You know what I’ve learned after years of coaching thriving, brilliant, stuck, and searching people?
Especially those of us who are different thinkers — people with ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism, OCD, Anxiety, or Depression?
There’s a moment where things feel… stuck.
Maybe you’ve hit a plateau in life or business.
Maybe your motivation is gone.
You’re frustrated, anxious, even hopeful — but mostly confused about why things aren’t moving forward.
Here’s the big secret.
And I’m going to say it clearly:
The freedom you seek…
The success you yearn for…
The wisdom of what to do next…
Is all tied up in one thing:
The label.
Yep. The label.
The one you gave yourself.
Or the one someone gave you.
The word or diagnosis that got stuck to your identity.
Now let me be very clear — the label is not the problem.
The problem is what we make that label mean.
Your brain (like mine) is a meaning-making machine.
It creates stories and labels to understand the world automatically.
Dr. Caroline Leaf, Dr. Daniel Amen, and Dr. Brené Brown all talk about this.
You don’t have to be neurodiverse for the label-making part of your brain to be working overtime.
The twist is — it’s often fear, anxiety, and survival mode choosing the labels… not your truth.
So society sees a pattern in your behavior and hands you a word. ADHD. Autism. Dyslexia.
That word isn’t good or bad.
It’s data.
It’s neutral.
You get to decide what it means.
That’s where power starts.
Here’s the second part of the secret:
You are not the label.
You are the ingredients.
Let me say that again for the people in the back:
You are not the container.
You are not the diagnosis.
You are the recipe inside.
Your ingredients are what define you.
• Your strengths
• Your weaknesses
• Your values
• Your beliefs
• Your actions
• Your abilities
• Your support system
• Your interpretation of the past
• Your connection to the present
• Your belief in your future
• Your physical body
• Your emotional intelligence
• Your education
• Your skills
You are your neurology in this moment and the fuel you’ve fed it with in the last 72 hours.
This is where people get stuck.
They don’t know their own ingredients.
No one taught them.
No one gave them permission to explore.
But once you do — once you truly meet yourself?
You stop playing small.
You stop fearing the label.
You start choosing your path.
Because the secret is not the diagnosis.
It’s not the hustle.
It’s not even the mindset.
It’s the clarity of who you are and what you bring to this life.
So, I’ll leave you with this:
Now that you know the real secret to thriving…
What are you going to do about it?
I believe in you.
And I just gave you the recipe.
JoyGenea Schumer
International Neurodiversity Success Coach
Helping different thinkers thrive in business and life