One of the most common complaints among entrepreneurs is something called “Shiny Object Syndrome”.
Shiny Object Syndrome is when you are constantly buying new stuff or learning something new under the flag of “growing your business”. It can be a new piece of software, a new training program, or going to a new seminar, workshop, or summit…
Let me be clear about something…learning and growing is a good thing…in fact, it’s a great thing. Tools and software are not inherently bad. The problem arises when these seemingly helpful steps are acting as an obstacle to your success rather than a solution.
Growing and learning can be a double-edge sword. Every time you buy something new, you are reaffirming the belief that you are somehow incomplete. You are affirming that you don’t have what it takes right now to be successful.
You think…
Once I learn that new tactic or strategy, then I’ll be successful or once I get that new piece of software, then I’ll be successful. The problem is sometimes it’s the truth. Sometimes you don’t have the tools or knowledge to accomplish a goal. That’s not what we’re talking about here…
Sometimes, we are using learning and tools as an excuse. In other words, success is always just one more training or software product away.
I can tell you that I was THE BIGGEST shiny object addict out there…in fact, if it were a disease, the doctor would have declared me terminal and given me three weeks to live.
I was buying programs, plugins, and software like it was the solution to all of my money woes, however, it wasn’t the solution, in fact, it was the problem…not the solution.
One day I was looking through my spreadsheet of hundreds of SAAS products, training programs, ebooks, and worksheets and I was stunned at the realization that I was more broke than when I first started accumulating these resources and tools.
It wasn’t that these programs and products were bad, many were absolutely phenomenal. My problem, I determined, was that I was in a perpetual state of consumption and I was not creating and producing!
Then, I determined the cure for my shiny object syndrome…
So what’s the cure?
The cure is to STOP BUYING SHIT! At least, without preconditions.
My problem wasn’t that I loved to learn and grow, my problem was I assumed that learning something was “doing something.”
Learning is my drug. I like to say, if we awoke and found ourselves amidst a zombie apocalypse, and you needed an emergency appendectomy with no doctor in sight…take me to a Barnes & Nobels and you’ll have a 50/50 chance of living.
The problem is it’s easier to learn something new than it is to do something old. When you assume that learning something is doing something, you will always be learning and never be doing because there is no risk in learning. With doing there is risk.
Until we get your shiny-object malfunction fixed you are not permitted to buy a single piece of software, training program, or seminar. I’ll tell you later when it is ok to start buying stuff again, but for now…you are not permitted to buy anything new.
You will say the following to yourself every single morning…
“I am the guru”.
That is your new mantra.
Every time that you are tempted to buy the latest, greatest marketing info-product or sign up for your favorite guru’s latest training seminar, stop yourself, and say to yourself…
“I am the guru”.
STEP 1: STOP BUYING THINGS WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS
That’s the cure. STOP BUYING OTHER PEOPLE’S STUFF until you are so successful that you can afford to do so without racking up debt.
Look, I know…
You are an entrepreneur and because you are an entrepreneur, you are likely super smart and super motivated, you LOVE to learn.
I get it…so do I.
Here’s the problem though…
Read that again. It was my own epiphany, and now I give it to you.
Learning something new will ALWAYS be easier than doing something OLD!
You have everything you need, right now, to achieve AMAZING success. USE THAT “OLD” KNOWLEDGE to build NEW things that people will buy from you!
The gurus are often not buying training programs because they’re too busy selling YOU stuff!
Gurus DO, wannabes BUY, wannabes TRY.
“I am the GURU.”
Say it.
“I AM THE GURU!”
That’s the first step to the cure.
Now, your second step…
STEP 2: START UNSUBSCRIBING
Start today to unsubscribe from all of the internet marketing lists that you have subscribed to…I know, you don’t want to miss out on all of the deals and bonuses for the software or training program that is coming out tomorrow at 11 AM.
Trust me. You ain’t missing out on anything that won’t either pop up again later or go totally obsolete in a month. Another, better program or software will come out next month.
Every day, unsubscribe from 10 lists until you are subscribed to no more than a handful of your favorites.
STEP 3: LEARN BASED ON IMMEDIATE NEED
The time to learn about putting on a webinar is when you need to make a webinar. All learning is experiential. from now on You truly learn when you do something with knowledge…Â
Knowledge has a half-life. The moment you learn something new, you start to forget it. That is, unless you start using that knowledge to do something and then you do it again and again.
Think of all training programs as apprenticeships. Only learn what you need to DO something right now. If you are ready to build a website, start in on learning how to build a website and follow the steps as you learn them in the production of your website.
You probably have a ton of wonderful programs that you already purchased that you can use right now to produce something for your customers. That could be a webinar, a membership site, an email campaign, an infoproduct, or anything else that will deliver value to people who will happily pay you for that value.
From this point forward, should you decide to purchase a new program, the pre-condition of purchase needs to be immediate utility of that software, product, or training!
What I love about coaching someone is that coaching is all about getting people to do what they should do, and already can do, to achieve what they have always wanted to achieve.
I go into coaching a client with the assumption that they ALREADY have what they need to make massive progress. My job is to sit with you and work together to mine that gold and those diamonds that are often inches below the surface!
It’s so gratifying to see a client have a breakthrough without having to purchase a new program or training. When that happens enough in your life, you start to believe in yourself more and more.
That’s awesome to see and it’s even better to feel.
So there you have it. Three steps for eradicating shiny-object syndrome…you’re welcome! 🙂
Shiny Object Syndrome Hack
Researchers have discovered that coffeehouses and coworking environments can actually quell the “Shiny Object Syndrome” by offering the brain an alternative source of novelty that causes the brain to squeeze a few drops of dopamine into the nervous system resulting in more focus, better productivity and even more innovative and creative thinking! This has come to be known as the “Coffee House Effect”.
When I am coaching entrepreneurs caught up in a cycle of “Shiny Object Syndrome” the most important step I take to help them breakthrough is to connect them back to their mission…or as I put it in my short article, “Stop Searching For Purpose, Do This Instead”, their reason for getting up in the morning.
Is buying this new course relevant to your mission RIGHT NOW? Do you really need to buy a $1995 course on how to sell your online course or ebook when you don’t even have an ebook or e-course to sell? Do you really need to learn how to do a webinar when you haven’t got anything to sell on the webinar?
Remember step 3 of the “Three Step System For Beating Shiny Object Syndrome”…learn based on IMMEDIATE NEED!
