"The only way to build executive functions is through relationships and experiences. Not worksheets, not lectures, not in the classroom."

In this episode, Heather and Mike McLeod dive into the growing conversation around ADHD, executive functioning, screen dependency, and the alarming reality of the youth mental health crisis unfolding right in front of us. This conversation challenges many of the narratives parents have been taught to accept about attention, behavior, motivation, and what children actually need to thrive. From the normalization of excessive screen use after COVID to the rise of social media pseudoscience and over-accommodation, this episode unpacks the deeper reasons so many kids are struggling with focus, emotional regulation, confidence, and failure to launch into adulthood.

What to listen for:
☑️ Why ADHD has become more prominent in conversations about our children
☑️ Boredom is like going to the gym for your brain, and it's crucial to childhood

"All of the things that are so crucial to developing a strong, healthy child and adolescent brain, we as the adults have kind of stolen from them. This is why we're in the middle of a horrible youth mental health crisis."
☑️ The reason this younger generation is falling behind and failing to advance like others
☑️ You build executive functions through relationships and experiences, not classwork

"Executive functioning skills are the greatest predictor of success, and it's one of the most misunderstood sets of skills. Time management and organization is the smallest possible fraction of executive functions."
☑️ The four pillars of executive functioning skills for independence, positivity, and success
☑️ ADHD isn't actually an attention disorder; it's an executive functioning disorder

"This generation of youth has gotten the most therapy, the most socio-emotional classes, and they're the most depressed because we're treating them with kid gloves and constantly lowering the bar."
☑️ What struggling with screen-time boundaries is telling you about your child's state
☑️ Doing less as a parent to help your child through their failure to launch

***

About Mike McLeod:

In 2016, Michael created the Internal Skills Executive Function Strengthening Model, and GrowNOW ADHD was born.His mission: improve quality of life for youth and families facing ADHD and executive function challenges. Mike has presented this model to audiences nationwide and internationally, providing specialized support in ADHD, Executive Functioning, Social Executive Functioning, and Parent Coaching.

With more than 20 years of experience, a Master's degree from Lehman College, and collaborations with leading doctors, neuropsychologists, and nonprofits, Mike blends deep expertise with a practical, strength-based model that gets results.

Connect with Mike:
Website: www.grownowadhd.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GrowNOWADHD
Instagram: www.instagram.com/grownowadhd
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@grownowadhd

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For those of you who are ready to stop feeling drained, overextended, and out of alignment… join me inside the Energetic Time Management Accelerator, a focused experience designed to help high-achieving women uncover what's draining them, clarify what truly matters, and create a simple plan that fits their life.

We'll pinpoint your biggest time + energy leaks, identify the top areas to focus on for quick momentum, and map out exactly what to let go of so you can reclaim your energy, your time, and your joy.

Ready to make your time work for you without adding more to your plate?

Join the Energetic Time Management Accelerator: www.heatherchauvin.com/time

Explore the top episodes listeners come back to when they're stuck, burned out, or standing at the edge of a big shift: www.heatherchauvin.com/10

Follow Heather on Instagram: www.instagram.com/heatherchauvin_

"There comes a time and a place when you're over intellectualizing, and you are actually trying to dig for problems. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy."

In this episode, Heather explores the uncomfortable space between knowing something needs to change and actually being willing to change it. For high-performing women, that gap is often filled with overthinking, fixing, researching, controlling, and searching for the "right" answer instead of taking the actions that will move them forward. This conversation is an invitation to stop waiting for the perfect plan, the perfect feeling, or the perfect timing and start moving. Because growth, freedom, and alignment are rarely found inside your comfort zone (which is what therapy tends to become), they're uncovered once you're willing to face the discomfort of uncertainty, make the decisions you've been avoiding, and start trusting yourself enough to discover who you'll become on the other side.

What to listen for:
☑️ Why high-performing women try to patch and control when things go wrong
☑️ To get to the other side of newness, you're going to have to try something new
☑️ Your brain is wired to keep you alive, but not necessarily to help you thrive

"This loneliness that you feel is because you are living a freedom-based life, and you're doing what's required to live financially in alignment with how you want to feel. And when you do that, it gets really uncomfortable because you begin to think differently."
☑️ Losing trust in yourself because you never had true self-trust to begin with
☑️ We create codependency through scarcity so that we don't have to feel
☑️ The reason why you can't see how much you're living from fear

"Reading another parenting book, sending your child to therapy, or going to therapy is your comfort zone. You have to be ready to get emotionally uncomfortable. You have to be ready to go through the storm."
☑️ Differing outcomes require being held accountable for taking different actions
☑️ What actions do you need to take consistently based on your current goals?
☑️ How to know whether you're making the right decision for your life

"If you don't move, something is going to explode in your life. But when energy is in motion and energy flows, it's healthy. It's vibrant and healing. So just get moving and take action."
☑️ How the unmade decisions inside of you are keeping you stagnant
☑️ Getting to that point where you can make a difficult decision with more ease
☑️ There's a time and a place for therapy, as well as for coaching

***

For those of you who are ready to stop feeling drained, overextended, and out of alignment… join me inside the Energetic Time Management Accelerator, a focused experience designed to help high-achieving women uncover what's draining them, clarify what truly matters, and create a simple plan that fits their life.

We'll pinpoint your biggest time + energy leaks, identify the top areas to focus on for quick momentum, and map out exactly what to let go of so you can reclaim your energy, your time, and your joy.

Ready to make your time work for you without adding more to your plate?

Join the Energetic Time Management Accelerator:

www.heatherchauvin.com/time

Explore the top episodes listeners come back to when they're stuck, burned out, or standing at the edge of a big shift: www.heatherchauvin.com/10

Follow Heather on Instagram: www.instagram.com/heatherchauvin_

"The more you face these moments of resistance, the easier it gets because you know what to expect of yourself on the other side of it."

In this episode, Heather and Renée Warren dive into the uncomfortable reality that, whether you're building a business, growing a personal brand, redefining yourself beyond motherhood, or pursuing a more aligned life, there comes a point where you have to decide whether you're willing to keep moving forward when the excitement fades and resistance takes over. Renée dives into the patterns that cause so many women to lose momentum when seasons change, why waiting for life to get easier keeps you stuck, and the identity shifts that occur when you stop defining yourself solely by what you do for others. This conversation is an invitation to lean into the discomfort of becoming, to trust yourself through the messy middle, and to recognize that every time you move through resistance rather than retreat from it, you build capacity.

What to listen for:

☑️ Why you shouldn't throw your habits out the window just because it's summer

☑️ The biggest lesson is building the muscle and being okay when things are ugly

☑️ Navigating the relationship shedding that comes with rising above mediocrity

"Summer shows up, and we come up with all these excuses as to why we should take a break or slow down. When you're trying to grow a personal brand, when you're trying to do something differently, there's no place where you can slow the momentum."

☑️ What happens when you remove yourself from what makes you a 'good' mother

☑️ Getting through the resistance that bubbles up when you start using your voice

☑️ How to feel worthy of what you desire without self-sabotaging it

"When we start silencing those voices and actually dipping into the things that we want, where we want to go, businesses we want to start, who we want to surround ourselves with, it's like you open up the next abundance portal."

☑️ Why it's so important to surround yourself with people who believe in you

☑️ Putting yourself in the energy of where you want to be and doing things differently

☑️ The invisible pattern of all or nothing and "life will get easier when" changes nothing

***

About Renée Warren:

Renée Warren is an award-winning entrepreneur, angel investor, author, and the host of the top-rated podcast Into The Wild, which empowers women to grow the fearlessness needed to step into their greatness. With an extraordinary gift for bringing out the best in others, she created The Pink Skirt Project—where ambitious women come together to redefine success and rise together. She's now on a mission to transform how women step into their power and make their mark on the world! Renée has been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, and more.

Connect with Renee:

• Website: www.thepinkskirtproject.com

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/renee_warren

• Into The Wild: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/into-the-wild/id1508734916

***

For those of you who are ready to stop feeling drained, overextended, and out of alignment… join me inside the Energetic Time Management Accelerator, a focused experience designed to help high-achieving women uncover what's draining them, clarify what truly matters, and create a simple plan that fits their life.

We'll pinpoint your biggest time + energy leaks, identify the top areas to focus on for quick momentum, and map out exactly what to let go of so you can reclaim your energy, your time, and your joy.

Ready to make your time work for you without adding more to your plate?

Join the Energetic Time Management Accelerator:

www.heatherchauvin.com/time

Explore the top episodes listeners come back to when they're stuck, burned out, or standing at the edge of a big shift: www.heatherchauvin.com/10

Follow Heather on Instagram: www.instagram.com/heatherchauvin_