Shiny object syndrome, every visionary entrepreneur has suffered from it. What is this phenomenon you might ask? Well, it is quite simple. Shiny object syndrome is a habit one develops that pulls their attention in multiple directions all at once. An overload of opportunity can easily cause this as you sort through which ideas are good to pursue and which aren’t. We often find ourselves bouncing from one idea to another, never actually finalizing and seeing through the current idea you are working on. Shiny object syndrome can become like whiplash in the sense that your head will be spinning in so many different directions. How can we catch ourselves in the act and stop this from becoming an issue in our own pursuit of financial freedom? It all starts with recognizing it as it exhibits itself in our lives and narrowing down our focus.
Recognizing the problem and narrowing down your focus
In my own life, shiny object syndrome has played a huge role. I’ve gone through many avenues and ideas to reach financial freedom. All of the avenues I looked to pursue had a proven path to build financial freedom, yet as I progressed down each path, everything got harder and harder and the idea that was once amazing became less and less sexy. Like most people, I craved instant results and I wasn’t getting it with many of my initial pursuits. One of the biggest reasons why people fail to reach financial freedom is because of this reality that instant gratification just isn’t in the cards whereas in a 9-5 job, the fruits of your labor will be apparent immediately but are dependent upon you putting hours in. Finally, I turned my attention to real estate and became an agent. I did a few sales and made more money than I had ever made before by leaps and bounds. I was finally narrowing down my focus and avoiding the shiny object syndrome that had plagued me in the past bouncing between different ideas after different ideas. However, I viewed my current situation at that time as a job and something I didn’t want to commit to long-term. I wanted to take the leap from job to financial freedom so I took the next logical step from agent to investor. Over the course of the last year, I’ve gone through many different challenges and tried many different strategies for investment success. It has taken me time to find my wheelhouse of what works for me. In a sense, I’m still really finding out what works best for me. What changed from the beginning of my journey until now is that I narrowed down my field of focus from anything that looked promising to a specific field of interest. Nearly 100% of my daily energy is focused on this one avenue as I’ve identified and even narrowed down more specific roles of where I want to be in terms of the real estate industry. Shiny object syndrome can and will try to affect us at all levels of business as I still am faced with many opportunities and promises of riches and glamor that don’t fit my current wheelhouse. In order to stay true to what I want to accomplish, my scope has continued to get more and more narrow.
When I first started investing, I was trying to buy anything anywhere all over the country. Now, after much hardship using that approach, I’ve narrowed down my focus considerably. I now only buy in 3 markets, Buffalo NY, Cortland NY for student housing, and the Nueces County/ Victoria County TX markets. I only buy deals using rehab loans or creative finance, no traditional deals. Anything else that doesn’t fit this criteria is discarded almost immediately. Only if something in another market will require none of my own time besides an initial yes or no will I do it. I have eliminated anything that could and would take my time away from what works best for me. It has literally taken me years to get to this point so don’t get frustrated if it takes some time for you to narrow down your criteria of what is most important to you. Everything is a work in progress and as your scope of what you do gets more and more narrow and focused, the more success you will have.
Clarity is key
When ridding yourself of shiny object syndrome, you must be super clear on what is a good fit for you and what isn’t. Clarity on your goals and objectives will help you define a concise focus and shield you from being distracted by the outside noise disguised as the right opportunity for you. What makes something make sense for you? This is an open-ended question that can be applied to any industry you choose to tackle. Answering this simple question can take a long time and a lot of hardship, but the answer will ultimately shape your success!