Photo: Emma Smith
For years I’ve struggled with adult ADHD, in a selfdiagnosed, non-medical sort of way. I consistently changed hobbies, collected ideas, spread information and found myself lost in a midst of options, detours and opportunities. A wide spectrum of influence would come flooding in: from discovering the far reaches of the cosmos, to following biochemical reactions in human physiology. With this, these last few years have been both exciting and confusing. Confused because there is so much to know; riddled because I know so little; afraid because I didn’t know where to start. Paralyzed by the illusion of choice, I laid dormant. Self-improvement went out the window. My resume remained unchanged, my skills left untested, m y toolbox lacked new innovations, my problem solving was linear and my model of the world was greatly outdated. Then something changed. I started living out my ambitions and crafting my own achievements. I began experimenting with the status quo and
pushed the boundaries of my imagination, testing my creativity. I became flexible and self-motivated, enlightened with the freedom of time and mobility. I chose passion over pride and persistence over penalty. Furthermore, I’ve completed so many items on my bucket list in just the past two months it’s almost ridiculous! One definitive concept I now live by has turned passion into productivity. It’s not some secret, esoteric belief. It’s not hidden beneath some rock on the mountainside of the Himalayas, nor is it buried in the depths of Marianas Trench. It’s found within all of us. Many have tasted its addictive nature, yet very few are allowed to grasp it fully. Ladies and gentlemen, the magic word is… autonomy. Granted you are capable of thinking for yourself, coming up with solutions, and breathing; autonomy is the only way to fully fuel passion, creativity, and achieving whatever it is you want to accomplish. Google gives their employee’s time out of their normal
work hours to work on, and essentially do, whatever they want. Valve gives their entire company freedom with a boss-less, nohierarchy environment, 24/7, 365. There’s a reason why they’re the best at what they do. Autonomy is a concept that is fully scalable, and there’s no reason why you can’t scale it down to the individual level. Autonomy, in my opinion, is: freedom of limitations; freedom of place; freedom of time. Which means you can do whatever you want, where you want, whenever you want to. It sounds like a utopic idea that surely cannot exist, but it does, and it works on both the large and small scale. Free yourself and pursue your passion. We all have stuff on our to-do lists. Heck, we all have dreams, ambitions, bucket lists and things we want to accomplish. The only way to do so is to free yourself from illusionary self-dedications, and start working on yourself and incorporating self-automation. Find ways to expand your boundaries and limitations, at work, at school or anywhere else in life. By limitations, it means bending
the rules, looking for loopholes, getting creative with time management and challenging the status quo. Think of places you could be that would better serve your purposes (ie. Would you work better at home than at work? Am I more productive/ creative/social somewhere else?). Free up time from sources that take the most time with the least amount of profitable gain, financial or personal (ie. Emails, social networks, television, etc) and use that time to inspire yourself. When you are free in all three areas, then you can fully realize the potential and creative capabilities that you’ve always possessed. You are free to spend as much or as little time as you want on whatever it is you choose and wherever you choose to do it. As a 20 year old student, half way around the world. If I can do it, you sure as hell can do it too. - Benny Hua