Chontel Duncan: I believe having ADHD is my superpower

Fitness trainer Chontel Duncan reveals how she was diagnosed with ADHD last year and why she thinks it’s shaped the person she is today.

I see having ADHD as my superpower – but I only realised this after being diagnosed at the age of 36.

A huge contributing factor into how I’ve achieved all the success I’ve had in life is because of the way my mind works.

My path to finding out I had combined-type-ADHD started after my two eldest children, now aged eight and nine, were both diagnosed with it.

Once my firstborn was confirmed as having it, we were told it was a genetic condition – I just thought it came from my husband’s side.

He’s an absolutely clever man when it comes to business and science, but we always laugh that he’s off with the fairies.

He doesn’t have a diagnosis but his two brothers have ADHD.

However when I looked deeper into the condition after my sons were diagnosed, I could see similar traits in myself.

It made me consider that maybe I could have it, too.

Looking back on my childhood with undiagnosed ADHD

When I was a kid I didn’t have anything given to me on a silver platter.

I now see that as truly a blessing because it forced me to find ways to remember to stay on track and be responsible for my own routine that worked for me.

ADHD definitely made things challenging for me – but that’s what shaped my personality for the better.

Chontel Duncan is a fitness trainer who was diagnosed with ADHD last year. Picture: Facebook

I was aware that I wasn’t picking up the information as quickly as my peers, I’d procrastinate, had time blindness with due dates and low self-esteem.

Being unaware of my diagnosis, I hid my struggles because I felt stupid, this fear of being seen caused me to naturally be forced to develop coping strategies and techniques for managing my challenges.

These are such valuable life lessons/skills that only got better as life got harder.

When I didn’t understand something I would put on a brave face.

I developed good people skills and I would mould myself to get along with everyone and sit next to children I knew were kind and had the answers to questions in school tests.

I would also always say thank you and listen to my teachers, offering to help them after class in hopes that if I ever fall behind or get an answer wrong, that they wouldn’t come down on me as hard because outside of that I was a kind student. I became a person who always wanted to please someone.

Getting my diagnosis

I got confirmation I had ADHD at the end of last year.

There’s a set of questions you need to go through and then you need your school reports and for your parents to answer a questionnaire.

My challenge was I didn’t have access to either to provide the reports or answer the questions.

I even tried ringing my school but they hadn’t saved my files.

However, luckily, because I had been with my husband since I was 14 he was able to answer majority of the questions and we were able to get around it all.

Chontel Duncan is a fitness influencer and mum of five.

I didn’t have a problem with ADHD because my career worked well in high-stress zones. I could run classes of 60-plus people and be able to move around constantly changing focus.

But by contrast, when we put our hearts and souls into creating our Neuform fitness app from the ground up it was incredibly challenging for my ADHD brain.

There were times when I struggled to focus and I’d get in these moments where I’d get so distracted. It’s so different from what I’m used to because it involves a lot of sitting and just one job.

But having the medication was such a benefit to my focus and helped me knuckle down and get it done.

It’s now a product that I’m really proud our team created and I’m so glad it’s helping people on their fitness journeys.

What I’d say to others

Having ADHD has allowed me to do things other people may deem too stressful and hard.

I think it’s why I haven’t broken from all the pressure of being a mum-of-five and running two businesses.

Chontel Duncan says her ADHD helps her manager her busy life, including caring for five children.

I’ve become so resilient in so many forms because of the way I had to survive growing up. My advice to someone with ADHD is don’t be ashamed: your brain functions in a different way and if you live in a way that works in your brains favour it’ll become your biggest strength.

I would also tell them to take a look at the environment they are in – does it need adjusting or more structure?

If I was squashed into a 9 to 5 office job it could be incredibly mentally challenging for me and I could struggle to stay on task depending on the position.

I’ve found a life that works for me, and I love it. You can do the same.

Chontel Duncan is a fitness trainer and mum-of-five with 1.2 million followers on Instagram.