Do you have tons of great ideas for your business but never follow through?
Do you jump from one project to the next without ever completing any?
Do you find that when you think about your business and the future your mind is constantly racing, seemingly in circles?
Do you often chase after all the distractions and rarely focus on the three most important things in your business?
If you answered yes to any of the above, you may have “Shiny Object-itis”
This syndrome is one of the top reasons that small businesses fail because it is tough to “diagnose” early, and the only treatment is an injection of being honest with yourself and hard work.
The most important thing when faced with shiny objects is to put your ideas to work so you can get fabulous results.
Creativity is great but ideas without implementation are useless. Click To TweetBut, no one should have to battle this disease alone so here are some tips to help you get started:
Share with me in the comments: What are the shiny objects that distract you in your business and what did you learn from them? And, what are some of the best practices you have for not allowing distractions to take over your life as an entrepreneur?
7 thoughts on “3 Ways to Get Past Shiny Objects and Move Your Business Forward”
Great advice Lisa…in today’s world of technology we can get distracted so easily. It happens to the best of us. It is easy for me to find something interesting and totally throw my day off track. Love the idea about journaling those ideas instead of losing them. That is always my fear…if you don’t act on them the original idea and excitement will be lost.
Writing them down is a great idea and one I will use! Thanks!
As a CEO of a Not For Profit, it is important to demonstrate by evidence our contribution to society. Ideas are so important and getting them to stick and influence policy and society as a whole is not easy, so being lured by the next idea is tantilizing. I have found that regular/scheduled opportunites to take stock and refocus are necessary. Thanks Lisa for the post.
Awesome Shop Talk today, Lisa. I think you’ve nailed my problem to a T … now it’s my job to follow some great advice provided here. Thank you!
My shiny object-itis is when connecting with others and inspiring them we often come up with great new ideas and inevitably those ideas may require me investing time and energy to support their ideas. I am starting a Shiny Object Notebook TODAY! This will allow me to collect and validate those ideas, but I don’t need to let them crowd my top three priorities and drain my time, energy and commitment to what needs to be done to grow my business. Thanks Lisa!
I know what that is like too Darlene!
Lisa, thank you for this post. I have only been in the coaching world for a year and the first live event I attended they spoke about the shinny object syndrome and I said oh not me. Well, I do get side tracked by events that I read about in the paper or hear in the news that I think my programs can address. Not great at staying the course but I have not closed shop. The strategy I am taking is focusing on changing metrics and sales on a quarterly basis, so I have a Fall business strategy I am going to stick to and my goal is to get four strategy calls a week. Thanks
Good job Janice! I think every entrepreneur suffers from shiney objects. I know I do too 🙂 I hope you meet your goal of four strategy calls each week!