Faster Than Normal Summary and key ideas

Faster Than Normal, by Peter Shankman.

Peter Shankman describes ADHD as part of how he thinks, not proof that he is broken. He calls it a “faster-than-normal brain,” a shorthand for speed, energy, and ideas that arrive quickly. This is his personal lens. In the foreword, Edward Hallowell notes that people with this kind of brain share some patterns while differing in important ways.

His school years showed the costs. He recalls talking in class, paying attention unevenly, and failing to carry out ordinary requests, even when he could produce exceptional bursts of work. Adults repeatedly told him he would succeed if he applied himself. Later, he says, some of the same intensity and quickness that had brought trouble helped him build businesses and create HARO. Success did not mean every part of life became easy; it meant he began to see a possible use for traits he had been taught to treat only as problems.

One of the central contradictions in his account is the difference between hyperfocus and distraction. He can become absorbed in a subject that captures his interest, yet struggle to stay with routine tasks or ordinary conversation. He describes forgetting things, wandering mentally, and acting or speaking before considering the consequences. That gap can make strong attention look like a lack of attention, and good intentions fail to prevent real frustration for him and others. His point is not that these difficulties are imaginary, but that they coexist with other capacities.

Shankman says reading a book about ADHD helped him recognize experiences he had treated as a private quirk. That recognition gave him a way to reinterpret his school history and his adult life. He connects ADHD with fast associations, creativity, intuition, and the ability to move from an idea to action. Those traits can generate opportunities, he argues, but they do not reliably direct themselves. His model asks him to notice which patterns help and which need limits, rather than treating the label as either a defect or an automatic advantage.

To explain why some situations focus him while others do not, Shankman offers a personal theory about dopamine, serotonin, and adrenaline. He says experts describe ADHD’s chemistry differently and is clear that he is not presenting a medical explanation. In his own account, tedious work such as itemizing receipts is hard to sustain, while skydiving concentrates his attention. During a jump, the perceived danger leaves him focused on the immediate task of surviving and landing. He says the energized feeling continues afterward, sometimes giving him hours in which he can write, record videos, and answer email. This is his interpretation of his experience, not proof that the same mechanism explains ADHD for everyone.

The webinar that helped launch the book shows how the same intensity can create an opening and a risk. Shankman says he scheduled it without weighing the pros and cons, testing the idea, or preparing the presentation. People signed up in the hundreds and then the thousands. His quick move turned into an opportunity, but it also illustrates the impulsivity that can lead to poor choices. In his telling, acting fast is not enough on its own; he has to learn when that speed is useful and how to contain its costs.

Shankman also argues that a recent diagnostic label does not prove that similar behavior is new. He points to older descriptions of restlessness and inattention, then speculates that some famous innovators may have had ADHD-like traits. He acknowledges that no one can establish a historical figure’s diagnosis with certainty. The distinction matters: he is offering possible parallels, not retroactive diagnoses.

His view of medication is similarly qualified. He argues that medication should be a last resort or an adjunct to behavioral strategies, rather than first-line or stand-alone treatment. He accepts carefully monitored medication in general, while saying that some children and adults with extreme ADHD can benefit from judicious pharmaceutical treatment. He reports taking Concerta occasionally for tasks such as paperwork and meetings, and describes it as one small part of his approach. He says medication cannot teach the behaviors and coping skills needed to manage daily life. For him, those learned skills and continued self-monitoring remain essential, even when things are going well.

That is the chapter’s basic argument: ADHD’s intensity can feed ideas, concentration, and action, while also producing distraction, forgetfulness, and impulsive decisions. Shankman treats this as a personal account, not a guarantee that every person will experience the same balance. His success does not erase the costs. It shows why he believes the brain’s strengths need direction and its difficulties need ongoing attention.