Raise your hand if you like shiny objects.

Plus the insight that helped kick my Shiny Object Syndrome to the curb.

👋🏼 Hey, I’m Anna! I’m a Founder turned Startup Consultant, award winning podcaster and writer. Welcome to my weekly newsletter where I share business, career and life lessons learned from years of trying hard, failing often, dusting myself off and improving until I succeed.

---

Years ago when I started consulting, it took forever to land my first gig. I sent LinkedIn DM after DM, racked up hours upon hours on Zoom, and had so many IRL lattes that I developed a fully fledged caffeine addiction.

I hate the word hustle but there is no other word for what I did. I hustled, baby.

After 3 or 4 months of putting myself out there I landed Client #1. Client #2 came a few weeks later. Word must have then got out on Start-Up Street because opportunities flooded in thick and fast; brands wanted help on project XYZ, founders got in touch seeking mentorship and advice, and I started landing paid freelance writing gigs. Each morning in the inbox, a bigger, shinier opportunity was up for grabs.

You might think I was discerning in terms of what I decided to take on, but in reality I said yes to every single thing. After all, I wanted to reap the rewards of selling my skills and slogging it out for so long. But after grabbing so many opportunities at once, my life quickly spun out of control. I was overcommitted and overworked. At one point I was at the desk 7 days a week, with zero time for anything or anyone else. My life felt like a rotating disco ball chaotically smattering speckles of light all over the joint.

I was blinded by so many shiny objects that I could barely see.

Opportunity versus distraction.

Shiny objects are, by definition, sexy. They’re iconic. Newsworthy even. We love to love them. We love to seize them.

They fall into one of two categories:

1. Genuine opportunities: these give us the chance to grow and move closer to where we want to be. The trade offs are worth it and the opportunity costs make sense.

2. Distractions: these sneaky suckers are dressed up as opportunities but instead they take us off our path. Like a disco ball does to the light, they shatter our focus into a million little pieces. Spread thin, we do nothing well, or worse, nothing at all.

I’ve encountered many glittery things and have been attracted to them all like a moth to a flame. I’ve podcasted at Australian Fashion Week twice (genuine opportunity), have been approached by book publishers (distraction), and have been head hunted to work with really cool brands (a little from column A, a little from column B). Time after time, I’ve preached yes when I should have said no.

I know that my ability to do good work is inextricably linked to my ability to say no and not now. So why am I lured by shiny things at all?

Scarcity in disguise.

Let’s get vulnerable for a hot second, shall we? The real reason I’ve said yes to shiny objects in the past hasn’t been because I’m excited and looking for the next dopamine hit. In many cases - like that time I committed to every writing and consulting gig under the sun - it had nothing to do with tapping into abundance and everything to do with living in fear. Fear that if I didn’t say yes the opportunity might slip through my fingers. Fear that the person on the other end of the line might change their mind if I didn’t agree right away. Fear that if not now, then never. My fervour wasn’t fuelled by inspiration, it was scarcity in disguise.

When I recognised my true motivation I realised something important. Nothing good happens when I operate from a place of fear. Even the shiniest object becomes dull if it’s covered in a layer of anxiety.

I’ve done lots of work on myself over the past few years, and these days I have faith that even if I say no the first time, the right opportunity will come around again, and again, and again. Just like a silvery, sparkly, forever-spinning disco ball.

See the light.

Sometimes I think the universe throws us distractions as a test. It’s asking ‘Will she? Won’t he?’, waiting to see if we’ll take the glimmering bait. Before you bite next time, ask yourself this:

• Is this a genuine opportunity or is it taking me off my path?

• Am I coming at this from a place of excitement and inspiration, or am I driven by anxiety and fear?

By asking these questions you’ll make better decisions about how to move forward and what to leave behind. You’ll operate from a place of trust in what may be, versus fear of what may not. In moving through the world this way - proactive and focused rather than reactive and distracted - something bright will open up before you.

Something glittery and golden.

Something sparkling and alive.

---

👀 What shiny object are you currently weighing up?

Let us know in the comments below.

---

🫶🏼 Subscribe for more ideas

To receive a dose of thought provoking career, business and life lessons in your inbox each Friday morning, you know what to do.