The Awareness Side of Coaching
Mindful Intelligence
When the same task keeps sliding, the plan is rarely the problem. Mindful Intelligence looks at what is behind it, while you are in the middle of it.
Part of every ADHD executive coaching engagement with Robert Pal. Delivered by Zoom across the United States, Canada, and internationally.
Start a ConversationWhat It Is
What Mindful Intelligence is
Mindful Intelligence is the approach I use to help my clients with ADHD notice what is driving a decision or a delay while it is happening, and choose their response. It combines mindfulness, emotional regulation, and executive function tools, applied to your real work rather than practised on the side.
The goal is not a quieter mind. It is a moment of choice before the inner critic, the avoidance, or the reaction takes over the meeting, the day, or the relationship.
It is also the subject of my book, Mindful Intelligence.
How It Fits
How it fits into coaching
Every session moves between two parts. Mindful Intelligence is one of them, and it is part of every coaching block, not a separate program.
Tactical Coaching: what happens this week
The System turns your priorities into specific weekly commitments and keeps them visible between sessions. You leave with a plan you can realistically use.
Mindful Intelligence: what keeps getting in the way
Noticing the pattern as it happens: perfectionism, fear of being judged, the inner critic, rejection sensitivity, compensating habits that worked for years and no longer do. You leave with more choice in the moment it matters.
The System gives you the strategy. Mindful Intelligence brings the awareness.
Focus Areas
What we work on
Attention
Noticing when focus has drifted and bringing it back without a lecture to yourself.
Thoughts
Spotting the stories that stall a decision: all-or-nothing thinking, "I should be further along," the meeting you keep replaying.
Emotions
Reading what frustration, anxiety, or boredom is telling you before it decides for you.
Autopilot
The habits that run under pressure: waiting for the deadline, saying yes too fast, reacting in the first ten seconds. The Pause Button is the main tool here.
Self
The inner critic and the years of compensating that built it. The aim is a critic you can work with, not one that runs the day.
We work on whichever of these is costing you most right now, not in a fixed order.
In Practice
What it looks like in practice
It is not about sitting on a cushion. Most of it happens in under a minute, inside your working day:
- Catching the moment you open email to avoid the hard file
- Pausing before you answer in a tense meeting
- Noticing the inner critic after a missed commitment, and going back to the next step instead of the post-mortem
- Naming the feeling behind a delay, so the delay gets smaller
If you have tried meditation and it did not stick, this is built for you. We start with short, practical techniques that work while you are moving.
Over Time
What changes
- You notice the pattern earlier, often while it is happening
- Reactions in high-stakes moments get smaller and pass faster
- A miss costs less of the day, because the self-criticism after it is shorter
- Decisions get made with less circling
- Follow-through holds more often, because what was blocking it is now visible
As a person with ADHD, I often speak before my thoughts are complete. Incorporating mindfulness has helped me be more aware in the challenging moments.
Dr. Peter Roman · Family Physician, Boston, MA
We developed a personalized program, integrating mindfulness with developing skills, strengths, and strategy. Through our work, I was able to find meaning and get into a flow with my career and life.
Angela Jacobson · Seattle, Washington
Robert's mindfulness training has greatly contributed to calming my overwhelmed and unfocused ADHD brain, which has led to greater focus and more energy to achieve and succeed in my business and personal life. He has helped me go beyond who I ever thought I could be, and for this I will be forever grateful.
Sarah Bishops · Toronto, Ontario
Start with a conversation
Mindful Intelligence is part of every coaching block. Coaching starts with ten sessions by Zoom: US$3,500 for 60-minute sessions or US$5,000 for 90-minute sessions.
Run your own company? ADHD Coaching for Entrepreneurs
Executive or professional? ADHD Coaching for Executives & Professionals
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