Rising above my father's hurtful childhood nickname from our board game battles

As a child, my father and brother tried inviting me into their games of Risk (Purchasing from this this affiliate link generates revenue for this site).

Remember that golden oldie? If not, this clip from Seinfeld will help jog your memory. 

I threw in a little reminder of why not to mess with Ukraine, there, too. :)

My family soon grew impatient with me and my father, frustrated, nicknamed me "The Pink Menace." Pink because the was my game piece color and menace because I would listen to the strategies discussed between my father and brother and then thwart them.

I was too young and unfamiliar with strategy around pretty much anything to play effectively. Plus I had undiagnosed ADHD and Risk can be pretty boring if you add all of that up.

So I decided to just focus on interfering with my family members' plans to acquire continents. Accumulating whole continents is usually an important element of the game as you needed to fortify your borders.

As my Dad gathered Africa, or my brother America, I would swoop in on my turns and take territories in the continents they were going after as my own. Pink was soon scattered across the board as the other two colors were as concentrated as they could be. My little outposts were easy for my family to conquer but relentless in their number.

As an adult, I would reflect on those game nights from time to time with shame, thinking of how annoying and ignorant I was.

But then, I started reading The 33 Strategies of War. In part of the book, author Greene lays out a strategy for gaining power in business by living in the moment, being unpredictable. Having the mindset of a guerrilla warrior. He says to continuously sever ties with past victories and invent new ways of doing things in the moment.

That’s ADHD! I thought as I read. Living in the now is definitely something ADHDers are excellent at!

I have always regarded the idea of "ADHD super powers" with skepticism, but I am starting to see real examples of these super powers in the wild as I progress through my book list for 2024.

Beware, though, of this big caveat: you must understand how your ADHD brain works in order to harness your powers. Good luck on your journey, Bright Minds.

What do you want to learn to identify and harness within your ADHD? Connect with me and let's get started.

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