Most people have read the stories or seen movies of the mass migration from the East to the West United States during the 1840s in what has been called the California Gold Rush.
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The California Gold Rush
Thousands of people within the United States and other countries heard that gold had been found in California and they sold all they had to brave miles of rough terrain, unsafe conditions and risked their health and life to get their hands on gold. A relatively few people found gold. However, many died before they reached their destination. Others who survived and made it through found what appeared to be pure gold. Unfortunately, this turned out to be Fool’s Gold – a bright shiny metal that had the appearance of gold but was valueless.
Bright, Shiny Objects
Bright shiny objects pull your eyes to them. They’re generally attractive and are designed to grab your attention. For the most part, bright, shiny objects are generally things that glitter and cause you to stop and take a look at them. You may even admire them from a distance and feel impelled to take a closer look.
Notice! They grab your attention so they divert your attention from what you should be focused on. Can you relate? Has that ever happened to you?
Bright, Shiny Objects and Your Coaching Business
Bright, shiny objects have a way of showing up in your business when there is a certain amount of uncertainty. You may have recently become a Life Coach. During your training, you decided to focus on Relationship Coaching.
As you are getting comfortable with this decision, an email arrives in your Inbox from a Confidence Coach who is launching a high-end program. You read the sales copy, which is very well written. After all, the coach invested in a good copywriter to create a really persuasive copy, so it should be effective and cause you to do what you just did. Stop and read.
You begin to doubt yourself. You wonder if perhaps you should not become a Confidence Coach after all. Now you put everything on hold because you need to learn more about becoming a Confidence Coach and how you can show up confidently so people get to know, like, and trust you.
This email has become your bright, shiny object because it has distracted you and pulled you from the path you were on. You’re now wondering and hoping at the same time that this new path will help you to arrive at your destination – the vision you have for yourself – faster.
You must keep in mind at all times that bright, shiny objects are distractions and while they have no life in themselves, you can give them life by allowing them to shift your focus and derail your progress.
What Can You Do to Avoid Being Distracted?
- Accept responsibility for your actions. Keep in mind that you’re in control and the choice and decision are yours to allow yourself to be persuaded by others or to say No.
- Recognize that allowing yourself to be distracted could be a symptom of procrastination. Failing to make a decision is a decision in itself. While you change gears, you fail to launch your coaching business. You, therefore, spend time learning more and this prevents you from taking focused action.
- Make the decision that you will F.O.C.U.S on one thing and put all your energy into achieving your objective. It means that you will take action and avoid putting off the things you should be doing to move your business forward.
- Take time to examine your mindset. You may discover that you have some fixed mindset challenges, one of them being a fear of success. Another could be fear of failure. When you fail to take action and allow yourself to be distracted, you don’t take the actions necessary to show up for your potential clients and those whom you already enrolled. You don’t do what’s necessary to attract clients, create your programs, and create your success.
- By not taking the actions that will take you out of your comfort zone, you sabotage yourself and create negative emotions within yourself. Thoughts like, I’m not good enough, I’m not a leader, I’m no good at coaching, begin to creep in. Before you know it, you could begin to perceive yourself as a failure.
In view of the foregoing, what will you do the next time a bright, shiny object flashes its brilliance or tries to lure you off the path you’ve chosen?
I hope you will see the importance and wisdom of viewing it as useless and valueless as a shiny, new penny that glistens on the ground but has little value. Or perhaps you’re someone who likes jewelry.
View it as a beautiful shiny-looking “gold” necklace that someone tells you is real gold, yet changes color within a few minutes of coming in contact with your skin.
Neither is worth your time and effort. Those bright, shiny objects are simply distractions. Maintain your F.O.C.U. S – Follow One Course Until Successful in your coaching business. People are waiting for your brilliance.
