Re: What does it take to become an “Insider” ?

[Rick Green – Founder of TotallyADD]

Hi Robbo,

Thanks for letting us know what’s happening with you. There is nothing more frustrating that computers and technology. Thank God I have Jimi and Ava and my son and a few friends. Trying to master the computer stuff is so hard, which is why I’ve had Mac’s since 1984. And nothing but Macs. I just couldn’t remember all the commands on a PC.

Lots of good comments here. It’s interesting. We have been busy, crazy busy, which is why I haven’t had a chance to respond.

I understand how you feel as well about not being an insider. I too have been an outsider all of my life. In my career choices, hobbies, interests, projects that I created, friendships…

At one point, yes, I desperately wanted to be ‘normal’. You know,’ like everyone else.’

The more I learned about the truth of other people’s lives, how ‘normal people’ lived with ‘normal jobs’ and ‘regular interests’, the less I wanted to be like them.

A simple example of my ‘quirkiness’ is my hobby… model railroading. What kind of man plays with toy trains in his 50’s? Silly right?

I was always kind of embarrassed about my passion, and spending so much time on it. No one else understood the appeal or appreciated that it was a way of creating a work of art. I was an outsider.

Then, about 10 years ago, I joined a model railroad club. Suddenly I was surrounded by guys (and one girl) who ‘got it.’ They knew how much fun it was… the romance of train travel, the golden age of steam, the stark beauty of industrial design, the gorgeous panorama’s with bridges, mountains, rivers…

I was in my element.

I was no longer an ‘outsider.’

I was an ‘insider.’

It cost me five bucks a week to be part of the club. It was the best money I ever spent. I ended up building more models in the two years that I was a member than I had in a decade before. Because the club members appreciated what I had done because they knew what was involved. They were insiders too. They were from very different backgrounds. A wide range of interests and ages. But they formed a ‘support group’ in some ways. The discussion was elevated and more ‘sophisticated’ because everyone was interested in trains. When someone talked about a Geep-7, or Geep 20 with a short hood, everyone knew what they meant.

For the first time I felt like an insider.

Now we are trying to create a space for ADDers that offers the same safe refuge, where the discussion can be more sophisticated, elevated. It will include Webinars, a very advanced version of the Forums where you can connect one and one, form groups and invite other insiders to be part of it, or not, and more. We’ve been working on this for six months now, all while keeping everything else going.

It’s getting close to finished. And it will cost half of what it cost to be part of the model railroad club. And it will allow us to keep the TotallyADD site going, be able to continue to interview experts, produce videos, and hopefully keep expanding with more and more services.

The motivation for all of this has come from people who are currently members on the website who want more, who want somewhere exclusive, where they can connect with liked-minded folks and take it to another level, and have access to better, more sophisticated tools. There was one member who actually said he was leaving because he was frustrated by a number of issues. It struck a chord. When we did a survey asking if people would be interested in a more sophisticated way to connect, a very large number said yes.

For those who are not interested in paying for a premium service, the TotallyADD.com website will be here, as it has been, with five hours of free videos, hundreds of Forum conversations and tens of thousands of members.

Which, as we know, has been very helpful for a lot of people, and will continue to be as long as we can keep it going.

For those who want to take it to the next level, there will be the more advanced, or ‘premium’ service.

Hope this helps you to reframe what we are doing in a more powerful way. And clarifies why we chose it.

Best,

Always,

Rick

P.S., Every adult with ADHD/ADD we talked to, and almost every ADHD expert we interviewed for our first program actually hated the title ‘ADD & Loving It?!’ when they first heard it.

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