As an entrepreneur, I have been struggling with the “Shiny Object Syndrome” for years.
Whenever an exciting opportunity surfaces, I feel “oooh, this is it. I want it. I’m going to go and get it.” Each “shiny object” takes a lot of my time, energy and effort to pursue, and ultimately causes a lot of trouble and chaos in my life overall.
My symptoms include:
- Coming up with the idea of a new product, program or offering at least once a week
- Looking at other businesses and coming up with taglines, logos, marketing ideas in my head – just for fun
- Constantly researching and booking domain names “just in case” – but most of them end up expiring
- Calling my friends, coaches, business associates and pitching them my latest half-baked idea
- Exhaustion from all that excitement
I’m guessing most of us have caught the Shiny Object Syndrome at one point or another.
I know for me, whenever I’m bored or have something I really need to do, I procrastinate and that’s usually when my SOS comes roaring back. As an entrepreneur-at-heart, my mind is trained to look for new opportunities…and of course I often find them.
I’ve had to gain clarity about my values in order to get some relief. In its simplest expression, a fulfilling life is one in which important values are honored each and every day. Values serve as guideposts on a journey to discover what you want and challenging decisions become clearer when you can answer questions such as:
Will this decision honor my values?
What values will my “future self” support in this situation?
By aligning choices with my values, I can still pick up each shiny object that comes my way, look at it from different perspectives, and, either try it on or put it back down. I no longer keep each shiny object that comes down my path. I pick it up to see what I can learn from it and sometimes what I learn is that I don’t need it at all. Maybe it was meant for someone else down the path and I can pass it along.
If you’re in a similar position, how do you deal with the shiny objects that keep coming into your life?
Elena is founder of a technology PR agency that works with startups to billion-dollar companies. She is passionate about helping marketers and small business owners with practical publicity strategies.
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Well, I love shiny pebbles too – and even have a friend I’ve nicknamed “Shiny Pebble Girl” or SPG for short.
I discovered a new ‘old’ term, Scanner, coined by Barbara Sher in the book “Refuse to Choose”. Some people used to call themselves “Renaissance Souls” because waaaay back when, it was common to have many ideas and paths to follow, like Leonardo DaVinci and Benjamin Franklin.
A Scanner is someone like me, who has many amazing valuable ideas coming in all the time, and I sometimes finish them, sometimes I don’t – and they are special to me, and usually only me.
A Scanner moves from one thing to another, with apparent disregard for the last thing, but lives in joy when they do follow their own drum.
A Scanner sometimes feels guilty when they leave something unfinished, but I have since discovered that the ‘reward’ to an idea or project is why I’m inspired in the first place. That unfinished projects only SEEM unfinished to the non-Scanner.
I invite you to check the book out. I’m going to start a Scanners Unite! group in Vancouver, BC so that we can encourage and support one another in NOT feeing guilty any longer, and finding cool and awesome ways to live the life of a Scanner with honour and respect for self, and to play with all those amazing ideas that look like shiny pebbles along the path of life.
You described my neurosis to a T! I’m so glad I’m not alone! And yes, it comes along as a mean of distraction, however, I have learned over the years that it is important to go after the good ideas. If you don’t, two years down the line you’ll see that someone else has “your product/idea” in Brookstone or some other store/catalogue. That’s just the way the universe works. What has helped me is honing in on a focus….it’s the rifle approach, which stands in stark contrast to the shotgun approach. Thanks for the great laugh today!
Hi Elena,
This is the first time I have been on your blog and I felt compelled to comment on the SOS syndrome! That post really spoke to me as I have had this as long as I can remember! As an entrepreneur, one of the most exciting things to experience is that rush of creativity when you think of a great idea. Like you, I have had many domains expire, thought and planned out my idea, and then nothing…
I am still trying to find a way to put the pieces of my puzzle together-how to make all of my interests and ideas live together in a way that feels right.
I don’t have any tips right now, but would love to hear some from other SOS sufferers!!
It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one to struggle with bright, shiny objects. I am getting much more focused but will always struggle with this. After all, that’s part of the entrepreneur’s spirit.
.-= tinagleisner´s last blog ..Home Heating Oil -amp The Price is Right =-.
Marielle – a Scanner’s group! Love it! Definitely for me the guilt comes into play when I feel like I should have finished something!
Ellen – glad you got a good laugh! It’s nice to be able to do that about our neuroses!
Holly – thanks for coming to visit, I hope you stop by more often! I’m finding that these days I need to focus on one thing, and everything that surrounds that one idea, at least for a few months to see if it’s right for me. At least I know that if it isn’t – there are many more on my shelf!
[...] Dealing With My Shiny Object Syndrome (prinyourpajamas.com) [...]
Yes, yes, yes! I have a list of goals I want to achieve, and a very specific description of the clients I want to work with. (Will this be work I can be proud of? Does it support my other goals? Is it sustainable? Does it serve my core audience? Is it aligned with my purpose, or “off track”)
Laura, sounds like you have great clarity on your values and what will serve you and your clients best! Thanks for sharing.
[...] new things, and getting my brands convoluted in the process (that’s the problem when you have the Shiny Object Syndrome) Dan provides a good reality check with his [...]
Hi Elena thanks for the giggle and happy to hear others acknowledge the SOS empire… I have the marble syndrome in my head all these colorful brilliant ideas along with the domain names, fortunately there rather inexpensive that is if I am moderate about my impulse purchases. I’v not got an ideas board which I write my ideas on and add delete as I work on them. Its in my office where I can see it. My goals need to be aligned with helping others and living my passion. Its 2011 and I am ready to work on my VISION BOARD for the upcoming year as its gonna be AWESOME, DREAM BIG! wishing everyone super success in ways that are meaningful to you. Louise
Louise – you gave me a giggle yourself! I own multiple domain names myself…just in case I get to those other SOS ideas
Thanks for stopping by and best of luck to you in 2011!
Oh, man, am I ever in that situation all the time. It’s become a running joke in my household that I go “Aha, I have a fantastic idea!” whereupon everyone else says “Oh, really? How surprising” with more than a little bit of sarcasm. I guess it’s not helped by the fact that I am a web designer and developer and have the technical capacity to actually make a lot of these things a reality if only I had the time. It makes me feel like I’m always slacking off and doing something I shouldn’t be doing because there’s always a new great idea on the horizon.
Sometimes my crazy ideas actually become reality, like the 12×12 Vancouver Photo Marathon or my new endeavour http://www.photopivot.com, but for the most part they just remain insane ramblings in a notebook somewhere (like my idea for an online forum centered around product complaints, a service to help people find volunteers for random projects, a website to promote electoral reform in Canada through sarcasm, an online animated dance instructional game).
How do I cope with it? I don’t. I suffer through it, and it’s a daily distraction. Probably not unlike OCD or even ADD actually.
Hello Morten – we should start a Shiny Object club, but it would never get off the ground because we’ll be off on the next thing! LOL. I think this is often what happens with creative people. I like coming up with the concepts and then sometimes get bored with implementation – which is when a team who will DO it is critical to have. For someone with this syndrome, seems like you achieve a lot as well. We’re often hardest on ourselves.
Thanks for stopping by.