Why Chasing Shiny Objects Might Be The Right Thing To Do

Stop chasing shiny objects. If there's one piece of entrepreneurial advice that I've probably heard more than any other thing, it's just that stop chasing shiny objects. Well, it's a good thing that Thomas Edison never followed that advice, otherwise we'd be walking around in darkness and with a hell of a lot less modern luxuries and conveniences from his inventions. Stop chasing shiny objects is another way to basically say, pick one thing, say no to everything else. Put your blinders on and focus deeply. And it's really sound advice. And it probably would have saved me a lot of time, money and mental anguish had I followed it. Probably saved me even more if I started to follow it now. But the problem is that when I hear this advice, I simply hear, stop pursuing new opportunities, stop trying new things. And I'm torn. I get really frustrated on this because I understand the power of focus. I understand why you should pick one path, get it really good, put blinders on everything else, because that is the path to mastery. But on the other hand, single minded focus can also create a deep groove or a deep rut. Now the difference between a deep groove or a rut is really just about how you feel about it once you're in it. Because I think we all know what it feels like to be in a groove in flow, and we're doing something we're good at, that we enjoy, maybe that the market needs. And the more we do it, the better we get. The better we get, the more we enjoy it. And that's a groove. But there's also a rut. And there's that rut where maybe you're good at it and you're doing it, but you're not enjoying it anymore. Maybe the market's not willing to pay for it, maybe they are, but it feels like a rut and it's. And the real the difference really is how you feel about it and the story you tell yourself when you're in it. Look, had I pursued only one thing in my career, I may have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. But I surely would have missed out on all my successes and failures that I've had. Each one of them equipped me with knowledge and resources as a result. So perhaps you're like me. You have a lot of interests that you care passionately about and a lot of interests that you just care a little bit about, but they're interests. And you have a wild and crazy mind that loves to pursue new challenges. Congratulations. And I'm sorry. You're in great company and you're also in for a lot of frustration. But you already know this, otherwise you wouldn't still be listening. Look, chasing shiny objects has allowed me to start side hustles while being an employee. A software business, a publishing business, a consulting business, an e commerce business, and more. It's allowed me to become kind of a jack of all trades, a expert generalist. And some of these things worked out really well, others didn't. But each time, no matter what, I gained skills, knowledge, resources, and relationships that compounded over time. So what is the right answer? Should you chase more shiny objects or should you stop chasing them all together? So let's. Let's unpack this. And I started to write this down in my journal the other day, and I started to have some fun with it. So that's why I'm sharing it with you. So chase shiny objects. Let's think about this. So chasing is a verb, and it means to pursue. And if you chase something, it means you're moving, you're in motion, you've got momentum. In business, that's a good thing. So I mean, is it better to chase tiny objects or sit back and just watch them go by? Look, if. If you've got your thing, your object, and you're able to sit there and polish it until it shines like a diamond, good for you. That's amazing. But you know what's weird? I've also never seen a shiny object run from me, so I don't know why I'd really need to chase one down. Usually it feels like shiny objects are chasing me. And that's one of the biggest problems I've had to learn to swat them, swat them away like flies or catch the ones that I want. So now let's think about shiny objects. So I think there's two types of shiny objects out there. I think there's the one which it could be like fool's gold, right? Like it's shining, it's beautiful. It grabs our attention, it seduces us to believing that we can have it. And a lot of times this comes in the form of marketing messages from people. Maybe they have business models or maybe they're talking about how great this is or saying, oh, be a, you know, start a software business, or you can be a marketing agency, or you can be a coach or a consultant, or you can make a fortune with info products. And let me show you how shiny this is. Well, in those cases, it's usually marketers selling the shine. They're selling the sizzle, not the steak. And these, the Types of shiny objects that you shouldn't. I'm not saying not to chase them, I'm not saying not to pursue them. I'm saying to just. You want to. At this point, beware. Is it fool's gold and is it all shine and no substance? Right. You also have to understand that few things really worth having are really that easy to get. So if it looks perfectly shiny, it might not be worth that much. But there's another type of shiny objects, and these are the relatively dull objects that are not obvious to everybody, and they show a tiny glimmer, like a wink to you, that if you polish it, you just might reveal the locked value inside that others miss. Now, fortunes have been made by folks who can spot the glimmer, the opportunities that others miss. So I believe that the key here is to keep your eyes open for the shiny objects, the objects that are winking at you with a quick little glimmer that, hey, this could be a good opportunity. But you've got to polish it, you've got to get it, you've got to polish, you got to do the work to really reveal the value. Otherwise it's not going to work. And it's probably fool's gold, right? So here's another thing that I thought about when I was really kind of meditating on this concept of chasing shiny objects. So just like Edison that I mentioned, Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors of our time, he invented so many different things. So did da Vinci way back in the Renaissance, and so many other polymaths. And people who have brought a lot of skill, have done a lot of different things, they've chased shiny objects. But the difference is they didn't just chase them. They identified them, they picked them up, they polished the hell out of them. And sometimes they did focused effort on one for a while. Once they got it to polish, once they got it to shine, they put it down, they sold it, they gave it to somebody else, right? But they put it into action, and then they went and found another one. And it doesn't mean that you can't polish two objects at the same time. It doesn't mean that you can't have more than one focus. In fact, I think that having multiple focuses at the same time can be very good, and it can be even more powerful if they're complementary of each other, right? So one example would be for me, this podcast, and my consulting business. So the types of work that go into this podcast and the type of work that go into my consulting business are pretty different one is creating content and promoting, etc. The other one is helping businesses and entrepreneurs grow their business. Although they're different, they feed each other, they're highly related. And anytime you can do things that stack value and complement each other, these, I believe, are the types of shiny objects that you can pursue at the same time. Now, that actually brings me to another quote that I've heard that is along the very similar line, which is it's an old saying that says if you chase two rabbits, you catch none. And I think that's actually even more profound than the chasing shiny objects wisdom or platitude, but which means if I'm. If I'm chasing this, I'm chasing that. Like, I can only chase one. Like, you literally cannot chase two. I don't think that's really possible because you run this way, then you run that way. And I'll be honest, I've chased multiple rabbits, sometimes three or four at the same time, more often than I like. But if you're hungry, if you don't have dinner and you see two rabbits running, you've got a choice to make. Do I chase rabbit on the left or rabbit on the right? And it all depends on what you know. Like, here's the things you don't know about chasing these rabbits. One rabbit, one rabbit might be slow, one might be fast, one might be old, one might be young, one might be easier to catch than the other. But you don't necessarily know until you start to maybe chase them both, get them both running, find out which one's a little slower, which one's faster, which one has a higher probability of you catching and getting dinner that day. So I think the key there is also start the chase, get into motion, get into the chase, and do not worry, because you are going to figure it out by chasing these things down. I know that had I not chased a few shiny objects, if I had I not chased a few rabbits at the exact same time, I would be nowhere near where I am right now. I would be sitting back watching everybody else take action. And I didn't take action. I think that's really one of the. One of the most important things is just take action, get in the chase. Sometimes it takes a long time to find your place, your thing. I'm 45 years old. I know I don't look it, but I'm 45 years old and I've never really been perfect or excellent at one particular area. In fact, I'm still always trying to find my groove. What is that? And although I may not have always found my groove, I've definitely been able to get out of my ruts. And it's because I keep trying new things and chasing shiny objects until I find the one or two that really explode. So I encourage you if you're out there, if you are, if you're chasing two rabbits, three, four rabbits, if you're chasing shiny objects, if you still find yourself enthralled with multiple interests and unsure which direction you're gonna go, you're not alone, you're not wrong. But I want you to listen to this again and ask yourself, are you, are you chasing the fool's gold? Are you chasing the dull rocks with a kind of a glimmer that if you polish it well enough, you're gonna find a diamond? I hope you've enjoyed this episode. I look forward to hearing any of your feedback. You can always email me@askbradakenrappedbusiness.com and if you have got some questions, if you've got some things you're stuck on, if you've got a nut you're trying to crack, it is my business working with entrepreneurs, thought leaders, experts, business owners and people trying to make a difference. And sometimes they're in a rut, sometimes they're stuck, sometimes they really can't find their way out. And they would actually love to chase a shiny object because they need a shiny object to help make something work in their business. Because there's nothing worse than having a business and having it stuck. Maybe it's in neutral. Maybe it is something that used to work and it's no longer working and that can be really frustrating. Or maybe you're starting off on something new and you've got a lot on the line and you're not sure where to go. I take pride in helping people with this. And if you want more information on how I work, you can email me once more at askbradakenratbusiness.com or go visit Brad costanzo.com bradcostanzo.com and you'll see how I work, what I do. And maybe you would like to fill out, there's a form on the page and you can tell me a little bit about the situations you're in. And I'm happy to see if there's an opportunity for me to help you. If there's not, I'm happy to tell you that too. But. But I love working with entrepreneurs because the road is hard. The odds are stacked against you, against us. I've been there. I know how it feels, and I look for opportunities to make a difference. And I hope you've enjoyed this episode. If you're not a subscriber, please do so, and I look forward to hearing your feedback once more. Shoot me an email. Ask bradakenratbusiness, and I'll see you next time.