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Feb 16, 2011

Oooh! Shiny!

My client, Debra Hamilton who is a brilliant mediator with a special interest in animals, participated in the Annual AKC Dog Show recently held in New York City. During our call yesterday she used a phrase I’d never heard, “Oooh! Shiny!” referring to a new area of interest attracting her attention. She said it’s used to describe Irish Setters who are easily distracted. I can think of a lot of business owners, present company included, who might strongly identify with those words.

I experience, “Oooh! Shiny!” with every email request and phone call that potentially means financial opportunity. I may drop whatever’s in front of me at the moment to process a book order or create a letter of agreement that includes a deposit upon receipt. “Oooh! Shiny!” is the person sitting next to me at a networking event with an idea of how we might work together. A date with new prospect pops up on my calendar and registers as “Oooh! Shiny!” my heart fluttering in anticipation.

The flip side of “Oooh! Shiny!” is a term I learned years ago: single-handling. It’s the antidote to “Oooh! Shiny!” Single-handling is looking at the task at hand and sticking with it from beginning to end. No glitter. No sparkle. Just straight task-oriented, nose-to-the-grindstone effort. The result? Success.

Today it was creating my script for the Remarkable Women’s Network (sold out) event I’m hosting tomorrow night. I wanted to incorporate some lessons from my book Soul Proprietor, make sure that I’m clear on my instructions for the breakout sessions and visualize the event in its entirety to be sure I’d covered all the bases.

I was hoping for some “Oooh! Shiny!” distractions, but resisted looking at my inbox or social media accounts until I’d gotten it done. The feeling of completion is unbeatable. Even better than “Oooh! Shiny!” but often hard to remember in the midst of the effort.

Can you relate?

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3 Comments

  1. Gini

    At my house the code-phrase has always been: “Oh, look, a chicken!” to indicate the same. Wonderful, wonderful words of wisdom Jane.

    Reply
  2. Lisa Zapatka

    I too love “Oooh! Shiny!” distractions. I also know that feeling of completion is unbeatable and experienced it just last night. I just finished a long standing project of mine to update my client data base which was long overdue and therefore a much more tedious task than it should have been. Regardless it is done and I felt great for having done it. Aside from “Oooh! Shiny!” distractions, one of my other favorite things is to cross things off list which I was able to do. I am looking forward to tomorrow night’s event!

    Reply
  3. janepollak

    @Gini
    You’re way ahead of me!

    @Lisa
    Congrats! Nothing like that checking off thrill. Great seeing you in Norwalk last night. Hope you enjoyed it!

    Reply

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