Ever stop setting goals because you got tired of not following through as an ADHD professional or entrepreneur?
Welcome to the club, we sure do know how to throw a party. It’s easy to feel disheartened when your brain craves novelty, urgency, and every possible tangent—yet struggles with consistent execution.
But guess what?
You still deserve goals, progress, shiny, tangible “Look at me, I did it!” results. And yes, you can build real follow-through muscles, even if focusing for two minutes sometimes feels like climbing Mount Everest.
I get it, some days are harder than others. I have mornings I make tea 3 times and never get around to actually remembering to drink it. Somehow, even on those days I can still manage to make a little progress on my goals, which seems like a miracle, if you ask me.
In this post, we’ll uncover why motivation isn’t your real problem, how to handle friction points, and the core systems plus accountability structures you need to see the results you want. Let’s do this—no one’s got time to keep feeling “meh” about their own life.
1. Motivation Is Not the Real Problem
Many ADHD professionals assume they’re failing because they “lack motivation.” This is absolutely not true.
Motivation often comes in bursts, especially if something is new, exciting, or gives you instant gratification. But as soon as the novelty fades? Poof. That’s not a motivation deficit; that’s an implementation gap.
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You know exactly what you should do but get stuck actually doing it.
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Your brain loves novelty, urgency, and rewards—which is a blessing until it’s time to do something boring like finishing your taxes or drafting that 15th client email.
Motivation actually usually follows action, it isn’t meant to come first. Stop blaming “motivation.” Instead, build an environment that helps you stay the course when motivation naturally wanes. Because it will wane—and you’re not broken when it happens.
I promise you don’t need to reinvent the wheel or discover a whole new system that is sure to fix everything! (Been there, done that, we both know it’s just a shiny distraction.) We need you to decide what you are going to do, when you are going to do it, and how you are going to get started, even if you don’t want to.
2. Prepare for Friction Before It Happens
ADHD brains flourish when tasks feel fresh, interesting, or easy. But what about the moment a project hits a snag? That’s friction. And for many of us, friction = ghosting. We vanish into social media scrolls, netflix binges, random cleaning sprees, or literally any other task.
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Anticipate Hurdles
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Ask, “What predictable, loveable nonsense might pop up?”
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Brainstorm how you’ll navigate that nonsense. For example, if you hate writing invoices, plan a mini reward afterward.
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Use an Executive Function Break
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Movement is your friend: Personally, I love a one-song dance break, a quick walk outside, or a 5 minute bounce on my rebounder to reactivate my focus and help me get more done (especially in the sleepy afternoon zone).
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Short sprints + mini rewards. “Work 25 minutes, then 5 minutes of fun or cat videos.” (Let’s be real, cat videos never fail. Oxytocin for the win!)
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Tiny Steps Count
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When friction hits, commit to just 5 more minutes. That small push can keep you moving and—ta-da—progress actually happens.
It is easy for those of us with ADHD to get hyperfocued on the wrong thing. I like to ask myself, is this what I most need to be workin on? If it isn’t, I will give myself a 5 minute reset break, identify my next smallest step, and pick back up with the more helpful project so I don’t spend all day changing the branding on my new website and not actually moving the project forward.
3. Pitfalls That Derail ADHD Follow-Through
1. All-or-Nothing Thinking
What It Looks Like:
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“If I can’t do it perfectly, might as well not do it at all.”
Why It’s Harmful:
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It sets the bar so high, your natural reaction is to bail. “Perfect or bust” basically ensures bust.
How to Beat It:
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Interrupt the pattern with a deep breath. Ask yourself, “Is what I am able to do (however imperfect) better than doing nothing?” (Spoiler: Yes.)
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Remind yourself that progress is progress.
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Set a goal for a shitty first draft.
2. Perfectionism and Black/White Mentality
What It Looks Like:
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Needing everything to be flawless or else you’re a “failure.”
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Putting your entire worth on one outcome.
Why It’s Harmful:
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Perfectionism triggers your fight-or-flight response. Suddenly, your ADHD brain has to battle meltdown mode, which sucks for focus.
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You are creating overwhelm here. We both know you don’t need to create extra overwhelm.
How to Beat It:
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Accept that “done is better than perfect.”
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Embrace your humanness.
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Low-energy days will happen, and your best might look different from day to day. That’s allowed! None of us can be in hyperfocus 100% of the time. It would wreck your brain. You may want to plan out what your bare minimum looks like, so you know what reps you can do on a low energy day.
Honestly, my blog is my own personal F you to perfectionist thinking. The platform my site is currently on is a challenge to work with, and formatting is constantly an issue on the published version that does not exist on the backend. I am not spending 4 hours trying to fix it. I am posting blogs, imperfectly, every single week because I practice what I preach. Thank you for overlooking those weird imperfections with me, I hope you’re still getting plenty of value from my blog, nonetheless.
3. Object Impermanence
What It Looks Like:
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You completely forget anything if it’s out of sight long enough. Sometimes even people you love.
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You often forget your long term goals, or that brilliant plan you came up with to fix your life last Monday because it’s floating around in ether
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“I meant to finish that business plan…three months ago.”
Why It’s Harmful:
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Future deadlines feel unreal, so you keep procrastinating until there’s an actual crisis. Your brain is driven by novelty, interest, competition (with yourself or others), and urgency.
How to Beat It:
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We want to find creative ways to use your other drivers, without you waiting for the panic attacks and stress of the urgency to kick in.
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Use visual cues (sticky notes, phone alerts, pinned whiteboards). Help yourself remember it exists.
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Schedule a Weekly Check in or Goal Review session. Use it to remind yourself of your goals, assess progress from last week, notice the good things that happened, and plan for what’s most important to get done for the week ahead.
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Set yourself consistent reminders with your goals that pop up on your phone, so your goals don’t become invisible background noise.
4. Shame & Internalized Ableism
What It Sounds Like:
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That inner bully saying, “Why can’t you just do it like everyone else?!”
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“What’s wrong with me? Everyone else can do this, it’s not that hard?!?”
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Feeling like you’re failing at tasks that “should be easy.”
Why It’s Harmful:
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Shame hijacks your mental energy. Instead of solving problems, you’re fighting negative self-talk.
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Shame also means you are going to have less access to your executive function and creative problem solving skills.
How to Beat It:
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We want you to move out of and away from shame as fast as possible! You are not bad! You may have made an unhelpful choice, but that is not irreparable.
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Practice self-compassion. People who shamed you didn’t get your neurotype. Their voices shouldn’t keep echoing in your brain. Kick them out.
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Give yourself the helpful, encouraging reminders you needed but usually didn’t get as a kid. These do need to be believable for you.
My personal reminders sound something like this:
“I can learn things. I know I can get better at this. What can I learn from the friction I experienced today? How could I set myself up to make this easier for me? Why does this feel so hard right now? If I sit down and plan intentionally, I know my weeks are easier to get through. It is worth the effort to set myself up for success. If I keep putting effort into something consistently, I know eventually, it will wind up done.” etc.
The point is not to look for the most rosy, positive version of a thought you can find. Often, switching from a negative thought to a super positive one doesn’t feel believable. We may need you finding neutral reminders to start with, so you can build some self belief and break the habit of letting your self-critic rule your life.
4. Three Practical Tips to Stick to Your Goals
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Write It Down & Get Specific
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Pen-and-paper or digital note, it doesn’t matter—just do it. Goals are more likely to stick when you see them in black and white.
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Make them small, measurable, and sometimes effort-based. “I’ll work on Project X for 2 hours each week” can be less overwhelming than “Finish a 40-page project by Tuesday.”
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What is the most important goal you could accomplish, that if you hit this goal it would make everything else easier or unnecessary? Sounds like that might be your #1, top priority goal.
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Less is more. 20 new goals for yourself at the same time is a great way to create overwhelm and make sure you don’t follow through…again.
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Visual Reminders Everywhere
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ADHD means “out of sight, out of mind.”
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Give your brain constant nudges: sticky notes, phone widgets, or weekly Post-its.
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Check in weekly: “Did I move forward? If not, what tiny thing can I do next week?”
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Schedule your weekly check in on your calendar, and think about what you need to do to make it easy and more likely to happen.
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Plan Weekly Review & Prep
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Spend 15–60 minutes each week (Sunday or Friday are popular) reviewing progress and setting next steps.
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Check in on your goals you set in each weekly review, so you remember your goals.
I started doing weekly reviews in 2024 and they have been a massive game changer for me. I am making much more consistent progress on things in my work and personal life, working on improving my prioritization skills. I find I get more done, take more breaks, have more fun activities planned in my week, AND I am making more progress on goals than I was before. It helps my week feel less chaotic and stressful, and makes the Sunday Scaries pretty non-existant for me. It is the most valuable 15-60 minutes of my week.
5. Set Yourself Up for Success
Dopamine Rewards:
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ADHD brains thrive on rewards. Giving yourself rewards will actually help you keep going and build habits faster. Positive reinforcement is key.
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Celebrate every micro-step. Even if you only gave a project 5 minutes, reward yourself with a dance party or a phone call to a friend.
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The more your brain links “task completion” to fun, the more likely it’ll want to do it again.
Experiment & Tweak:
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Think of yourself as a scientist and put your curiosity hat on. You are going to have to try, fail, and try again in order to make any kind of progress.
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Remind yourself that is ok, trust the process, and change things up a bit before you try again.
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Not all tips work for everyone. You’re a unique unicorn. Treat this like a science experiment.
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If it fails, it’s not a personal flaw. It just means that strategy doesn’t work well for you. Pivot and try something else.
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When in doubt, put it where you will use it. If there’s something you can’t quite get started on, try leaving all the materials you need to do that thing in the place you are likely to be during the times you want to do it.
I keep my planner on my couch. My system for using my planner is…not to use it as a planner. I love this astrology planner and buy it yearly, but for years I didn’t use most of it. I started using blank days as doodle spaces to fill up old years.
This year, I am using it more like a journal than a planner. I keep notes on health, mood, how the day went, things I enjoyed or am looking forward to, things I want out of my head – whatever.
Using it this way, and putting it somewhere it is easy for me to pick up and scribble things down to clear my head means that I am the most consistent I have been in over 10 years with my journaling in 2025, and I am using that planner I love to have in a way that works for me!
To many this may not seem like a system, but it is! Leaving the planner where I will use it, where I sit down at the end of a day, with a pen allows me to fully forget this habit daily and still manage to keep up with it. A miracle.
6. BONUS: Accountability Is the Ultimate Follow-Through Boost
Research shows structured accountability makes you 95% more likely to hit your goals. That’s huge.
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Consistency: You know someone will ask, “Did you do the thing?”—which often is enough to nudge you into action.
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Support: If you’re stuck, you’ve got a buddy or coach to brainstorm solutions & help you get unstuck.
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Encouragement: Celebrating tiny wins is easier with a cheerleader in your corner.
How you can make it happen without outing yourself to your manager:
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Peer accountability buddy (someone equally fed up with half-finished tasks). I do recommend you structure this and plan check ins in advance to help you stick to things together.
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Group or mastermind specifically for ADHD entrepreneurs/professionals.
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Hire a coach who “gets” ADHD (if you can swing it). For many of my clients, that’s a game-changer.
7. Ready to Build Those Follow-Through Muscles?
If you’re done with a life of half-finished goals and missed opportunities, it’s time to blend systems with accountability. That combo is ADHD dynamite for consistent action. Whether you partner with a friend or hire a pro, don’t battle your brain alone.
Systems + Accountability = Follow Through (if you like increasing your odds of success by 95%)
Work With Me
If you want a no-judgment zone to test these strategies (and keep testing until they fit your unique brain), I help ADHD entrepreneurs and professionals create real routines that stick. Head to this link for ways to get coached into the results you’ve been dreaming about. No more living in your head—let’s make it happen.
I have clients who have gotten promotions, launched side hustles, gone full time into the small business of their dreams. Don’t let your dreams wait years for you to make them a reality.
Ready to handle ADHD roadblocks like a pro? Download my FREE ADHD Goal-Getter Toolkit and start following through with less stress. Grab it below and step into your next big win!”
Remember: you deserve to see progress.
You deserve to set goals that don’t fizzle out the second your brain jumps to the next shiny idea. By prepping for friction, rewarding yourself for each baby step, and welcoming structured accountability, you’ll finally build those follow-through muscles. Consistency is not magic—it’s just about making a system that works with your ADHD, not against it.
So go forth, tweak, experiment, and celebrate every tiny win. Because living the life you daydream about is 100% doable—and you, dear ADHD friend, are so worth it.