They call it: ~~Keeps messing up~~ We call it

Bounce Back

Also known as resilience.

The short version You get knocked down more than most people, and you get up more too. That counts.

Sounds like you?

You lose the match, then ask when the next one is.
You get a bad report and make a plan that night.
You have been told you can’t and did it anyway.

Why it’s a power

People with ADHD get a lot of practice at starting over. Many say that practice built something. Researchers who interviewed successful adults with ADHD listed resilience as one of six strength clusters they described.^{Source 1}

A study of 50 Norwegian adults with ADHD found the same theme: resilience and growth.^{Source 2} Those adults also said the same traits helped or hurt depending on the situation, which is the fair way to read it. Nobody measured it. This is what they said.

Here is the limit, and it matters. In a comparison of 200 adults with ADHD and 200 without, the ADHD group rated themselves lower on being perseverant.^{Source 3} Getting back up and staying with one thing are different skills. Both can be learned.

Lived experience

Interviews with adults who have ADHD describe resilience after hard times. That is their experience, not proof that ADHD causes it.

Where it shines

Coming back after a public mistake
Learning a skill you were told to drop
Sports, auditions, second attempts

The flip side

Getting back up is not the same as sticking with one thing. Adults with ADHD often rate themselves lower on that, and the hits are real.

Power-up: try this today

Write down one thing you failed at and one thing you did next, so the pattern is somewhere you can see it.

Say it to a kid

A basketball bounces back higher when you push it down hard. You do that too. When something knocks you down, you come back up.

Someone who has this one

Noah Lyles

Olympic 100 meters champion

I have asthma, allergies, dyslexia, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), anxiety and depression. But I will tell you that what you have does not define what you can become. Why not you!

Said in: Lyles, 2024

Noah Lyles won the Olympic 100 meters in 2024. He shared this list himself the same year.

Bounce Back Turbo Engine

Michael Phelps

Swimmer with 23 Olympic gold medals

It’s something that I’m thankful happened, and I’m thankful that I am how I am.

Said in: Phelps, 2017

Michael Phelps won 23 Olympic gold medals, more than anyone in history. As a kid he could never sit still, and a teacher told him he would never amount to anything.

Turbo Engine Laser Lock Bounce Back

Where this comes from

Sedgwick, J. A., Merwood, A., & Asherson, P. (2019). The positive aspects of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a qualitative investigation of successful adults with ADHD. ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders, 11(3), 241-253. Read it
Nordby, E. S., Guribye, F., Nordgreen, T., & Lundervold, A. J. (2023). Silver linings of ADHD: a thematic analysis of adults' positive experiences with living with ADHD. BMJ Open, 13(10), e072052. Read it
Hargitai, L. D., Laan, E. L. M., Schippers, L. M., Livingston, L. A., Fairchild, G., Shah, P., & Hoogman, M. (2025). The role of psychological strengths in positive life outcomes in adults with ADHD. Psychological Medicine, 55, e278. Read it

No. 21: Quick Switch

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