Recently, a friend of mine opened up of how she felt overwhelmed with all of her duties. When speaking with her, we were able to understand what was causing that overwhelming feeling.
Today, I’d like to speak about a powerful cause of that feeling. That feeling can is an open door to distraction, which will therefore make you lose track of your objective.
As an entrepreneur, I too fell into that trap: That trap, which is a symptom of the disease of distraction, is the S.O.S. In this context, S.O.S does not stand for “Save our Souls”. It stands for Shiny Object Syndrome.
You might be wondering what exactly that is, and how distracting it might be. Well, let’s go through it together:
Definition
Let me start by asking you a couple of questions. Are you keen to be:
- Attracted to the newest methods and strategies?
- Starting lots of projects without ever seeing them through?
- Following lots of objectives at the same time?
- Loosing focus on your current objective
If you are frequently experiencing the above stated points, then you are probably a victim of the S.O.S., also known as the Shiny Object Syndrome.
The Shiny Object Syndrome is the tendency to want to run after the newness: a new product, a new business, a new strategy, a new service, a new tool, a new method, a new project… without ever finishing whatever you have started working on.
Causes of the Shiny Object Syndrome
Now that the S.O.S has been defined, let go through its common symptoms when it comes to starting (or running) a business.
It is important to know the causes S.O.S: otherwise, it will be difficult to deal with it. Indeed, as I previously explained: it is impossible to overcome a disease of you do not determine its root causes.
The current trend
Nowadays, the society has shaped us into comparing ourselves with other people: if everybody has a specific trendy item, part of us would want that specific item as well.
Now if that specific item is being sold by an excellent marketer, convincing you to purchase it, chances are you fall for it – especially if they claim your business won’t be successful with that item.
Fear of the unknown
When starting (or running) a business, one goes through a roller coaster of feelings: loneliness, difficulties, overload of work, syndrome of imposter, fear, etc.
Things that are not supposed to happen do happen – and they catch us by surprise. Some of them are unfortunate circumstances you did not foresee.
Then someone markets an A-MA-ZING tool with the promise to solve that very same difficulty you are experiencing. You would consider it as a miraculous product.
Indeed, that product would get you out of that unforeseen very difficult situation. You feel like this product will put you back into your comfort zone again.
Fear of failure
The fear of the unknown usually comes with the fear of failure. We leave in a society where failure is not an option. What a pity…
If a promising solution is offered to you, it is only natural that you go for it. Especially if the promise attached to it is not but success (also known as “no failure”).
If your failure to fail is powerful enough, there are big chances that you fall into the trap of the Shiny Object Syndrome!
Conclusion
As easy as it might be to follow the Shiny Object, I can only encourage you to focus on your objectives. Sometimes, miraculous solutions come your way. Most of the time, it takes hard work.
Delaying that hard work with the S.O.S will only make it longer for you to achieve success – assuming you do not give up on your entrepreneurial project.
A wise person in my entourage once told me:
When you pray, do not pray for an easy journey. Pray for God to provide you with the necessary traits to have a fruitful and successful journey.
He was so right…
What about you? Do you know of any other symptom of the distraction symptom? Do you know of any other causes? I would love to read your feedback in the comment sections. In another post, I will be exposing other ways to overcome the Shiny Object Syndrome.
This post was about how I overcame the S.O.S. – the Shiny Object Syndrome. Feel free to share and comment.