I know in the past in my business career and also my personal career, or my personal life I should say, I often drifted from one subject to another or from one area of interest to another. In business, this is probably the most profound because you saw the results of this drift in a negative way, the quickest. You would start down one lane, having an idea. Maybe it’s an idea for a business or a project or a certain demographic you want to go after in marketing, whatever it may be, and as you start on that path, you quickly lose interest and start going through something else.
In previous Daily Growth Hacks, I called this “shiny new object syndrome”, and I’m not the one that coined it, but it actually is true. How often as entrepreneurs and business owners, especially, do we have this “shiny new object syndrome” where we’re using new tools, new techniques, before we even mastered the old ones? We haven’t even delved into the depths of mastery quite yet, but, yet, we switch so quickly to something different.
Just recently, this came up in a conversation I had with one of my clients. This morning, we were talking about his business. He just got back from vacation. Although he should have been feeling refreshed, he actually wasn’t, the flu going around and all, but when we started talking, he said, “Doug, I figured it out. We’re going in a different direction. I got my messaging,” which, typically, I would be all for. I’d say, “Let’s dive in. Let’s look at that and see where I can assist you in making sure that you’re having the clearest conscious decisions for yourself.” That’s what I do as a coach, but, in this case, I actually said, “Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. In the last six months, you’ve changed directions at least 30 times. We need to pick a lane. Pick a lane and drive down that lane to see where it ends. You don’t have to go all the way.”
Oftentimes, when we’re going on these adventures, especially in business, but this is also can be in relationships, as well, we notice subtle changes. There are red flags that come up, and that’s when you should pivot, but if you’re pivoting often, as most business owners that I talk to do, you need to start checking yourself. Are you pivoting because you are losing interest, or are you pivoting because it’s the right decision for your business, or maybe you’re pivoting for another reason, something totally different? Maybe you have a limiting belief or old story you’re telling yourself. I know for myself, it used to be a limiting belief that had to do with success. I thought I should be so successful, but, yet, I had some kind of imbalance in my thinking because I thought if I was successful and when I get rich, I’m going to lose all my friends, people are going to judge me, because I saw all the conversations that were going around me at a young age.
You can see that these are two conflicting stories that just cause anxiety, stress, and a lack of getting where you want to go. In most cases, when you think about this, especially for business owners, entrepreneurs, or any of you listening to this that are like me at one point, that you’re just going for your goals, but if you’re quickly changing directions, you’re never going to get there. You got to pick a lane. Pick a lane. Test it out. Have yourself set up for success so you know exactly what needs to be done.
What I invite you to do today is grab your journal, grab your Five to Thrive, write it down just like I write it in my journal. Where in your Five to Thrive are you bouncing all over the place where you really just need to pick a lane?
In the area of your mind, are you one of these people that I used to be where I have 20 books going at once, but I never finished one, or maybe you’re like me or like a lot of my clients used to be where you’re on a fitness journey. Maybe it’s losing weight, gaining strength, getting more flexibility or all of the above, but you tried Pilates for 10 days, then you go to yoga, then you go to power workouts and strength, and you’re all over the place, never really getting to your goal. Maybe it’s in dieting. How often do many of us just try diets just for a little bit and go, “Ugh, intermittent fasting wasn’t for me. Ketogenic wasn’t for me. South Beach wasn’t for me,” whatever it is?
Then how many in our soul try meditation, just, “I tried it for a couple days. It just didn’t work, Doug.” I hear that all the time. That’s not the way it’s designed.
Then in our relationships, how often do we actually try to rekindle a lost love or rekindle a friendship only to when we get rebuffed just one time, one time, do we walk away and throw it away and not really try full-heartedly and then go off and start having a different friendship or a different relationship? In dating, it’s a very common thing. You go from one relationship to another.
Then in business, how often do we not actually go after the marketplace? As a business owner, if you’re listening to this, you should be known as an expert in your industry, and if you’re not, reach out to me, and I’ll tell you exactly how to do it, but you should be known as an expert. You deserve all of that and more, and I want that for all of you.
That’s it for me today. Remember, share this with at least three people so they can get something out of this and you can have conversations that matter. Also, I encourage you to go over AuthorofYourOwnStory.com right now and sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t already, if you’re just seeing this, and if you’re new to the Daily Growth Hacks, which many of you that have reached out are, we have a backlog of over 250 Daily Growth Hacks that you can go back and do. For our regular listeners, remember, as I always say, “Do the work to make sure you’re getting the benefit.” It’s one thing to listen to these and be a digestor of content. It’s a whole nother level to actually do the work and have impact in the world.
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