Do you want to live with more intention to achieve your goals? In this 6th episode in a series on Intentional Living, Dr. Regan discusses ways to grow in areas of interest by expanding skills and using free or low cost methods of networking and introducing products or services to others.  Previous podcast episodes mentioned: Shifting Autistic Characteristics Across the Lifespan Autism in Women Coursera (online courses)   Dr. Regan's Resources Book: Understanding Autism in Adults and Aging Adults, 2nd ed Audiobook Book: Understanding Autistic Behaviors Autism in the Adult website homepage Website Resources for Clinicians Read the transcript: 100:00:06,019 --> 00:00:06,829Hello, 200:00:06,840 --> 00:00:16,920this is Doctor Regan joining you for the sixth episode of Our Living With Intention series on the Autism in the Adult podcast. 300:00:17,290 --> 00:00:20,159I am the mom of a teen on the spectrum. 400:00:20,459 --> 00:00:26,180I have a doctorate in the field of brain behavior relationships called neuropsychology. 500:00:26,440 --> 00:00:28,549I'm also an author and speaker, 600:00:28,559 --> 00:00:36,279a certified autism specialist and the founder and director of an autism diagnostic clinic in Central Illinois, 700:00:36,290 --> 00:00:38,000serving adolescents, 800:00:38,009 --> 00:00:40,060adults and aging adults. 900:00:42,180 --> 00:00:45,069Before we jump into our topic for today, 1000:00:45,090 --> 00:00:48,250let's take a throwback to past episodes. 1100:00:48,619 --> 00:00:51,790Looking back to two years ago at this time, 1200:00:51,869 --> 00:00:54,779I published an episode about autism in women. 1300:00:55,299 --> 00:00:59,330It's been one of the most listened to episodes of the podcast. 1400:00:59,779 --> 00:01:02,270And one year ago at this time, 1500:01:02,279 --> 00:01:13,699we were in the midst of a series about how autism characteristics may shift somewhat across the lifespan during puberty across life, 1600:01:13,709 --> 00:01:17,879seasons in women and throughout the aging years, 1700:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,569I'll go ahead and link these episodes in the show notes in case you miss them. 1800:01:24,989 --> 00:01:25,199Now, 1900:01:25,209 --> 00:01:30,139let's talk about our current episode in The Living With Intention series. 2000:01:32,319 --> 00:01:37,309I've named the series Living With Intention because sometimes as humans, 2100:01:37,319 --> 00:01:53,690we just kind of get swept up in the demands of daily life or we get stuck in some areas and it can help to pause and consider where we would like to be in various areas of our lives. 2200:01:54,370 --> 00:02:02,739And then to think about how to take small achievable steps on a path toward our intention. 2300:02:03,839 --> 00:02:04,629And so far, 2400:02:04,639 --> 00:02:13,050we've spoken about three areas of life that someone may have goals for such as improving regulation, 2500:02:13,539 --> 00:02:15,539that means feeling centered, 2600:02:15,550 --> 00:02:18,619calm and psychologically present. 2700:02:19,720 --> 00:02:27,210We talked about communicating and connecting and also about addressing issues of household culture. 2800:02:28,750 --> 00:02:29,449Today, 2900:02:29,460 --> 00:02:32,679we will look at the area of interests. 3000:02:32,690 --> 00:02:44,070Many people that I work with share that they're so captivated by a certain topic or activity that they would love to expand this in their life. 3100:02:44,100 --> 00:02:45,500For example, 3200:02:45,509 --> 00:02:47,470if someone is an artist, 3300:02:47,710 --> 00:02:52,380they may share that they think they would like to sell designs on Etsy, 3400:02:54,000 --> 00:03:01,710another person may share that they are immersed in sewing and this is so interesting and calming to them. 3500:03:02,210 --> 00:03:09,970They've developed quite a skill in this area and they're wondering if they could expand by doing some things in their community. 3600:03:11,270 --> 00:03:21,240Another may have