I suffer from shiny object syndrome. Anyone else? Wanna form a club? 😆
In case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, SOS can show up when you find yourself in a shitty headspace (which is hella uncomfortable). You think you need this extra thing because it will finally help you achieve your goals. Like yet another course in the hopes that it’ll be ‘the one to finally make your biz legit (whatever that even means).
Or like signing up to the umpteenth workout program because the other 5 haven’t worked for you or doing yet another lifestyle challenge because you haven’t had your shit together lately (all of these are personal examples btw…)
What it comes down to is that you have this sense of urgency and believe that purchasing the thing will get you out of the shitty spot you find yourself in.
Spoiler alert: it won’t. I mean sure, immediately after making that purchase you feel excited and can’t wait to get stuck in. The purchase made the shitty feeling go away because you’ve taken action, right?
But what about 2 weeks in? 4 weeks? 3 months? Is it still working?
I’m noticing SOS in my own life right now (in a biz context) and believe me when I say I’ve been close to clicking a few buttons this week lol. The purchase is a temporary fix. It doesn’t actually address what is going on in my head – why am thinking what I’m thinking? What am I making my current situation mean?
It’s reacting to what’s going on instead of figuring out how to respond – there is a difference. In case you were wondering – I didn’t end up following through. I know that my thoughts aren’t always facts and can be really unhelpful some days. I also worked through why I thought I needed to fix my current situation and went looking for data (objective facts).Â
If you find yourself chasing a shiny object too – try to see if you can pause. For an hour, a day or even a week. Give yourself time to gather and look at the data available to you. What are the facts? Can you distinguish between those and the stories you’re telling yourself?
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