If you’ve ever wondered how to stop shiny object syndrome, pull up a chair because I learned this lesson the expensive way.
Have you ever spent money trying to solve a problem…
only to realize you were creating a whole new problem?
Yeah.
I have a story for you.
Because that’s exactly what I did.
I kept thinking the next course, the next tool, or the next program might finally be the answer.
Instead, I ended up with more information, less focus, and a whole lot less money.
And just so we’re clear, I’m not telling you this from the finish line.
I’m living this lesson right now.
A while back, I had just come crashing down from something I truly believed was going to work.
It turned out to be a scam.
Not a little “Well, that didn’t work out quite like I hoped” kind of thing.
A big fraud.
And I had invested a lot of money into it.
When everything came crashing down, I spiraled pretty hard.
I was angry.
Embarrassed.
Scared.
And mostly, I was trying to figure out what in the world I was going to do next.
One thing I knew for certain:
I was NOT going back to get a job.
Nope.
Been there. Done that.
I needed to find another way.
What’s Inside This Story
- Maybe Affiliate Marketing Was the Answer
- The Year I Started Buying Everything
- The Light Bulb Moment I Needed
- Why I Had to Learn One Thing at a Time
- Why I Almost Quit Again
- The Moment I Realized I’m a Storyteller
- I Didn’t Need More Information
- Frequently Asked Questions
Maybe Affiliate Marketing Was the Answer
Through some of the people I followed online, I started learning about affiliate marketing.
I’d been involved in network marketing before. And although there’s nothing wrong with that business model, I had learned something important about myself.
I’m not a big team builder.
It’s just not my strength.
Put me one-on-one with somebody?
Now we’re talking.
I can listen. I can share what I’ve learned. I can tell you what worked for me and what didn’t.
That feels natural.
Building a giant team?
Not so much.
Affiliate marketing seemed different.
There was just one teeny-tiny problem.
I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.
So naturally…
I started buying things.
Oh, Carla. What Were You Doing?
I bought programs.
I bought products.
I bought training.
Somebody had an answer to a problem I didn’t even know I had yet?
Apparently, I needed that too.
Here’s the embarrassing part.
I wasn’t buying something, learning it, using it, and seeing whether it worked for me.
That would have made far too much sense.
No.
I’d buy it.
Put it on the virtual shelf.
And buy something else.
I told myself I was learning.
I told myself I was building my business.
I told myself I was figuring this affiliate marketing thing out.
But after about a year, I had to face something I really didn’t want to admit.
I wasn’t getting anywhere.
I was frustrated.
I was promoting all kinds of things.
I was consuming information from every direction.
And instead of feeling smarter, I felt more confused.
It was like trying to swim upstream while carrying six suitcases.
Then Somebody Said Something That Stopped Me
One day, I was sitting in another training.
And suddenly, the light bulb came on.
I remember thinking:
Carla…you’re his ideal client.
Oh.
My.
Goodness.
There I was.
Buying.
Again.
But something was different this time.
I realized this man wasn’t chasing me around trying to sell me something.
He was teaching me.
He understood the problem I had.
He was helping me understand how to solve it.
And because he was good at what he did, I wanted what he offered.
That realization taught me something about marketing.
But it taught me something even bigger about myself.
I had become very good at buying solutions and very bad at stopping long enough to use them.
Ouch.
So I Made Myself a Promise
No more.
I wasn’t buying anything else.
I was done.
And then I started canceling things.
Programs.
Subscriptions.
Tools.
Things I’d paid good money for.
Did that hurt?
Yep.
Did I waste money?
Yep.
A lot of it.
And I could have kept paying for those things simply because I’d already spent money on them.
But keeping them wasn’t getting my money back.
It was just keeping the noise.
So I started clearing it out.
And something happened that I hadn’t expected.
My brain got quieter.
That’s when another truth finally became painfully obvious.
How to Stop Shiny Object Syndrome: One Thing at a Time
I can’t learn six things and master them all at once.
Maybe somebody else can.
I can’t.
If I’m trying to learn Pinterest, affiliate marketing, SEO, email marketing, social media, and six new tools at the same time, do you know what happens?
I don’t master six things.
I master none of them.
Looking back, I can see that this was shiny object syndrome in my business.
Every new course, strategy, or tool felt like it might finally be the thing I was missing.
But every time I jumped to something new, I stopped giving the thing I was already learning enough time to work.
I’ve learned this lesson before in different ways. Even my biggest blogging mistake came down to doing the work without fully understanding what needed to happen next.
That was a hard lesson.
But once I accepted it, I felt lighter.
Okay.
One thing.
Learn it.
Use it.
Practice it.
Get better at it.
Then move on to the next thing.
Simple.
Except…
I was still frustrated.
I Almost Quit Again
I’d stopped buying everything.
I’d cleared out much of the noise.
But I still wasn’t seeing what I wanted.
And there I was again, wondering whether any of this would actually work.
Maybe I wasn’t cut out for affiliate marketing.
Maybe I’d picked the wrong direction.
Maybe I should just forget the whole darn thing.
And then came another one of those moments when something finally clicked.
What if I didn’t need to become something else to make this work?
What if I needed to learn affiliate marketing alongside something I was already doing?
Blogging.
I already had a blog.
I already loved sharing what I’d learned.
I already knew how to sit down and tell you about something I’d experienced, something I’d tried or something I’d completely messed up.
And if I’m going to recommend something to you, I need to understand it.
I can’t sell you a lie.
I need to learn it.
Use it.
Try it.
Then I can tell you what I think.
Now THAT made sense to me.
Then a Coach Told Me Something I Didn’t Expect
I started diving into the training inside the Digital Growth Community.
And when I signed up for my first special training, I did what I usually do.
I got the VIP option.
I wanted access to the training afterward, and I wanted access to the coach.
What happened next shocked me.
Through someone else’s eyes, I saw something about myself that I hadn’t fully recognized.
I’m a storyteller.
Do you know what that felt like?
Like a big old pat on the back.
Maybe I’m not as lost as I thought I was.
Maybe I actually am going in the right direction.
Then came another confirmation.
The woman I’m talking to through my blog posts and social media?
She’s the right woman.
I wasn’t necessarily in the wrong business.
I wasn’t talking to the wrong people.
I didn’t need to throw everything away and start over for the 900th time.
I was getting in my own way.
Again.
And boy, do I hate admitting that.
Because getting in my own way has cost me time.
It’s cost me hard-earned money.
And it has caused a whole lot of frustration I probably could have avoided.
But maybe I needed to go through it to finally understand this.
I Didn’t Need More Information
I needed focus.
I needed to stop looking for six answers to one problem.
I needed to stop buying things long enough to actually use what I’d already bought.
And most of all, I needed to stop assuming the answer was somewhere outside of me.
I’m still learning.
I’m still going to get in my own way sometimes.
Apparently, I’m rather talented at that.
But I’m not trying to master six things at once anymore.
I’m learning one thing.
Using it.
Practicing it.
Getting better at it.
That’s how I’m approaching things like Pinterest marketing for my blog now, too.
I’m learning the strategy, putting it into practice, and giving myself time to get better at it instead of racing off to the next thing.
Then I’ll learn the next thing.
And maybe all that money wasn’t completely wasted after all.
Because it finally taught me something I couldn’t seem to learn from another course.
I didn’t need more information.
I needed enough quiet to hear what I already knew.
I’m a blogger.
I’m a storyteller.
I know who I’m talking to.
And I’ve learned something else.
Trying to figure all of this out alone made everything harder than it needed to be.
I don’t need someone handing me seventeen more things to do.
I need a place where I can ask questions, learn what matters next and keep moving without chasing every shiny new answer that pops onto my screen.
And I’m finally learning how to build everything else around what I already know instead of constantly trying to become somebody I’m not.
So if you’re sitting there with 14 browser tabs open, three unfinished courses, a couple of subscriptions you forgot you had and that awful feeling that everybody else is getting ahead while you’re falling behind…
Maybe you don’t need another answer either.
Maybe you need to choose one.
Learn it.
Use it.
Give yourself enough time to get good at it.
Then take the next step.
I’m beginning to understand that how to stop shiny object syndrome
isn’t about finding the perfect system. For me, it’s about getting quiet enough to choose one thing and stay with it.
You might not be as far off course as you think.
You may just have too much noise to see the road.
Stop Blogging Alone. Start Growing on Purpose.
If you’re building a blog and you’re tired of figuring everything out alone, that’s exactly why I created The Blog Growth Society.
It’s a place to learn, ask questions and keep moving forward without feeling like you have to master everything at once.
Come grow with us.
Come join us at The Blog Growth Society
Frequently Asked Questions
What is shiny object syndrome in business?
For me, shiny object syndrome looked like constantly believing the next course, tool, or strategy might finally be the answer. Instead of giving one thing enough time to work, I kept jumping to something new.
How do I stop shiny object syndrome?
I’m learning to stop shiny object syndrome by choosing one thing at a time. I learn it, use it, practice it, and give myself time to get better before moving on to something else.
Why do I keep buying online courses but never finish them?
In my case, buying another course made me feel like I was making progress. The problem was that I was buying solutions faster than I was actually using them. Eventually, I realized I needed to stop buying and start working with what I already had.
How can I focus on one thing in my online business?
I’ve learned that I need to choose the skill that matters most right now and focus on it. I learn it, practice it, and get better before adding something new. Trying to master everything at once only created more noise.
Do I need another course to grow my online business?
Maybe not. I discovered that I didn’t necessarily need more information. I needed enough quiet to use what I had already learned. Before buying something new, I now ask myself whether I truly need it or whether I can use what I already have.
Write Your Story. Build Your Future.