Understanding How It's Built

I had my photo taken with an Ariel Atom recently - if you haven’t seen one before, it’s the kind of car that looks like someone forgot to finish building it. There’s no roof, no doors and hardly any bodywork at all; it is just a frame, an engine and a driver holding on for dear life.

Despite that, it’s one of the fastest cars ever made. The lack of weight means it can go from 0 to 60 in about 2.8 seconds, faster than most supercars - it is raw, loud and completely focused on performance.

It got me thinking about ADHD - there is something familiar about the idea of moving that fast with so little in the way of filters or buffers. The Atom doesn’t waste time trying to be comfortable or polished; it’s built for intensity, and in the right conditions, that’s exactly what makes it brilliant.

For people with ADHD, that intensity can be both the best and hardest part of life. When it’s understood and channelled, it is incredible, but when it isn’t, it can feel like being in an Ariel Atom on a rainy day with no helmet.

Understanding how something is built makes all the difference - once you know how it is meant to work, you stop fighting it and start using its strengths.