The "Other" Shiny Object Problem?

Most folks knows about the Shiny Object Syndrome, but for those who don't: It's where you buy a marketing product, but before you fully put it to use another shiny product comes along and sounds great, so you buy it and abandon the one you were working on.

This is often followed by another shiny new product, then another, until you have gigabytes of marketing products on your hard drive and you've never really put any of them to full use.

It's also known as not giving yourself a chance to succeed.

Did you know there's a second Shiny Object Syndrome that isn't talked about near as often?

It's true, and I'm guilty of chasing that object now and then myself.

This is where your own new ideas distract you from finishing the ideas you've already started working on.

As I look over the My Products folder on my computer, I can see a good half dozen products I've started but haven't finished. I've even bought domains for some of them, one is over a year old.

Don't get me wrong, everything doesn't get put off. In that same folder are about 40 products, maybe more, that I have finished and sold. It's not like I get nothing done, and some of the unfinished products are big projects so I spread them out over time so I can create smaller products to sell in the meantime.

Still ... the unfinished products stare back at me, nagging me to finish them. It's kind of annoying sometimes.

I know, I know ... set aside a block of time each day, blah blah blah...

Fortunately for me I don't have to do that. If you're not yet established, you may not have that luxury.

Are you creating your own Shiny Objects that keep you from achieving your goals? It could be that, like me, you have more ideas than time to implement them all. Or maybe you distract yourself playing games, or spend too much time on forums, or any number of other things.

When you're established and have enough income streams set up to maintain your lifestyle you can be a little free flowing in your routine. If you're not there yet, you need self-discipline if you're going get there.

If you want to shift your IM career into fast forward, figure out how you can minimize your own self-sabotage and stop chasing shiny objects ... no matter who creates them.