I love that sort of strategic thinking and like so that like just is music to my ears?

what variables are you controlling for? So when you've got those five platforms, when you've got those five accounts or four accounts? Are you posting all the videos at the same time? And like you're keeping the time and the content the same? Or are you using the different the different? If so, what's the difference between the four accounts or are using the different accounts as a way to just randomly kind of test the videos at different times and see who you happen to reach? Now so you want you're basically you're just finding a new fresh account to blow up essentially, right? So you got that 30,000 Right when that back in the day and you were like holy shit, like so you can re recreate that essentially, by just putting out content that is already working really well or has done very well in the past. Right? So this is just like, like, if you're gonna with ADHD, this is not the best plan, but you're gonna have you're gonna have those other accounts right? And you're gonna post at the same time every day. So you're gonna set like three alarms on your phone. So it's gonna be like, you know, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Enter. And once you figure out what of those times really hits, as well as which of those accounts really hits, then you're just going to post it that time on that account. And you're going to repeat that kind of thing. And you're kind of like split testing in the sense, like you were talking about. And what happens is, once that channel blows up, then you're gonna go into the next phase, which is where you're just gonna go live on that channel. So you're gonna go live on the channels that are doing really well, like a lot, like, like, that's, that's the thing that nobody wants to do. But it's the thing that tick tock is pushing really hard right now, is if you go live on the channel that's doing really well as the best audience that has the performing videos, that's how that channel is just going to absolutely blow up. And then you can get viral again, and when you know of a lot of people, when you go viral on Tiktok, you make a lot of money, especially if you have a good offer, or a lead magnet, or whatever it is. So I mean, you don't just you want to build a relationship with your audience, right. But when your account starts only getting like 200 views on some really good videos that you think is badass, I mean, it's a grind, you know, but and you got to have something that's going to light that fire back into your audience or get new eyeballs on your offer or start to see things and it's also the power of tick tock, that's why tick tock is so badass, because you could just go viral and go on the for you page, and then you make a bunch of money, or you get a new bunch of clients or, you know, you're actually helping people, right, so you're gonna be able to help more people when you do weird stuff like this, okay, so, but that's those are just like the two main Hacks is like, spam a couple accounts, delete the ones that do shitty, focus on the ones that do really well. And then just go live. And then keep reposting videos that do well, and you can kind of experiment with them. And then you can make on your main account, your main account is just for blasting out content that you make that you think is going to do really good. And then when something actually does really good, you take that video and you put it on these other accounts or whatever, you know, like, and this is just kind of a way to snowball and go viral again on tick tock. The next one that I want to talk about is SEO on tick tock. So back in March, like when you were blown up, I was selling for another coaching company that was absolutely millions of views on tick tock, and we were making oodles of cash and it was ridiculous. But that kind of slow down, you can't get on the for you page, there's a lot more competition now tick tock has kind of changed, right? It's changed from the viral platform to now it's the pay to promote your video and SEO kind of platform. So the way that you do tick tock SEO, but what what what would it be like somebody would search for, you know, in search. So it'd be like, ADHD struggles? You know, why not? Well, just for the sake of the conversation. So what you would do then is you would say, in the first the first sentence of the video would be like, Do you struggle with ADHD? Or what are your ADHD struggles, okay, and then in the text that you actually type on the video. So I know you add captions to your videos, and that's fine. So when you say that it's going to be there, but you also want to type the thing that you want to show up in the search bar in the text on the TIC tock video, right. And then when you post the video, you also want to use the exact same phrase on the comment or whatever the hell that little box of the thing. And then what happens is when you post that video, you're gonna now rank for ADHD struggles. And it's crazy. But it's because algorithm, the Tick Tock algorithm switched from paid and SEO. So that's a new way to go. Because people are actually searching on tick tock for answers like, like, we were talking about going down the rabbit hole on all these things. Like if you go to tick tock and you type something in, there's certain videos that pop up first. And it's because they did SEO on their little videos. I mean, you know what SEO is, right.

And that's a powerful thing. So then you combine those things, right, you start a bunch of weird accounts, you find ones that go really well you start going really live on those channels, and then you start doing SEO on all those videos. And this is how you can be at the top of TiC tock algorithm. And that these are out of the box ideas, obviously hooks, you know, posting times, you know, shaking your butt for the algorithm.

Like all that stuff is really important, like keep putting out content and stuff. But this is the next phase I feel like of how to keep blowing up and kind of hack the algorithm a little bit. So I wanted to share that and it was kind of fun. I was thinking about Yeah, no, no, it was awesome to hear it. And you know, I got permission from Robert before we started recording that I could ask him some questions too. So it was awesome to hear um, but I'm still not clear on the separate accounts. Is it purely are you using the exact same clip bin and hashtags? Like is what is it would be no who really well but what is it that you're testing between the four accounts so you take a video that you know performs? Well because you took it from your main account so now you and then you put it on your four burner accounts right? Are you purely just testing the dumb or let Luck of the algorithm that it's going to promote one more than another and the people who happen to see it are just gonna like it and I'll make on to for you. Are you doing any other because you're doing it at the same time? You know, the same videos getting posted on all four of these

burner accounts, right? Well, what, what are the variables that you're changing? Or is it just purely algorithm roulette? Well, you already know that the videos perform well, right. And the weird thing is that these accounts, sometimes when you start an account, it's shadow banned for no reason. I don't know why I don't know the insides of their algorithm just know for a fact because I've tested this stupid stuff. And then there's other and then there's other accounts that are not shadowbanned, that will automatically just boom will blow up and get 1000s of views. So that's the thing that we're trying to find, we're trying to find a fresh account, I guess, is the thing. So instead of having a bunch of accounts that are all shadow banned, like one of them is going to perform better than all the other accounts. And then you just delete, you delete the burner accounts, and you just go with the one that's doing really well. And the reason is, like I said, at the beginning, it's like you're throwing a pebble into the audience, and then it will ripples out, and it does really well in that first little containment thing, then it's gonna go to more and more people. So that's why different accounts seem to do better. But I don't know why. Exactly, I don't know the exact thing. So what you're doing is you're you're putting out videos that have already performed well on your main channel, okay? And you're kind of posting at the same times, because you also want to find, what time does the good channels that do well, do they do the best, right? And then you blow that channel up, you get to put your link on there, and then you start going live on those channels as well, you know what I mean? And it's kind of,

it kind of sucks. You know, it is what it is. But it's just like everything in business. Like if you really wanted to just like destroy the tic tac algorithm. And like, I mean, you can make a lot of money though, like you, you've done it firsthand. Like if you do good on tick tock, and everywhere else, you know, you, you get more eyeballs, you help more people, you grow your business. So it's kind of it's worth an experiment is basically what Yeah, no, I love it. I love it. And then let me just let me just give you two other hacks that I think are at least we're saying for you for your benefit. And for your listeners, right? So two other hacks are, you know, one is

while business accounts restrict you from being able to take advantage of all the popular music, you know, all the most popular music and some of those things,

you can now have the option for people that it's important to, to set up a business account and do a business registration so that you can get a link on your profile before you hit the 1000 followers. So for people that are looking for having that earlier in the game, that's new, kind of new, and that's a good workaround. And the second thing is, you know, Robert and I have been chatting all about tick tock. The reality is every other effing platform is trying to be tick tock. So those videos like my, my team, they just repost them on you know, Instagram reels, YouTube shorts, Facebook, whatever they are, like, I don't even know, right? Like every platform is it, their algorithms are favoring the TIC tock videos, because they're all trying to, you know, compete. And so really creating tic toc content and then repurposing it is like a very high leverage strategy to really take advantage of where all the platforms are focused. Yeah, I'm actually making a bunch of money on Facebook from posting my tic TOCs on there. So it's pretty random. You can make up to like, 35 grand a month, I don't get enough used to blow it up. But I make you know, 1000 bucks a month from just stupid posts on Facebook. So and YouTube shorts, so yeah, you gotta you gotta syndicate the videos everywhere. So yeah, that was those were kind of the things but I mean, you did it all organically. You're you're basically, you know, shooting from the hip, and then you found your niche. Right, and you figured out how to make authority and edutainment content. And that I agree, I think relating to your audience is important. It's like, it's like, you can also blow up for like, being cloud or something like that. I feel like people, like they always want something, you know. So if you keep a little secret in the back pocket, you know, or whatever, like, these are the secrets to getting your interest and then you get the curiosity and then you get the click. I don't know if you can go down way more rabbit holes. But yeah, you and you and I, we might need to do another chat in the future. Because I only started I only started sharing, I mean, I've got a number of others that, you know, I can compare notes. I'd love to, I'm going to run a bunch of weird tic tac experiments. So everybody listening and you as well, I'll keep you up to date on what's really working.

So, basically, for your ADHD coaching, you know, I think you have like a quiz or something like that, that people can do. Or how does that work? Or is it wasn't a free course is a free course right? Here. You know, what I what I've got, which I think will be super relevant is basically just the ultimate tic toc guide for coaches, course creators and content creators who have ADHD so you don't have to be making ADHD themed content, but basically, it's just got hair I'm looking at it's got 12 ways to grow to 100,000 followers a five step system to make viral videos without dancing and my 13

Winning plug and play hooks for more views every time. So it's just a free download something like that. It's got some good value in there and, and then you'd learn more about what I'm up to perfect. And so I got two more questions, I'd like to ask that I ask everybody before I kind of let you go.

But what are the best? Before we get into this? What are the best ways for people to actually get in contact with you and to really, like find you or connect with you online? Um, I mean, you can search hidden ADHD, I mean, I think just click on the show notes, if we got the link to the Tick Tock guide, they could download that, that would be the best that just Google hidden ADHD. That's a cool name, though. I like that they get.

So one of the questions that I ask everybody that kind of comes on the show is what motivates you, you know, what really gets you going? Yeah, it's good question. So um, you know, me personally, this has actually been one of my biggest challenges, and saw self help and stuff is, I'm not direct. I'm, I'm not mode. Like, I like money. But I'm not directly motivated by material things. And I found that for myself, and a lot of the clients I work with a lot of ADHD years that I've worked with are just motivated, like, by the time freedom, right, like we want, we want something scalable, like we don't want to work so damn hard. And we want the ability to like, work, we want to work and not do stuff that we don't want to do. And so that's honestly, my number one, motivator is just the time freedom and the ability to do work that I don't hate. Right to do. What You Love, basically, is what motivates Yeah.

That's awesome. And then the other question I ask is, like, the keywords impact, but what's one habit that you've found or done, that really, really has had an impact on your life, like you can actually see doing this one thing has really helped you? Yeah. So I have a system that I teach my students called the daily, one tough task. And the idea is basically, to block out 30 minutes to two hours every day. And just basically you get tough tasks done. And there doesn't, there's a lot of days where I'm not overly productive, but there's almost no days where I don't get something important, done. And the important stuff is usually the tough stuff, because that's the stuff that we tend to avoid. And so, you know, rather than try to get a 50 things done on your to do list, like focus on the one to three really high impact things. And I do that every single day, and it keeps me you know, my business humming along, even when I have a lot of lazy days and, you know, sign off at two o'clock. And so that's what I would say. So do one tough thing every day.

Exactly. And then and then once you get good at that you can expand into two and three tough things. But yeah, that's the that's been life changing, I think was the David Goggins. He's like, dude, one thing that sucks every day.

Bro man, nothing like nothing like reading or listening to Goggins? Like, wow, who's gonna

do it? He's crazy. He's like, key, like, admits that, like, all the pain and stuff? Like he enjoys it? Like, I don't know. I'm like, I'm like, I totally respect you. And I'm probably like, 180 degrees opposite from you, like, crazy reading established today?

Yeah.

All right, man. Well, Aaron, I really appreciate you coming on the show today. Do you have any kind of last thoughts before we wrap up or anything you'd like to share? No, I mean, I think I think the journey you and I have been on right, just where we get to, like, build our own stuff, pursue our interests, even if they change and we start 25 businesses or, you know, we we do all the jumps like, like, it's so much more rewarding, then the corporate life of just doing what you're told and kind of being at someone else's whim. And so, yeah, I just, I salute. I salute you for all the work you're doing to help people kind of set up their things for success. And I salute all the people that are either doing it or contemplating doing it, because it's a very courageous and life affirming thing to invest in yourself and your business. I agree. I do have one. One thing I wanted to touch on. So you said something earlier that I thought was kind of interesting. Do you think there's a taboo or a stigma to being ADHD in the corporate world? Like is it you know, a lot of talk about it? I wouldn't know about anything, but is there a thing like 100%? Yeah, I mean,

well, because you got to figure right, like, Gen X and the boomers are still holding all the executive positions. So you have to take into account your audience's views right and so they're your customers are the people who control your promotions, your salary, all those things so

you know, so if they're your target audience, they look at ADHD is you know, some

problem they had with their kid or some problem that their nephew or someone had or that they heard on the internet, like, they just like, alright, it's like a learning disability that people don't get anything done. So like this whole, like neurodiversity. Let me look for the benefit and not having everyone think the same way. And like, you know, all that is kind of is new. So it's catching up. But

yeah, it's not the

it's, it's it's risky, at a minimum with limited benefit to disclosing if you don't have to. Yeah. Did you have any do you have any tips on navigating the corporate world with ADHD?

Yeah, I mean, it's it's not dissimilar to navigating your business with ADHD like you just have to get good at assertively setting up getting what you need, right? So like, like I needed time to work without colleagues interrupting me, my boss interrupted me without instant message open with all these things. So like, I had asked my boss Can I can I work on this thing? And like, for two hours in another room without email and instant message, like, I like to just train my boss that that was okay.

But like, we just need to like make our own path and not be like, Oh, well, the world won't let me do what I need to do. It's just like, figure out what works for you. And then use your assertiveness skills, your sales skills, your persuasion skills

to make reality conform to what you need.

I think we're going to end on that note, man, that was a Mic drop. So

I appreciate everybody listening. Be sure to like subscribe, leave us some comments. This will be you know everywhere but if you're on listening to the podcast, give me some some five star reviews. Check out the show notes. If you want to connect more with Aaron and check out his Tik Tok. I highly recommend it. Everybody have a good day. Bye