When intention outpaces action: the ADHD action gap
When you treat the intention-action gap as laziness, the cost is steep. Self-trust erodes. Relationships strain as partners and colleagues misread inaction as indifference. Important goals — health screenings, financial filings, career pivots, hard conversations — slip past their windows. Shame compounds the original deficit, and the next attempt gets harder, not easier. For a child with ADHD, the same dynamic surfaces as academic decline and damaged identity. Naming the gap correctly changes what you do about it, and how you treat yourself while doing it.