Watch the YouTube version of this episode HERE

Why can the same brain that generates incredible ideas struggle to follow through on them? Tyson Mutrux sits down with Andrew for a candid conversation about ADHD, running a law firm, and the challenges that come with thinking several steps ahead. After reflecting on MaxLawCon, they share their experiences with late ADHD diagnoses, medication, focus, inner dialogue, and the surprising ways distraction can affect work and relationships.

The conversation moves beyond productivity hacks to the practical realities of leadership: recognizing where your strengths lie, building a team that can execute, and communicating a vision others can actually follow. Tyson and Andrew also discuss unfinished projects, the pull of new ideas, and how understanding your own patterns can change the way you lead your firm and live your life.

What You'll Learn

• How Tyson and Andrew describe their experiences with ADHD and focus
• Why fresh ideas can be easier to start than to finish
• How an active inner monologue can affect attention and self-talk
• What happens when your vision moves faster than your explanation
• Why assigning execution to the right team members matters
• One listening technique Tyson wants to try

Timestamps

• 00:00 | A hectic start and a familiar MaxLawCon connection
• 01:29 | Andrew’s late ADHD diagnosis and biggest conference takeaway
• 02:39 | Tyson opens up about his own diagnosis and medication experience
• 05:20 | What a quieter, more focused mind can feel like
• 06:26 | Inner dialogue, distraction, ADHD and VAST
• 07:41 | Procrastination, self-understanding and unfinished projects
• 09:44 | Creativity, idea generation and building an execution team
• 11:28 | Communicating a vision when your brain is five steps ahead

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Full Transcript: 

[00:00] Tyson: Hey man, I've had a crazy morning so that's it's it's it's just part of it.

[00:06] Andrew: You're in your car. That seems like it's a good start.

[00:09] Tyson: Yeah,

[00:10] Tyson: it's kinda with accidents and traffic it's been a fun venture this morning, but it's all it's all good. I thought I would have been at the office by now but didn't didn't quite make it there. But it's okay. So I was thinking about you the other day, I'm thinking like I thought about bringing the chocolate bar with me just to the appearance. It's funny, like d you're known for many things in my mind. You're a good dresser, you have you w wear good shoes. but like the chocolate bar.

[00:40] Tyson: Yeah.

[00:41] Andrew: It's become a thing.

[00:43] Tyson: Like so for anyone that doesn't know Andrew, like he when he goes to these events, he always has these stack of Cincinnati what's the name of the company? Is it Cincinnati Chocolate Company?

[00:53] Andrew: Readers,

[00:53] Andrew: ice cream is the company.

[00:56] Tyson: But it says Cincinnati on the labor.

[00:57] Andrew: They yeah. They their chocolate bars, which is really they're really known for their ice cream, but their chocolate bars, some of have the Cincinnati skyline on some of have art from the art museum, so kinda cool.

[01:11] Tyson: What's on your mind these days?

[01:13] Andrew: All kinds of stuff, man. I feel I feel privileged to be talking to you right after the conference 'cause it's a it was it's a crazy time.

[01:22] Tyson: You see the black eyes almost gone? It's

[01:23] Andrew: It looks like it yeah.

[01:25] Tyson: L I'm gonna I'm very curious, you mentioned so what's the book you're reading? What's what

[01:29] Andrew: So that this was my big takeaway, honestly, from the conference. I am reading, rereading the book. it's called ADHD 2.0. that's the other thing about me is I am a late diagnosed ADHD er. and my middle son is also, that's really how I found out. and so I'm reading it for him and for me. But you know, I know that my

[01:59] Andrew: ADHD is getting in the way of not just me, but my team. And so kind of my commitment coming out of the conference is really to spend, you know, the time between this conference. I was gonna say a year, but it's not quite a year, but the time between this conference and next, I really want to take a deep dive into the ADHD part of things and find the things that really work for me and that make things better for my team, my clients. and

[02:29] Andrew: And my wife and my kids, like all the above, right? And I think it starts with a little bit more self discovery on it and you know, getting the answers.

[02:39] Tyson: Can I ask you some more questions about it? Of course. Okay, so I'll I will admit something. I actually don't think I've talked about this. I've I've intentionally not talked about it. I probably won't talk about it on the real show. so I did the same thing. So about four, three, four years ago, I got diagnosed. I did the same thing. I went through the whole medication thing, got off the medication thing, because I was like, I thought it was just sort of like it was really killing my creativity. I just so I'm wondering, I wanted to ask you about that stuff. Have you done the medication?

[03:09] Tyson: Thoughts on the medication? Have you been on the medication? What about that?

[03:13] Andrew: I am. I think I'm on a relatively low dose of essentially Adderall ver a version of Adderall.

[03:23] Andrew: That's a great question. I don't recall. I so a couple things that I've I've learned with it, right? So this is I started maybe a year or two ago. I can't remember now. I had to look back.

[03:40] Andrew: I don't take it, so I don't take it on the weekends. if I cause you know ADHD meds for the most part, they're not like other kind of like medicines for like mental health or even some physical things where it has to like build up a therapeutic level in your body. It's kind of there or it's not. so don't take it on the weekends. if I look at my calendar and I have a meeting heavy day, I won't take it.

[04:06] Andrew: because what I find is it creates anxiety of like I feel like I need to be doing stuff and I feel like meetings aren't doing stuff. so I've kind of had some observations on that. I don't feel like it's hurt creativity. but you know, I think it affects everybody differently too. Yeah. it definitely has helped me with focus for sure. it was you know, there's there's no day like the first day that you take it, you're just like, my gosh, this is what the world's supposed to be like.

[04:35] Tyson: Okay, so I d I think he's been public about this. I'm not sure, so I'm not gonna say who it was. a member of the association. He and I have talked about it before, and I the first day I took it, I instantly texted him. 'Cause I was like, it was I the it was the it was such a interesting thing because everything became so clear and

[05:05] Tyson: For me, the ang I don't know about you, like for like the anxiety went away. It was like the first time I took it, it was like I had like I was so anxious and then whoop it just like suppressed it. I know that's probably not the right way of putting it, but that's the way it felt to me is like

[05:19] Andrew: That's interesting.

[05:20] Tyson: Yeah, the anxiety went away and then it was like everything was very clear. And I guess the only way I could think about like describing it would be like imagine you're like you have you're having a like you and I are having a conversation like we are now, but

[05:33] Tyson: We're in a really busy cafeteria and everyone's talking and having these massive conversations. Not that I hear voices in my head, that's a thing. But everything's just really crowded and noisy and it just then it just becomes me and you. And it's quiet. And you're like, mm-hmm. whoa. So what was your I'm curious, like how was your experience?

[05:57] Andrew: Yeah, I mean I think somewhat the same kind of thing. now I will say that I saw a spike in anxiety. but again, I do kind of think part it was balancing, right? If I knew I was I figured that meeting part out, right? and I cut basically cut caffeine out when I started on it, or as shortly after I started on it. I will drink some here and there now, but I've noticed that the two will combine and cause some extra anxiety. but yeah, I think you're exactly right. I mean I

[06:26] Andrew: there's a lot that people don't understand about the ADHD brain. And one of the things is it's a very, very noisy place. I forget this book has some really good descriptions. but it yeah, it's it's there's constant noise. There's ideas that are just bouncing around all the time. you know, and a strong inner monologue. again, not hearing voices in your head, but you know, and that inner monologue.

[06:54] Andrew: inner monologue can be a real jerk sometimes. it's something that really has to I have found myself trying to be more intentional about this year recently because I've noticed it getting increasingly mean. so yeah it's there's there's I think the good news is right now there's I think there's a lot more research that's going on into ADHD in recent years. It's it's much more understood now.

[07:21] Andrew: This book that identifies they're separating out two different things, ADHD, which is more biological, physiological, whatever, and then something they call vast, which is more just how there's so much technology in our lives these days that a lot of people are distracted and there but there's a difference. There's there are differences and similarities between the two things.

[07:41] Tyson: Mm-hmm. Interesting. yeah, so it's int I'm gonna have to read this book 'cause I can tell just by the way you're talking about it, you've it's it definitely educates you on things. Like the main thing was like knowing like almost forgiving myself for some of the things that I do. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like it's

[08:01] Tyson: It's like that unfinished project, that unfinished project and understanding why it wasn't finished and then understanding procrastination on things. I get it. It's it's it's almost like and I've never felt b like I'm broken, but it's almost like but it's almost like sort of wondering if you are a little bit. Yeah. And then yeah, it's fine. It's complete there's a lot of other people that are just like this. It's no big deal.

[08:27] Andrew: But spoiler alert, this is this was my idea that I had on the plane of talk for next year, so

[08:34] Tyson: Love it. it I it affects I think it affects a lot of lawyers too for some reason. I don't I don't know why, but I think it does.

[08:41] Andrew: I think it's entrepreneurs. I think it's I think we probably in this group are more exposed to ADHD attorneys than others because it's a growth-minded, idea focused group. And that's, you know, I you're for the most part, well, this is very overgeneralizing, but you're like you know, lawyer that opens up their throws up their shingle and you know kind of does the bare minimum, probably isn't.

[09:10] Andrew: An AD they might be. They might be an ADHD or who just is distracted all the time and proc can't get stuff done. But yeah, I think I think this kind of group probably has a higher percentage.

[09:21] Tyson: Yeah, but there's the we had someone on and I you may remember th this guy or know this guy, but like he w I can't remember what he wrote a book, it was like A D A D H J D or J D I don't r I can't remember what it was. A maybe it was J D A D H D J D H D or something like that. It was called C

[09:42] Andrew: Got

[09:42] Andrew: my book list here, I'm gonna write it down. Find it.

[09:44] Tyson: Yeah, that's i both of those are probably incorrect, but I remember him talking about how it really is kinda a superpower. It really is. I feel like it's a massive advantage, which is why I ultimately decided to get rid of the medication. But it and like there's other ways of controlling it by making sure we work out and all that and eat healthy and l less caffeine, although I do drink caffeine. but like it's I do feel like it's I can

[10:12] Tyson: I can generate a massive amount of ideas. executing that's why having th both with Maximum Lawyer and with the firm, like having a good team that can execute is so important. Like the I have the idea that have someone else go execute on is so important.

[10:30] Andrew: It so that it's interesting how a conversation kind of naturally goes where you think it's gonna go on stuff, right? But that like that's the next part of it for me is like my work chart and how do I look at what am I doing bad like what should I be doing and what should other people be doing? And the reality is if it's if it's deadline based or like, you know, work needs to get done, I'm not always the right person for that. Sometimes I have to be that person, right? And I gotta get it done. But

[10:59] Andrew: I am more of the let's come up with this concept and idea and I need it I need people to support me in getting it through. because the other thing with ADHD is there's a novelty piece of it, right? And so sometimes you get this idea and that's why we have so many unfinished projects. There's the novelty of do this thing, and then you know, it drags on longer than you expected, the novelty wears off and you're like, okay. Time to move on.

[11:28] Tyson: Do you have when your comes to your ideas, I have a crystallized vision of what I want, right? And then the thing I struggle with is communicating that to the person to get it done the way I want it. 'Cause like I'm very particular about things. Like do you have that problem too?

[11:48] Andrew: Yes and no. I the vision thing, absolutely. I mean s simple examples, right? My we toured some new office space yesterday and the space is was used as a dance studio, so it's basically just a box. And Emily, my wife, who is working in the firm as well, we toured this space and I was like, Okay, like you could do this, you could put the conference room here, you could put the, you know, and I kind of instantly could see this box.

[12:17] Andrew: laid out as an office that could work for us, right? And she's like, I don't know what you're seeing. I, so yeah, I there's a little bit of that. And I think what tends to happen is our sometimes our brain is about five steps ahead of our voice. And so we think we're fully explaining things to people or we just kind of gloss over that they're on the same page with us. And I think that's where that piece comes through is

[12:46] Andrew: It seems so clear in our head and we explain it in what way we think is clear, but we've probably left out half of the details.

[12:53] Tyson: So I'm gonna go back to the medication for a second. Whenever I would take the medication, so I could be in the middle of an argument with a judge, I could be whatever. I could be in the middle of a phone call, I could be in the middle of a whatever. And it was so weird because my brain was so far ahead, the medication would kick in and I would almost I would fumble with my words because it was like the mind and the mouth were trying to match each other.

[13:23] Tyson: And they I was on two different wavelengths until but and it was take it took probably I don't know, five seconds for those two to connect with each other. I wonder, did you ever have that same issue?

[13:33] Andrew: A little bit of that, a little bit of what you described at the conference where you're having a conversation with someone, you go like, my gosh, was I just totally checked out? Because either we're thinking where they're going with their conversation and we're already there. we've we've beat them to where they're headed, which is really annoying for other people. or we've started drift, you know, drifting off into whatever that other idea is that just you know, f flew by.

[14:02] Andrew: And the other the other thing that's really annoying for people is pattern recognition. Yeah. there's some research on this too. we can be horrible people to watch a movie with because we will we'll pick up on the little signals and solve it. And I don't want to give it away, but a very popular TV show, their second to last episode of this season, was there was a noticeably different focus and feel around a certain character and about

[14:30] Andrew: I don't know, four minutes in, I was like, no, now where this is going.

[14:35] Tyson: I saw gosh, I'm gonna draw a blink on this guy. I that's something else. Becca makes fun of me 'cause I like I can't remember names. It's crazy. but I saw this guy, he's a major Hollywood producer and he spoke and I can't remember where I saw him speak, but it was really good 'cause he actually breaks down the formula for a movie. And i it's interesting because what they do it if

[15:01] Tyson: I'm gonna this is gonna be a spoiler alert for every movie that you ever watch. Basically and th he's like, This is it. This is the formula. And the one the movies that bomb are the ones that don't follow this formula. So however the major premise of the movie starts, and it could be in the first scene or could be like in the first ten minutes, right? It may it doesn't mean it doesn't mean the movie starts this way. But let's say that the main premise starts with like the main characters broke. Okay? They have no money.

[15:30] Tyson: At the end of the movie, it'll be the opposite of that. They'll be rich. So whatever j just w now you'll watch every single movie and be like, it's the o whatever the beginning is, the beginning the beginning premise, whatever the main character is, the it's they will end the reverse of whatever they started. It is so it you'll see it in every movie now, you'll be like, damn. Like so you'll know how the movie ends every single time. But I know what you're talking about though, 'cause like I do it's like my need to solve a problem.

[15:59] Tyson: I like every time whatever it's whether it's a movie or talk a show or a conversation, I wanna solve the problem, sometimes I just gotta learn to shut up. just let it roll. Just let it go. Let it let so do you have the issue where you're talking to somebody and it's just words, words, words, words, words and you're not really taking much in 'cause your mind's going elsewhere? yeah. I learned a really trick o a good trick over the weekend. I was I th I think I was on a flight the flight home and I think it was an ad actually.

[16:29] Tyson: For something, but the guy was talking about how when he's listening to somebody, he repeats every single word that they're saying back to himself. so he's just listening. So there is it's impossible for him to be thinking about any something else, which I thought was a really interesting trick.

[16:43] Andrew: I'll try it.

[16:44] Tyson: Not easy to do.

[16:45] Andrew: No. I mean my TikTok algorithm's full of like ADHD advice and so that's that's gonna be part of this journey is kind of sifting through some of it and seeing, you know, what works, what doesn't, is there science behind some of it, you know?

[16:59] Tyson: In the book again, what's it again? What's it called?

[17:01] Andrew: ADHD two point So it's two researchers that both have ADHD. I think it's good. I like again, it's probably an ADHD trait a bit, but I like the details behind stuff, right? Like I want I like it when my doctor explains something, right? I don't just want like, you've got ADHD. Here you go, here's some medicine. Right, I like the

[17:22] Tyson: Yeah. explanation. I do like that, but I like to deliver information in bullet points. So that's I want the detail but I wanna I w I wanna deliver it in bullet points which is

[17:31] Tyson: All right, we're out of time, man. Thanks for doing this. I can't believe how quick this f this went. This was fast. anytime else you want, come on, just let me know.

[17:40] Andrew: Okay. Sounds good. Hope your day gets a little less hectic.

[17:43] Tyson: It I think it's it's already gotten ten times better. So talking to you. anybody wants to go to MaxLawCon twenty seven, maxlawcon dot com. I gotta make sure I remember the to pitch that. And also Beckerslist dot co. so Andrew, thank you so much. Good scene, Ray. Get that ticket.