3 Simple Questions to Save You from Shiny Object Syndrome
We’ve all been there. An expert in our field says something about the tools they use or the process they follow.
Aha! If we used that tool or process, we would have their success!
We immediately drop whatever tool or process we had, and leap to use their tool or process.
Until the next expert mentions a different tool or process.
And the next one…
We’re so busy jumping from new tool to new tool, or new process to new process, we never find the success we wanted.
This is Shiny Object Syndrome.
If you’ve got Shiny Object Syndrome, you’ll spend a ton of time, energy, and money. And at the end of it all, you’ll have nothing to show for it, except exhaustion and frustration.
Now, I’m not saying don’t listen to experts. Modeling those who achieved success in your field is an excellent way to fast track your own success. But you have to know what things to follow, and what things not to.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to figure out what is likely to propel your life to a higher level. And by the same token, figure out what is a waste of your time, energy, and money.
The answer is to ask three simple questions before you begin:
- How?
- Why?
- What?
In the rest of this article, I’ll explain the questions, and show you how to use them.
How?
The first question to ask is: How will this solution make my life better?
What if you can’t explain how this process, tool, system, course, or whatever is on offer will make your life better? Then you turn it down. You don’t need it.
It may be great for the person describing it, but it’s not right for you. If you don’t have a clear vision for how this will improve your life, you won’t be able to stick to it.
Think of all the areas in your life
Weight loss is an area where people are extremely prone to Shiny Object Syndrome. We’re all desperate for some way to be healthier and look better — as long as we don’t have to eat less or exercise more.
You’re talking to a friend who says he’s lost 20 pounds. He looks great. And he says he did it by switching to a paleo diet.
You want to look that good! And you’d love to lose the 20 pounds you’ve added over the years. You need to go home, throw out all your breads and cookies, and grill up a nice juicy steak!
Not so fast.
First, answer the question. How will doing this make your life better?
Easy. You’ll look great, and lose 20 pounds.
Hang on. How long was your friend doing this? Did he ever allow himself a cheat day? Or has no grain passed his lips in five years?
That includes not just breads, but things that are breaded, or made with wheat. No fried chicken. No onion rings. No spaghetti or meatballs. No beer.
The next time the guys get together to watch the big game, how will that go? They’ll be sharing beer, pizza, and chicken wings. You’ll be drinking water and nibbling on rabbit food from a plastic bag.
Are you still sure this will make your life better?
If it won’t make your life better, don’t do it
Perhaps you can find another way to get the same result. Or maybe the result isn’t all that impressive, and won’t really affect your life.
The important thing is can you say with 100% certainty that doing this thing would make your life better? If not, don’t do it.
If you clearly see how this would improve your life, then move on to the next question.
Why?
The second question to ask is: Why is it important?
Say that you do whatever you’re considering. You get the result that you were hoping for, and your life improves.
Because you have a limited amount of time, energy, and resources, you probably had to give something up. This question helps you determine if that trade off was worth it.
This is where a lot of things in the online marketing space fail. If you follow this secret process, you’re guaranteed to get on Page 1 of Google search results. But does it really matter if you capture the search traffic for “best left-handed widget under $20”?
Is that important to you? Important enough to miss your kid’s baseball game or date night with your spouse?
Importance can change quickly
I know from experience that “I want to look better” is not enough motivation to make a radical shift in diet. But when the doctor says you’ve got diabetes and your liver isn’t working too well? Suddenly, losing that weight becomes super important.
Now the answer to why it’s important isn’t vanity. Your life is at stake. Left untreated, diabetes can lead to all sorts of nasty complications. Early death is the big one. But you can also suffer blindness or needing an amputation.
In my case, I went full-on vegan for 9 months, to give my liver time to heal. It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t easy. But it was incredibly important.
I’m not much of a cook. We probably ate out three times a week before going vegan. Yet I was willing to make the trade-off of cooking and not having any dinners out for nine months. That way I could ensure I’d have plenty of dinners out for many years afterwards.
If it isn’t important, don’t do it
Figuring out the importance of your result helps you know if it’s worth doing.
If your life is already pretty full, something will have to give for you to pursue this project. Knowing the relative importance of this new thing versus the things you’d give up is crucial. That’s the only way to determine if it’s worth pursuing.
If you’ve decided it’s important enough to do, continue on to the next question.
What?
The final question to ask is: What is the measurable outcome?
Your ideal outcome needs to be something measurable. You have to be able to determine if you’ve achieved your goal or not. This helps you know whether you have the time, energy, and resources to take on something new.
You’ll follow this process, tool, system, course, or whatever is on offer until you reach the outcome. Or, until it is obvious that you cannot reach the outcome.
Two ways to make it measurable
There are two ways of measuring something. The first is a countable value. It could be an absolute number, or a percentage change. Whichever you choose, when you reach that number, you’ve reached your outcome.
Obviously, you have to have a way of accurately measuring that value. If you say you want to increase your net worth by 25%, but you don’t know your current net worth, that’s a problem.
The second way of measuring is a binary yes/no event. Did something happen at a certain date and time? If it did, you reached your outcome. If it didn’t, you failed, and cannot reach that outcome.
In our earlier example about the Paleo diet, the measurable outcome could be losing 20 pounds. It could also be reducing your body mass index by 4 points, or reaching a target percentage of body fat. As long as you had a scale that told you those numbers, they’re measurable.
For my diabetes example, there were two measurable outcomes. The first was having an A1C reading under 6%. The second was having all liver function levels in the normal range. My A1C reading was back in the non-diabetic range after 6 months, but it took 9 months until I met both conditions. I only stopped the vegan diet when the outcome was completely achieved.
If you can’t measure the outcome, don’t do it
You’re committing to follow this thing until you reach an outcome. If you can’t measure that outcome, how will you know when you’ve reached it? You won’t. You’ll have no idea if you should be continuing to work on this thing, or do something else.
If your ideal outcome is to be “better”, don’t do it unless you can find a way to measure what “better” means. The same is true for getting “more” of something. How much more? If you get one more, will you be satisfied?
If you can measure the outcome, you can go ahead and do whatever it is. It’s not just the latest shiny idea. It’s a good, solid idea that will work for you.
Conclusion
Shiny Object Syndrome is when you chase the latest and greatest solution to your problem. If something looks like it might help, you jump in. And abandon whatever solution you were trying before.
To save yourself from Shiny Object Syndrome, ask yourself these three questions.
- How will this solution make my life better?
- Why is that important?
- What is the measurable outcome?
If you fail to answer any of those three questions to your satisfaction, don’t do whatever it is. It’s shiny, but it won’t help solve your problem.
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