First it was copywriting. Then white paper writing. Then site content audits. Then Web3 writing. Then some other stuff before landing on email.
That was me finding my way amongst this new and strange world of marketing and copywriting.
I was in this near-constant state of:
I need that course… I need that book… I need that software… I need to learn that strategy… no, that one.
And on it went…
I tell you what… I’m glad the money eventually ran out.
Because it helped me break the SOS cycle.
I’m talking about “Shiny Object Syndrome”.
This whole flitting from one thing to the next. And justifying that it’s what we need for our growth and progress.
Heard of it?
There’s a good chance you’ve experienced it.
It’s a plague amongst freelancers, if you ask me.
Some say it’s rooted in FOMO… fear of missing out on things like the next opportunity to make the big bucks.
So we buy stuff that’s supposedly going to help.
But I say: it’s mainly rooted in our lack of confidence.
Really… Shiny Object Syndrome is an outworking of our good ol’ “friend”, Imposter Syndrome.
We feel inadequate to do something… this causes us pain… so we look for pain relief.
Distractions help provide this relief.
SOS is just another form of distraction… like doomscrolling on Insta.
It allows us to move our attention away from the hard thing we’re doing… the thing that’s causing us a painful time as we’re trying to learn and grow as a freelancer.
I mean, for me… it’s painful learning to be a copywriter.
It takes time. It takes reflecting on collected wisdom — and owning that for myself. It takes working for clients… and learning from my mistakes. It takes doing boring, repetitive business-building stuff.
And most insidiously…
Often the shiny objects we’re attracted to are related to the type of work we’re pursuing so…
SOS lulls us into thinking we’re doing something that’s supporting our progress when — 9 times out of 10 — it’s not.
The dopamine hit from new things helps soothe us when we need a break from the pain.
While no clinical psychologist will be diagnosing you with SOS any time soon… it’s still a very real phenomenon.
In my experience, it’s everywhere in freelancing-land.
And:
It can be crippling.
I felt it. And I’m thankful that the cycle was short-circuited for me.
SOS is one of these things we’ll probably all agree is a bad thing.
But if you’re in the midst of it… it’s easy to say it’s a bad thing… and even easier to justify yourself to the moon and back to not have to deal with it.
As I said, my theory on all this is: it’s a symptom of imposter syndrome.
And what’s the cure for imposter syndrome?
ACTION!
MASSIVE ACTION!
Lean into it. Acknowledge it. Know you’re not the best. Or haven’t mastered things yet.
But do the hard stuff anyway.
You have to do the boring, repetitive stuff to learn, grow, and build a business that will look after you.
You have to face fear down. And smash it between the eyeballs.
(I’m lecturing myself here too… I ain’t out of the woods yet).
Contrary to my sage wisdom on this topic… the usual advice I’ve seen on the internet is: “Just stop it!”
Helpful, right?
I think, like anything significant thing that’s tripping you up as a freelancer… identifying the root cause is key to knocking it on its head.
Keeping it in check requires gradually cultivating a reflective muscle in our brains… so we’ll stop and ask:
“Why am I wanting to flit over to this new thing?”
Yes, this requires some work beforehand.
But we’re more likely to have a positive outcome when we’re more self-aware.
Rather than hoping to magic-up the willpower to “just stop it” when there’s an SOS moment.
I’m no psychologist.
Just a recovering SOSer.
P.S. Do you have your own SOS story? Reply, and tell me about it.
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Chris Milham