Shiny object syndrome is a term a lot of entrepreneurs used to describe people who are always chasing the next opportunity, the next big thing and usually don't stick to it long enough to actually get any kind of results.
This is common with new entrepreneurs where they start out and they hear about all this great opportunity making money here, doing this and they keep changing. And every time you see them they have a new business, a new great opportunity they want to talk about and I think a big reason this happens is that when we doubt ourselves and we are not sure of our destination.
Of course, this happens the most when you're starting out, when you are new to a business and when you doubt yourself. This is the time you're going to be more likely to give up or worry about whether or not you'll actually be able to succeed.
I've done it!! I have hundreds of products by now and I can honestly say that I have NOT seen that last video or read the last page of that PDF for at least 75% of all my purchases.
So what happens to me and others is when things start to get a little tough people see new opportunities and they're always chasing the next new thing that sounds easy, that sounds good, rather than understanding that things take time. That becoming successful might take a year. It might take 10 years!! It takes a lot of time to actually make something great.
This not only applies to business but it applies to anything whether it's developing an artistic talent or athletic one or really anything you want to do. It takes time!!
And when people don't understand that there's this time investment, that you're gonna have to put in the time and that things are not always going to be easy, it leads to change in direction every time things get difficult.
And often we fall into the shiny object syndrome.
We get excited about the new thing rather than admitting that the current thing we're doing isn't working for us.
The reason this is so destructive is that when you're constantly changing direction there's are a couple of things going on.
One: You are probably doing multiple things at once. You do not stop one thing and then start a new one. That means you're splitting your brainpower.
Maybe you're spending 30% percent here, 40% here, 30% here and that means that in any one thing you're doing not really enough to succeed.
You are competing with people who are using a hundred percent of their brain and time.
so you're looking at 30-40% of you versus a 100% of them...... They're going to win every time!!
The other thing that happens is that if you change direction whenever things get tough, you're never really going to succeed. Success can take a lot of time.
So let's say you'll start to get results and after a while, there is a "dip". You don't have the same results anymore. Most people quit at the bottom here and it's pushing through this dip that leads you to come out on top and get rewarded compared to other people.
But the thing is it's a lot of work to get through this step. So you have to figure out if this the track you want. There's no point putting in all this work to overcome the dip if it's not the right path for you.
If you do feel this is what you want to do then you need to put in that time and overcome the dip.
And that's unfortunately where most people quit and if you're always quit in the dip, ( you might not call it quitting, you might call it chasing an opportunity), then you're never really going to achieve anything great and stand out. Because you're just getting into that easy part that's fun. That first month you're learning a new sport or doing a new business is really easy, it's often exciting because you're making a lot of progress quickly.
But it after the "easy" part and into the difficult part that separates the winners from the losers.
What I think you should do is;
Think hard what your goal is, what is it you want to achieve and really get clear on your outcome. And once you're clear on your outcome commit to that and be aware that you're going to have ups and downs and you're going to enter this phase, this dip.
And just be aware that it's coming up and you're going to be challenged. It is often enough to help you see it through and keep pushing forward and not fall into the shiny object syndrome, keep being inconsistent, keep changing directions and really self-sabotaging yourself.
