When I decided to become my own boss in late 2004, I knew exactly WHY I chose to go on this journey and where the destination was. What I did not know was HOW I was going to get there. Nor did I have any concept of how many shiny objects were on their way to distract me from reaching my destination. I didn’t even know the term, shiny-object syndrome, and what it meant.
Today, it is crystal clear as to what it means. For those of you who have never heard of it, shiny objects to humans are like squirrels to dogs; it is hard to resist them because they are too, well, shiny to ignore.
When I started out, I knew little about investing or entrepreneurship. All I knew was that I had to learn whatever it took to run my own investment business. I needed to learn everything from scratch. In fact, sadly, one of the biggest hurdles was unlearning what I had learned over a long period of time in school – both in Japan and in the U.S.A. – including as an MBA.
What I have come to realize recently is that until I knew exactly HOW I was going to get to my destination, I was an easy target for skilled sales people with – you guess it – shiny objects. For the longest time, what I failed to realize was that their job was to “sell” by making it sound easy to succeed if I were to implement their programs. In many cases, what they omit is how much time and effort it takes to learn the craft and how much more you’d have to pay for additional programs before you can truly master the craft.
Regardless, it is not their job to make sure that I succeed. Whether or not to succeed is always up to me. This meant I had to understand my craft – running an investment business – inside and out no matter which path I chose to get there.
The sooner I narrowed the focus – to start making money and building wealth – and treated it as a long-term apprenticeship program to effectively work for myself, the better.
No matter how I wish I knew better than to follow the shiny objects, the fact is, I didn’t. I always felt that I had to learn everything there was to learn. I have since come to accept the fact that, shiny or not, everything I experienced was part of my journey.
That said, if you are reading this, and if you want to get to your destination with the least path of resistance, then (1) choose how you are going to get there early on and (2) resist the temptations of shiny objects no matter how great they sound. You’ll be proud when you will have made it without having been distracted by them.
Here is a small nugget of truth for you. Not having extra time or money can be the most effective antidote to shiny objects.
The most important point of my journey has been that, today, I finally have the confidence that I do know what I’m doing and HOW I’m doing it. If I were to have chosen to stay the course in the corporate world, I am likely to be worried sick about my retirement future because I would have remained ignorant about how to react to another market crash.
I am deeply grateful that, since 2004, I have been able to devote every waking moment to facing my worst fear head on. It took 15-long years but I’m finally here, despite all the shiny objects that came my way.
Happy investing!
