As humans, we crave novelty. We crave pleasure and run from pain. We want everything, everywhere, and all at once. However, that’s not how becoming good at things (let alone great) works.

Largely due to the successes of Cal Newport’s Deep Work and James Clear’s Atomic Habits, public awareness has recently been glued to the idea that focusing on one thing is crucial, and focusing on several projects at once will get you nowhere at each of them—the antidote to shiny object syndrome.

Photo: Wikipedia

And when you define it like that, SOS seems silly and pretty immature, but I think the issue is not as simple as it may seem.

Root Causes

You should have seen the Warren Buffett wealth chart by now, but here it is just in case you haven’t:

Photo: Global Masters Fund

Certainly does not look like a lot of shiny object syndrome going on here.

As Warren Buffett’s partner Charlie Munger put it, “If you took our top fifteen decisions out, we’d have a pretty average record. It wasn’t hyperactivity, but a hell of a lot of patience.” They deliberately counteracted unnecessary action because they saw the big picture. Usually, what happens is the following:

Photo: Medium

Awareness is the first step to solving the issue, and that’s where retrospection comes into play: I can easily name a few times where I was so engaged with a new idea that I cut back or stopped my other projects completely. This is also dangerous because you only lose, you cannot win at anything with such an approach, which perpetuates a losing mentality, carrying on the vicious cycle of (perceived) inevitable failure.

Life is often exponential, whether it is business, fitness, or relationships, which means that oftentimes you can even invest 50% of effort and get 0% results, or invest 75% and get 50%—this is the case with the cliche “it takes 10 years to become an overnight success”.

Photo: Harvard Business Review

In other words, better not to half-ass it.

Knowing the big picture is key, so let’s get into pattern recognition:

Photo: InFocus Leadership

This is what encapsulates shiny object syndrome: a nefarious blend of seeing all the flaws in your current pursuit and seeing all the advantages in a new idea.

This does not happen by chance, it’s not like you’ve just started a new hustle, and 1 day later you are astonished by this new thing… no, this little devil strikes you at your most vulnerable moment: the Valley of Despair. Negative motivation is one hell of a stimulus, pair it with positive motivation —and there is no stopping you; no wonder people suffer from it.

Now, back to Charlie: “A hell of a lot of patience.” This quote has something else intriguing about it—the man might hint at action bias.

Photo: Wikipedia

We have negative and positive motivation, and now we need to deal with action bias? Doesn’t seem like a fair fight at all, and it’s true—no wonder this is such a widespread problem.

Okay, we know the causes, we certainly know the effects (many of us personally), so what do we do with it?

Battling Shiny Object Syndrome

How much time did it take for Apple to create the first iPhone? 31 years.

It took 10 years for Standard Oil to control 90% of the U. S. refining capacity, 7 years for Amazon to become profitable, and 6 years for SpaceX to launch its first rocket.

These people, the Steve Jobses of the world, Jeff Bezoses, John Rockefellers—they all apply conscious effort not to deviate from their path, and that stems from drive and knowledge about how devastating deviation might be.

We’ve already covered the deviation part, but where do we get the drive?

“There’s a saying that if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life. At Apple, I learned that is a total crock. You will work harder than you ever thought possible but the tools will feel light in your hands.” – Tim Cook.

People will say things like “write SMART goals”, or “celebrate small wins”, but this advice does not suit everyone—been there, done that, and it is certainly not the foundational solution. I think the drive largely comes down to how you are motivated: extrinsically (money, validation) or intrinsically (mastery, fulfillment). It is really easy to entertain the idea of doing something else when you are stressed and think it will pay your bills better, and it is hard as hell to give up something you love with all your soul and passion: it will feel wrong, and what you are doing right now will be your shiny object—it will outshine all the other shiny objects.

As a carrier of this “syndrome” myself, I can vouch for doing what you love, and Tim Cook described the experience of doing so very neatly, it is strikingly accurate. It is not always easy, but it is 100% worth it. If you do not love what you do, the flaws of the pursuit will be exaggerated, which will exacerbate the issue; conversely, you will not easily trade doing what you love for something else, even if it shines blindingly.

If I had to summarize the solution to shiny object syndrome, I would quote Neil Barringham: “The grass is greener where you water it.” Due to the exponential nature of things, keeping the big picture in my head helped me a lot.

For me, this is the Big 3:

1. Do what you love

2. Remember the exponential nature of business

3. Be mindful of action bias.

This list might not be perfect, but that’s what I’ve experienced over the years of “trying to make it” and over 10 different projects in various directions.

"The way is made by walking." – Antonio Machado—remember that next time you are in the Valley of Despair :)