Have you ever heard of Shiny Object Syndrome, or as it’s ironically acronymed, SOS? Yes, I realize “acronymed” isn’t a word, but it was fitting for the context. 😉 Feel free to use it!
If you haven’t heard of it, I’ll let this guy explain it to you:
Jayson DeMers
At its core, shiny object syndrome (SOS) is a disease of distraction, and it affects entrepreneurs specifically because of the qualities that make them unique. Entrepreneurs tend to be highly motivated. They crave new technology and new developments. And they aren’t afraid to start new projects and create new things.
Ordinarily, these are great characteristics, but when SOS sets in, it forces you to chase project after project, and change after change, never settling with one option.
Founder and CEO, AudienceBloom
Mompreneur
I am currently suffering from SOS (self-diagnosed).
Yes, I realize I’m not an entrepreneur, but in a way I sort of am.
As a stay-at-home mom wanting to contribute to our family’s income and wanting to keep my mind active while Little Guy naps, I’d say that’s pretty damn close.
Constantly Googling and Pinteresting work-from-home jobs, and how to monetize a blog (this is proving to be very difficult to do with a blog about an eating disorder-surprise, surprise), I’m chasing after one idea, then the next, and so on.
When I started out getting clean with food and deciding to deal with my binge eating disorder once and for all, I got SUPER excited to sell on eBay, and then I “discovered” blogging.
Related: Getting Clean with Food
I started out with my mommy blog, The Blog to End All Blogs (Not Really So Much) and fell in love with writing. I love writing content for that blog. It’s so fun! The words just flow out of my brain and onto the computer with very little effort.
Now, if you actually go to that site, you’ll notice the website is “endallblog.wordpress.com”. I didn’t get to choose my domain name, and WordPress (the website owner company) gets to have their name in the web address.
If you’re not familiar with website design, hosting, etc, let me tell you, there is a big difference between a free site like WordPress.com and a self-hosted site like WordPress.org. I know, not much difference in the name.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com is the free version for “your” website. I use quotes because you don’t own the site, WordPress does, and they place all of their own ads on your site, you have little control over what your site can do, and you can’t monetize on it.
So, my Shiny Object Syndrome kicked into high gear, and after minimally researching blogging, I decided I wanted to do it right away.
Like, right now. (That’s usually how it goes for me.)
So, of course, I chose the free platform for my blog.
I then started researching more about blogging and realized people can actually make money blogging! Say what?! I had no idea. (Yes, I was apparently living under a rock.) And here I was with a free site and no chance of monetizing my fun blog.
A Website is Born
Enter my new shiny object. My own self-hosted site. With a little convincing (begging), my husband gave me the ok to purchase my little piece of the internet.
Examples of Shiny Objects
The following examples are most of the ideas that I’ve either tried or have had running through my brain in the past month or two.
Starting an ebay Store
I started selling baby clothes on eBay that our youngest was outgrowing. It was so fun! I got so into it that I wanted to go all in and purchase an eBay store…
Thank goodness my husband is (usually) the voice of reason.
I didn’t end up buying a store, mainly because I’m currently staying at home with our baby boy, and we have very little extra money to throw around.
Buying ebay Books
Once I started selling, I decided it was time to learn all I could about selling on eBay. So I bought 2 books from the “For Dummies” series about eBay and making eBay into a business.
Needless to say, that didn’t last.
I was already on to the next shiny object after about a month, which was…
My Blogs
As I previously stated, I had my free blog, and then when I found out about actually making money from a blog? Well, I was all over that.
I quickly bought a domain thinking about how I might be able to help other people that have issues with food.
Webinars/eBooks/Workshops/Other Blogs/Blogging Courses
I jumped into all of these things to learn as much as I could about blogging successfully. I quickly learned that you have to choose a blog niche that is an obvious help to a large group of people.
I have learned a ton about blogging and building a website. It’s amazing how much I’ve learned (for free!) in such a short amount of time.
Being the cheapskate that I am, I was able to find a lot of free information about blogging– both online and through free courses. (Thank you, Pinterest!)
Daily Blogging Schedule
I decided that I needed to make a daily blogging schedule to try and stay somewhat on task with my blog and associated activities. It helps, but I don’t stick to it as often as I thought I would when I made it.
Freelance Writing
I got it in my head that I would like to write an ebook on binge eating disorder. In the span of about 5 minutes, I went from that idea to the idea of writing a mystery novel, then getting small jobs online writing. Then my brain went back to my blog. Then Pinterest. Then Twitter. And so on and so forth, wondering how I could increase the right traffic to my website.
Take a Writing Class
This is my newest shiny object. I want to take a writing class, but my cheap ass refuses to pay for it. Enter Pinterest. I have found a lot of free writing courses on Pinterest and plan to look into it some more.
That takes time though.
PINTEREST!
‘Nuff said. Oh my goodness. If you’re even the slightest bit familiar with Pinterest, it’s SOS in it’s purest form! Click here, click there, pretty soon you have 50 tabs open in your browser!
Stay-at-home Mom Jobs
This idea has been with me since January when I stumbled upon a very popular blog about personal finance. The blogger had a plethora of blog posts about making money as a stay-at-home mom. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
Of course, freelance writing was on there and also starting a blog. Becoming a Virtual Assistant was another one, but that usually takes training to get the well-paying jobs and it costs money, and you know by now that I’m cheap!
The Trade-Off
All of these ideas, or shiny objects, are distractions or replacements for food since I’ve stopped using sugar and white flour as my drug of choice.
I didn’t realize I was chasing the next “high” until a few days ago.
All of these ideas made me enthusiastic to try and they fed my need for something more.
Don’t get me wrong, I love being a stay-at-home mom. But, as other moms can attest to, sometimes you need more. More to stimulate your brain, a creative outlet, to do more than change poopy diapers, clean up food from every inch of your child, and try to get your kiddo to nap.
Final Thoughts
My eating disorder has me in its vices even though I’m not in the food anymore.
SOS has taken me hostage. How’s that for ironic?
I didn’t see Shiny Object Syndrome coming.
Related:
