Beware of Bright Shiny Objects
or Drop Those Peanuts

Volume V, Issue 7
ISSN: 1547-7754
December 2007
printable version

Chris King, Editor
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A few weeks ago, I heard the following story at a terrific Seminar put on by the Leadership business with which I am involved.

In Africa, the natives have a clever way to catch monkeys. They take a coconut shell, cut a small hole in one end, and hollow it out. The hole is just big enough to allow a monkey’s hand to enter. Then they attach a string to the other end of the coconut shell, place some peanuts inside, put the shell in the middle of a clearing and hide themselves behind a tree until a monkey comes.

The monkey smells the peanuts inside the shell. It reaches in to grab the peanuts. But when it does, its fist, full with peanuts, is too large to pull back through the hole. The natives start pulling on the string and reel the silly monkey in. Why, because the monkey will not let go of those peanuts to save his life. All the monkey would have to do is let go of the peanuts. He doesn’t, as he has to have the peanuts.

What “peanuts” are we holding onto that are sabotaging our success? I know I have several, and most of them are “Bright Shiny Objects.” Let me explain.

#ONE. Bright Shiny Objects. These pop up daily on the Internet. They are the new approaches that bring traffic to your website. They are the lively videos that we watch and enjoy. They are the new methods of testing our copy. They are software programs that will save us time and money (once we get them set up, that is). They are the numerous reports and info-products that we download, but barely have time to read a couple of pages of. And much, much more!

#TWO. The Irresistible Pull. We can hardly wait to get our hands on them and our minds around them. If you are at all like I am, you are drawn to these tools by what we know they can do to help us. However, just like the monkey’s peanuts, they catch me and reel me into a frantic and chaotic experience of trying to work them to advantage. What about you? Have you also been seduced by these objects and opportunities?

#THREE. The Downside of Grabbing. The worst is that they take us away from what we should be doing for our businesses. Oftentimes, even if they work and could improve our bottom lines, our embracing of these objects takes energy, time and money. They may sound good – just like the peanuts smell good for the monkey – but we are going to end up paying more than we get in return.

#FOUR. Drop Those Bright Shiny Objects (Peanuts). Even though we are tempted to try what is offered, we must follow a plan not to. These are the helpful steps to take:

1. Make a list of the peanuts you are going to drop. It is imperative that you are honest while doing this. Just remind yourself that you will get back to them later (see # 5.)
2. Make a detailed list of all of the tasks necessary to complete our current project.
3. Be fanatical about focus. This is my most challenging areas, because I am drawn to everything that’s new.
4. Set specific times for working on our project. It may be early or late, depending upon our daily rhythms.
5. When tempted by a bright shiny object, make a note about it and its location in a special notebook or journal for the future. That way, you won't be concerned about forgetting it.
6. Celebrate and reward yourself once the first and foremost project is completed. Do this for every project! You deserve it!

Do send your comments and questions to me at chris@creativekeys.biz. I love to receive feedback and will answer your questions in future e-zines.

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