The 5(and a Half) Step Guide to Resisting Shiny Objects

How do the good ones know which opportunities to jump on and which to park for later?
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Here’s a quick, on-the-go guide I’ve been using (and teaching) for 20+ years.
So you can decide in minutes, not days or weeks.
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1️⃣ Start with the Strategic Plan
Use your quarterly strategy and marketing plan as guardrails.
If the opportunity isn’t already part of your plan, default to “no” until the plan changes.
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2️⃣ Check Current Goals & Target Audience
Ask: “Does this move us toward the specific audience and outcomes we set for this quarter?”
If not, pass.
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3️⃣ Assess Resource Trade-offs
+ List the time, money, and energy the opportunity will consume.
+ Name exactly what you’ll pause or drop to make room.
If there's no clear trade-off, you can't green light it.
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4️⃣ Match the Calendar & Bandwidth
+ Consider real-world constraints like family, health, travel, and core work commitments.
+ If the ask steals from irreplaceable time, like family, health, or your highest-value work, it’s an automatic pass.
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5️⃣🅰️ Side-eye Exceptions
Leave space for rare, high-leverage opportunities, but only after the first four criteria are met.
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5️⃣🅱️ Use Your Truthtellers
Seek out perspectives that challenge your own.
Your Leadership Team, advisors, peer group, etc., will sharpen your perspective.
You’ll see the opportunity even more clearly OR find that your bias is clouding your judgment.
When your gut whispers “You can make this work...” you need someone asking, “Should you?”
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Run every shiny object through this filter.
Most will be clear by step 3.
The few that make it to five?
Those are the ones you probably bet on.
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What opportunity are you wrestling with right now?
Put it through the filter and test it out.

If that still doesn't sit right 👉🏻 reply to this email or book a time with me and I'll see if I can help.

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