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Episode Summary
Welcome to another episode of A Whole Lot of Shift podcast with your host Jen Ingram! In this episode, Jen dives deep into the topic of shiny object syndrome, especially as we approach the end of the year. She discusses the pressure to accomplish certain goals and the anxiety that comes with it. Jen reminds us to focus on our why and avoid getting caught up in the scattered approach of chasing after every shiny object. Instead, she encourages us to truly excel at something and build a sustainable revenue stream. Tune in as Jen shares her insights and helps us shift our perspective on success. Let's make shift happen!
About the Host:
Jen is a Dream Catalyst and Business Mentor saving hustling female solopreneurs from the chains of corporate America. Her passion lies in helping women through their self awakening so they can finally break free, turn their side hustle into the business of their dreams, and live a life full of time, location and financial freedom.
Jen is a California girl at heart, now living out her dream in the Midwest, traveling, coaching female solopreneurs and sharing her own story of triumph and empowerment across speaking platforms. When she's not traveling, she enjoys spending time with her college aged son and her rescued Pit Bull.
After 20 years of various project manager and corporate trainer roles while juggling a wide array of side gigs, she has mastered the ability to help women see what they cannot see, believe they are meant for more and take aligned action to make it happen. With an MBA in Change Management, and a Health and Life Coach Certification from the Health Coach Institute, Jen is an expert at creating both the business process changes and the personal habit changes needed to finally Break UP with corporate and go all-in on your side hustle or long standing passion project.
Connect with Jen on Facebook or Instagram!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenelleingram/
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wholelottashift/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midwestvalleygirl/
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If you think that you just related to that, I want to ask you, when was
Speaker:the last time you tried something that promised a quick fix that
Speaker:actually gave you a quick fix?
Speaker:And what I want you to really think about is something that requires consistency.
Speaker:And I think the one that we can probably all relate to is
Speaker:Welcome to a whole lot of shift podcast, the podcast for multi passionate women
Speaker:with an entrepreneurial spirit, where we provide inspiration, motivation, and
Speaker:education to help you shift away from all the shoulds and supposed to's to what's
Speaker:truly possible for you in your business and your life, all on your own terms.
Speaker:You ready, girl, let's make shift happen.
Speaker:All right, well let's get this kicked off.
Speaker:Hello and welcome to another episode of a whole lot of shift.
Speaker:I'm Jen Ingram and I am here with you live in the whole lot of
Speaker:shift facebook group and we are enjoying our friday coffee chat.
Speaker:So this week I am still continuing on talking about
Speaker:Shiny object syndrome and focus.
Speaker:And I just, I really, really, really want to hone in on this, especially as
Speaker:we are approaching the end of the year.
Speaker:I think this is the time of year where so many people start throwing
Speaker:out all these things of, well, what did you accomplish this year?
Speaker:What did you get done?
Speaker:Did you meet all your goals?
Speaker:Let's hurry, hurry, hurry.
Speaker:And Q4, what can you still get achieved?
Speaker:And there's almost like this.
Speaker:Thought that you didn't do enough or you didn't achieve enough.
Speaker:There's frankly, I think it's a little bit of a scarcity mindset as though you
Speaker:suddenly need to do something different in the fourth quarter of the year.
Speaker:And, and it just gets really super frustrating to me because especially
Speaker:if you're, if you're in this group or you're listening to this podcast,
Speaker:you're already ambitious as fuck.
Speaker:Like you're already somebody who has big dreams, big goals, and
Speaker:is knocking them out of the park.
Speaker:So like, honestly, that whole, like, what can you do in the last
Speaker:quarter of the year is just like.
Speaker:A bunch of fucking anxiety and so here's what I see happen.
Speaker:They start seeing those posts, right?
Speaker:I start hearing these things and and I know at least in the coaching world,
Speaker:it's, it's super common, but I see it not just in the coaching world.
Speaker:Like I guess everywhere in the coaching world.
Speaker:Now that I'm thinking about it because I see it.
Speaker:I hear it at the gym.
Speaker:I just see it so many places about, you know, well, what
Speaker:have you achieved this year?
Speaker:And I, I really think it creates like this little bit of anxiousness inside of us.
Speaker:Like, Oh my gosh, this means that another year is going to have gone
Speaker:by and maybe I didn't do enough.
Speaker:And so what I think starts to happen is you start to look at,
Speaker:okay, well, what have I done?
Speaker:What am I doing now?
Speaker:What am I offering?
Speaker:Is it enough?
Speaker:Am I enough?
Speaker:And that's where I want us to stop.
Speaker:So that's what I am kind of gonna hone in on a little bit today, because what I
Speaker:see happen, what I think starts to play into this is that shiny object syndrome.
Speaker:Because we're having those thoughts and questions of, have I done enough?
Speaker:Am I where I quote unquote, should be?
Speaker:And so we start, you know, we start just kind of doing like this
Speaker:scatter scatter gun approach, right?
Speaker:We start kind of asking ourselves, okay, well, what's this person doing over here?
Speaker:Oh, well, you know what?
Speaker:I saw this person doing this.
Speaker:Oh, and I just saw that they redesigned their website to include this and that.
Speaker:And maybe I should do that too.
Speaker:And then I saw this thing on TikTok that, you know, did it up and I'm
Speaker:like, okay, let's stop for one minute.
Speaker:It's okay to be.
Speaker:multi passionate and have a lot of passions, but this is where
Speaker:I want us to really reel in.
Speaker:This is why things like knowing your why becomes so, so crucial.
Speaker:So that we don't, we don't get into things like that.
Speaker:So I really want to hone in this episode and kind of, speak to all of this mindset
Speaker:as we are approaching the fall season and approaching the end of the year.
Speaker:So, here's what.
Speaker:Here's what I want to say.
Speaker:We really do kind of live in a world, especially now with social media,
Speaker:where there is so much available to us, our access to information now is.
Speaker:Far more significant than it ever was in the past.
Speaker:And it's definitely far more significant than most of us ever
Speaker:experienced in, in our childhoods.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So, I think what starts to happen is we see so many, we see other
Speaker:people doing other things and we see we see other businesses.
Speaker:We, we just get all of these ideas and.
Speaker:I just want to say you don't have to always be at the newest hottest trend.
Speaker:You know what's hot?
Speaker:Getting really fucking good at something and having a regular revenue stream.
Speaker:That's hot.
Speaker:That's super fucking hot.
Speaker:How about having a revenue stream?
Speaker:That's so big that you could sell the business and go create another one because
Speaker:you do have another passion, right?
Speaker:That's the kind of thing that I'm talking about.
Speaker:And that's kind of where I'm wanting to shift our focus just a little bit.
Speaker:So this is why I want us to be thinking about all these.
Speaker:Things that we see out there all these shiny objects that are just knocking on
Speaker:our doors and calling our names I want us to really think about hey, they're
Speaker:giving me all these promises and this transformation And maybe this is the
Speaker:one thing maybe this is it This is the thing that my business is missing and
Speaker:maybe if I went and I did this thing that this person did then It would help
Speaker:me create Whatever I'm wanting, right?
Speaker:Like we always hear, Oh, you know what?
Speaker:I love this one.
Speaker:I love this word.
Speaker:I'm gonna have to create a totally separate episode about this, but
Speaker:I'm going to just, just pick on this for just one minute, passive income.
Speaker:What a load of shit.
Speaker:I said, what I said, it might become passive at some point, but the truth
Speaker:is there was some work that went into it at some point, it didn't
Speaker:just magically appear and regularly.
Speaker:create recurring passive quote unquote income.
Speaker:There was some sort of work that went into it in the beginning at some point
Speaker:in time and or maybe there is some work that does have to occur on a regular
Speaker:basis and I, I get that some of the people who are using this term are
Speaker:like, okay, but the work is so minimal.
Speaker:That might be true.
Speaker:That's not passive.
Speaker:You're still doing work.
Speaker:There's still something that goes into that.
Speaker:So when we're sitting here thinking about where we're focusing our energy
Speaker:and we're hearing terms like passive and, I see people do this, right?
Speaker:Like they start to lose that focus and they're like, Oh, but I hear
Speaker:I need multiple streams of income and I need a passive income.
Speaker:And so if I go create this thing over here and I'm like, but you haven't even
Speaker:built up the first thing that you started.
Speaker:Because you never went all in on that, right?
Speaker:So this is kind of what I, I want us to be thinking of.
Speaker:And so I want us to be aware of when we see these things, especially
Speaker:on social media, that, that look really shiny, and it's the promise
Speaker:of this big transformation, and, and they claim to have this one thing
Speaker:that is the secret to just knocking your business out of the park.
Speaker:I want us to remember, of course it says that.
Speaker:Of course it says that.
Speaker:What are you saying about your business?
Speaker:Is it, is it not gonna, is it not gonna knock people's socks off?
Speaker:Of course, of course they're gonna say that.
Speaker:Why, why wouldn't they say that?
Speaker:That, that's what we should all be saying, right?
Speaker:So, I get it.
Speaker:But I want us to take a step back and start to really focus and
Speaker:Figure out, what am I looking for?
Speaker:Is this relating to some sort of feeling that I have?
Speaker:Do I feel like I might be missing out?
Speaker:Like I might be missing out on the next big thing?
Speaker:I might be missing out on this thing that's the secret game
Speaker:changer that this person claims is gonna be the secret game changer?
Speaker:Or is it some other feelings?
Speaker:Do you feel like you're going to get left behind?
Speaker:Oh, this is, this is a good one too.
Speaker:Like all these people that are like hopping on the new, the latest social
Speaker:media, like anybody remember, Oh, what was the one that came out a
Speaker:couple of years ago and everybody's like, Oh my God, it's so awesome.
Speaker:You got to get over here now and make a name for yourself.
Speaker:Get in on the ground level.
Speaker:Clubhouse.
Speaker:Remember Clubhouse?
Speaker:Okay, I want you to think back to that for just a minute.
Speaker:Because I can remember a time when, like, my Facebook feed and, and Instagram and
Speaker:everything, like, it was all the rage.
Speaker:Like, it was all anybody was talking about.
Speaker:And they were like, If you want to be a speaker or you want to get your message
Speaker:out there and you got to be on clubhouse, if you're not on clubhouse, you want to
Speaker:start now, you know, you don't want to be one of those people that joined Facebook
Speaker:late, quote unquote late, which I laugh about or whatever other platform, quote
Speaker:unquote late, you want to get in now.
Speaker:And there was all this hype, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Question.
Speaker:How many of you are consuming content on Clubhouse today?
Speaker:Imagine the amount of energy that was put into that to hurry up and
Speaker:rush to something because, Oh my God, I don't want to be too late.
Speaker:I don't want to be the person who wasn't up to date and missed the opportunity.
Speaker:I want you to think about that for a minute.
Speaker:What is it that's driving you to these shiny objects?
Speaker:Is this feeling related?
Speaker:Is this the fear of missing out?
Speaker:The fear of being outdated?
Speaker:Is it the thought that it's not happening fast enough?
Speaker:I want this Magic pill.
Speaker:We all live in this Amazon prime world these days where we can get two day or
Speaker:one day delivery or hell, depending on what area you're in, you could have it
Speaker:delivered by a drone this afternoon.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:So we're all living in that kind of world.
Speaker:So let me ask you this then.
Speaker:Is it that?
Speaker:You're wanting that immediate success and that immediate feeling, and because
Speaker:you're not getting it, then you're hoping that jumping to the next thing will be
Speaker:that magic pill that you're looking for.
Speaker:I have a question for you.
Speaker:If you think that you just related to that, I want to ask you, when was
Speaker:the last time you tried something that promised a quick fix that
Speaker:actually gave you a quick fix?
Speaker:And what I want you to really think about is something that requires consistency.
Speaker:And I think the one that we can probably all relate to is our health, weight loss.
Speaker:Great example of that.
Speaker:How many freaking people are out there searching for the magic pill?
Speaker:And at the end of the day, it, the end of the fucking day,
Speaker:it's all about consistency.
Speaker:It's about showing up, showing up for the full experience, for showing up for
Speaker:your self on a regular, consistent basis.
Speaker:Period.
Speaker:I hate to tell you, but it's the same exact thing in your business.
Speaker:It's showing up consistently for yourself on a regular basis.
Speaker:That's the first thing I want you to think about.
Speaker:Is this related to something that I'm feeling?
Speaker:What is this feeling that I'm having and why?
Speaker:What is it?
Speaker:I really the other thing that I want to say here and again, I get
Speaker:it like, we're all multi passionate.
Speaker:I remember.
Speaker:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker:I remember there was a time in in my career where I used to
Speaker:get super frustrated as part of my yearly employee evaluation.
Speaker:I also had to fill out this form and it was called like a.
Speaker:Career path form or something like that.
Speaker:And basically they wanted me to spell out where I wanted to go in my career over
Speaker:the course of the next year or longer.
Speaker:I could write it however I wanted, but they wanted me to basically.
Speaker:More or less provide them with what I wanted in my career.
Speaker:So that allegedly, so they claimed if they ever came up with an open
Speaker:position, they would have this form on file and they would look
Speaker:through people's forms and see if.
Speaker:You know, if maybe they had a match and I kind of thought, okay, first
Speaker:of all, so you're going to go through all these forms on a regular basis.
Speaker:No, you're not.
Speaker:But the other thing that was super frustrating for me is I remember
Speaker:distinctly talking to my manager and saying, I have a real problem with
Speaker:this form because I literally don't know how to put any professional way.
Speaker:I want to be Jack of all trades and master of none.
Speaker:And I remember they just kept asking me, well, okay, but
Speaker:what is it that you want to do?
Speaker:And I was like, I, I don't want to do any one thing.
Speaker:I get bored too easily.
Speaker:I can't focus on that one thing.
Speaker:You're asking me to fit into this box, and I don't want to be in your box.
Speaker:I don't feel like I fit into this box.
Speaker:And it's interesting to me to reflect back on that now because I think what
Speaker:I maybe didn't realize is it wasn't so much that I didn't fit into the box of
Speaker:a specific role, but I didn't fit into the freaking corporate America box as
Speaker:a whole, like the whole damn thing.
Speaker:So it really wouldn't have mattered.
Speaker:Even if they would come to me like Janelle.
Speaker:We have this rule that's available that Where basically you get to go and learn
Speaker:10 different jobs and you could work any, any job, any, any day of the week.
Speaker:Like if somebody's out, you would cover for them or you know, whatever.
Speaker:And so you would just constantly rotate.
Speaker:Even if they would have come up with that, actually I would have balked
Speaker:at that and been like, That actually slightly sounds miserable because that
Speaker:means that and probably always in.
Speaker:While I love being in a state of learning, I'm probably always going
Speaker:to be in a state of learning that's going to almost be frustrating.
Speaker:Because we all know we've all probably been in those places where
Speaker:you don't know what you don't know, and especially in corporate America,
Speaker:there's always these things of, oh, well, we created this new policy.
Speaker:It wasn't really, we didn't make sure to tell everybody, but you're somehow just
Speaker:supposed to know that this applies to you.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:I think we've all been there.
Speaker:And so it just, I, I, I just remember trying to explain to them, listen, this
Speaker:isn't about me being some sort of quote unquote Rover, this isn't, it's that I
Speaker:don't, I don't feel like I fit into this form that you're wanting me to fill out.
Speaker:So my point here is I, I get that you have this feeling of,
Speaker:okay, but I enjoy many things.
Speaker:Great.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:That's why we're all here, because you're ambitious as fuck.
Speaker:And of course you enjoy many things.
Speaker:I'm asking.
Speaker:And if you listen to last week's podcast, one of the things that I
Speaker:talked about was picking only two or three of those things, getting really,
Speaker:really, really freaking good at those things before moving on to the next.
Speaker:And not only really good.
Speaker:But doing it so well that it could easily be replicated in other words,
Speaker:creating a business model or a methodology or whatever you want to
Speaker:call that it could easily be replicated.
Speaker:You could do it over and over you and or it could also be on automation.
Speaker:You could work less.
Speaker:and have more time to go out and chase some of these
Speaker:other passions that you have.
Speaker:But in order to get to that point, you first got to start showing up and
Speaker:being really freaking consistent and giving your all into one focused area.
Speaker:And this is why I said pick two or three things, get really freaking good
Speaker:at that before moving on to the next.
Speaker:Here's the thing.
Speaker:When you Get focused, like really focused to that one area that is going
Speaker:to set you up as a leader in that area.
Speaker:You're going to be somewhat of an authority figure, right?
Speaker:You're going to that's going to help create some sort
Speaker:of differentiator for you.
Speaker:You know, some of you may have, you know, heard that before in your marketing or
Speaker:your business plan or what have you.
Speaker:Well, Hey, what's your differentiating factor?
Speaker:You want to start establishing that.
Speaker:Well, what makes me different?
Speaker:Well, I got really fucking good at this and you know how I got that way?
Speaker:It's cause I got super duper consistent and I showed up fully for it.
Speaker:And so I was able to learn all of these things in, in a short amount of time.
Speaker:And and have great success at that.
Speaker:That focused effort will lead to a consistent.
Speaker:Growth and the more effective you become again, if the goal is that you want to
Speaker:chase these multiple passions, I want you to be thinking about, hey, if I go
Speaker:all in and I get really freaking good at this, then I can build that up, make
Speaker:it replicatable so that I can automate whatever work less get really good.
Speaker:And then move on.
Speaker:That is the power of being really focused on one thing.
Speaker:And I just realized, as I was saying that I thought, Oh, some of
Speaker:you are going to go out right now.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Well, what can I automate in my business?
Speaker:And you don't even have a regular revenue yet.
Speaker:Let's not go there.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Let's focus again on one thing and that's putting yourself out there,
Speaker:making your business known, creating something for yourself before
Speaker:we go sitting behind a computer.
Speaker:And worrying about all the gadgets and the shiny objects.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:This is, this is where I'm trying to get you to I, and this is something that I,
Speaker:I've been working with a couple of clients on over the past few weeks, especially
Speaker:as we're entering the end of the year and they're kind of looking, you know,
Speaker:looking back, okay, well, what has my, you know, What is my income been this year
Speaker:or this quarter or the last six months?
Speaker:However, they want to look at it.
Speaker:What goals have I achieved?
Speaker:And they're looking at that and they're like, Oh my gosh, I guess I need to
Speaker:create something completely new and I need to not do this and, and let me start
Speaker:planning and I'm like, Whoa, hold on.
Speaker:Let's, let's take a step back just for a moment and talk about where your focus
Speaker:is and, or let's really dig into why.
Speaker:Why you're not fully showing up and putting your offer
Speaker:out there on a regular basis.
Speaker:And that's a whole other conversation and I will be making a separate episode
Speaker:about that one about believing in yourself and believing in what you do.
Speaker:Believing in the services that you provide because if you don't have that none,
Speaker:nothing else is going to freaking matter.
Speaker:That'll be another episode, but this I just really want to share
Speaker:that this is super freaking common But I think it's super important
Speaker:that we really hone in on why?
Speaker:Why is it that these shiny objects are calling you and I want you to dig in to?
Speaker:what that is and Figure out what you can do to kind of change that
Speaker:story and change that narrative for yourself so that you can Get consistent
Speaker:and have the growth that you want.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think that's, that's really, that's really it.
Speaker:I really want this episode to be that extra reminder as well.
Speaker:As we are entering this fourth quarter and we're seeing a lot of things out there.
Speaker:It's a lot of noise.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:I get it.
Speaker:Especially, especially in social media and on the internet, there
Speaker:is a lot of noise out there.
Speaker:And this is why it's so super important that you are working with somebody
Speaker:who can help you keep that focus, who can help you identify, Hey,
Speaker:it sounds like you've got a lot of noise and you're putting your energy.
Speaker:Out into several different areas and not remaining consistent into one and or not
Speaker:even working on on a path that's actually creating an income and sales for you,
Speaker:because that's something else that I see.
Speaker:I think this is so important and I really want you to dig into why is that?
Speaker:Why is it that that we get like this.
Speaker:This shift of focus and look, I do it too.
Speaker:I do it all the freaking time.
Speaker:I'm going to tell you now.
Speaker:One of the biggest, the other big lessons that I've learned to avoid this.
Speaker:And, and one of the things that I was just talking this last week about.
Speaker:So it's important that when you are identifying your goals or you're wanting
Speaker:to do any kind of planning, if you are a planner, I strongly recommend
Speaker:reverse engineering those goals.
Speaker:Reverse engineering them from the bigger picture, the services that you're selling.
Speaker:And then reverse engineer back to the activities that you need to do.
Speaker:I think we get caught up in planning.
Speaker:Well, here's the, here's the doing that I need to do.
Speaker:And so then it feels like, well, I'm doing a lot in my business.
Speaker:I'm in fact, I'm kind of stressed out.
Speaker:I feel like I'm just going, going, going, and I'm doing quote unquote a lot.
Speaker:And there's not any real traction.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:Again, this is where I would look at.
Speaker:Is it because you've got so much noise going on and your gears are constantly
Speaker:shifting and you've got that shiny object flashing at you and so you're not staying
Speaker:focused on just those two or three things so you can really freaking good and grow.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:I hope that, did this kind of helped all of you so that we can start
Speaker:working on shifting those thoughts of FOMO and and start deterring away
Speaker:from that whole shiny object and all the energy that's out there.
Speaker:And my two cents on this Q4 energy.
Speaker:Like that is so, first of all, first of all, corporate.
Speaker:Like, I just even hate the posts when I see them and they're like, what are you
Speaker:doing the last four months of the year?
Speaker:And I'm like, you know, oh my God for like, next thing I know, you're
Speaker:going to want to talk to me about how we should push to, to bring
Speaker:up shareholders numbers only.
Speaker:It's not my shareholders.
Speaker:It's not my numbers.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Ew.
Speaker:I don't even like that.
Speaker:I don't, I don't even like the thought of this.
Speaker:Like it just sounds so gross.
Speaker:Like I don't, I'm not a fan of that energy, especially since if you're here,
Speaker:you're here because you're all ready.
Speaker:A goal chaser, you're already ambitious as fuck, so I don't even
Speaker:want to hear that kind of energy.
Speaker:I want you to stay away from it.
Speaker:You know what I want you to do?
Speaker:Not worry about putting forth a different kind of energy.
Speaker:I want you to worry about putting forth a consistent energy.
Speaker:That is it.
Speaker:That's all we're working towards.
Speaker:We're not working towards those shiny objects.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:That is it for now.
Speaker:I hope that you all enjoyed this episode and again, this is live in the group, and
Speaker:if you didn't catch this live, please, please come on over, join the group.
Speaker:There's lots of tips that are shared in the group.
Speaker:I also do Monday mindsets, which are five minute mindsets for you guys to consider
Speaker:to practice throughout throughout the week that lead up to our Friday coffee chats.
Speaker:So, if you're not in the group, , what are you doing?
Speaker:Get in here.
Speaker:And yeah, so much more to come.
Speaker:All right, guys, thanks for joining me and until next time, keep making shift happen.
Speaker:Bye.
Speaker:Hey shifters, thank you so much for tuning in to another
Speaker:episode of A Whole Lotta Shift.
Speaker:If you heard something today that inspired you or resonated with you,
Speaker:please head over to iTunes and leave us a review to help others as well.
Speaker:Your review helps me give as much motivation and
Speaker:inspiration as I possibly can.
Speaker:And don't forget, you can catch all the outtakes, bonuses, special live
Speaker:stream interviews, and much more over at A Whole Lotta Shift Facebook group.
Speaker:Until next time, keep making shift happen.
