Yo !

I thought I was winning.

A couple years back, I had multiple opportunities lined up—coaching invitations, a SaaS idea, local business deals, potential agency collabs. Lahat mukhang jackpot. I was pumped.

“This is is it, pancit!,” I told myself.

The more things I had cooking, the higher my chances of something taking off, diba? Parang yung mga contests sa Eat Bulaga, more entries more chances of winning!

So I went all in. More calls. More meetings. More planning. My Gdocs and Gdrive turned into a warzone of new projects. Kahit sa shower, nasa utak ko pa rin yung “big plays” I was making.

Then one random Tuesday, habang nanonood ako ng Youtube at naha-hype na naman... napatingin ako sa task list ko… and it hit me like a truck.

I wasn’t actually moving forward.

Everything was half-built.

My eBook? Still a draft. (although tapos na sya now syempre hehe) My SaaS? A Google Doc of ideas and a few zoom calls with potential partners lang, and it turned out busy din sila. My collabs? Stuck in the “planning stage.” I was working my butt off, but for what? Wala akong natatapos.

Worse, I was exhausted.

And you know what, in the past 2 years, meron pa isang dumagdag sa stress natin. And it's a cause of even more overwhelm—new opportunities unfolding because of AI.

The insane speed of AI innovation makes it feel like every few weeks, a new chance to capitalize on it comes up. A tool, a trend, a business model. “If I don’t jump on this now, I’ll be left behind!”

Kahit sila OpenAI, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Tesla are all jump-scaring each other with new functionality and frighteningly advanced new AI models. Tapos out of the blue Deepseek R1 comes out with a very competitive model as well, only 90% cheaper to run, and free for public use.

Then Alibaba's Qwen came out, claiming to beat Deepseek.

It's a downward spiral. Whew. Na-stress ako just writing that.

Don't you feel the same, ?

But then I realized: every single one of these new opportunities need at least 90 to 100+ days of consistency to actually generate real results.

Whether it’s launching a new tiktok account for business, building an AI-driven service, or scaling an offer—none of them succeed overnight. And if I keep bouncing between ideas, I’ll never give any of them the time they need to grow.

Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS) is real.

It fools you into thinking you’re making progress when, in reality, you’re just collecting projects, not completing them.

So how do you keep your head down when the world is screaming, "Try this! Do that! Eto na talaga ang pinaka-mega-ultra-legendary-ultimate na opportunity, pakshet !!@#$!@%!"

The Anti-SOS Playbook:

1. Anchor on Your North Star – If an opportunity doesn’t align with your long-term vision, it’s a distraction. Clear ba yung goal mo? If not, kahit anong opportunity, mukha namang game-changer kuno e.

Before saying yes to anything, ask yourself: “Does this move me closer to my one big goal?” If the answer is “hmm, maybe?”—it’s a no. Your North Star is your guide. Without it, you’ll chase every shiny thing that pops up.

2. Say No, Even to Good Things – Just because it’s a good opportunity doesn’t mean it’s your opportunity. Kahit malaking client yan or cool project, if it pulls you away from your core path, let it go.

This is tough, lalo na kung mukhang malaking break. But spreading yourself thin won’t help you scale. If you’re always saying yes to new things, you’re saying no to making real progress on what matters most.

Storytime, we had closed a huge crypto client back then for our Youtube Ads Agency back then.

High paying ba? Totally. No question about that. 7k USD setup fee pa lang yan, and we had a retainer deal setup. The thing was, this singaporean client was a slave driver pala, and he expected us to be in his staff meetings EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

It ended up a big pile of nope for me. Kaya hindi na kami nag-tuloy after the initial 3-month run. And truth be told, hindi ko naman talaga really trip yung Crypto industry.

And sabi nga ng isang John Pagulayan dyan, "if it's not a HELL F*&cKin Yes, then it's a no."

3. Follow the 90-Day Rule – Before jumping into something new, wait 90 days. Still excited after 3 months? Maybe it's worth considering. If not? Fake excitement lang yan.

Most distractions feel urgent at first, but if you wait, you’ll see kung alin ang true opportunity versus a passing hype. AI trends? New side hustle ideas? They all need time to mature. Delayed gratification is a freelancer’s secret weapon.

4. Create ‘Opportunity Filters’ – Set non-negotiables. If a new gig, project, or business doesn’t meet specific criteria (e.g., does it make my life easier? does it align with my core skills?), then it’s an automatic pass.

Imagine a hiring process, pero ikaw ang nagha-hire ng opportunities. Would you take a job that doesn’t fit your skills, interests, or values? Then why accept projects or side hustles that don’t?

Kung super newbie freelancer and you're testing the water, you're excused. But still, focus ka pa din sa isang new skill muna. Not many.

5. Remind Yourself: Depth > Width – Experts aren’t made by dabbling in 100 things. They go deep in one or two max. The rest they delegate na. Ikaw, do you want to be the jack of all trades na laging pagod, or the expert who works less but earns more?

People don’t hire the freelancer who does everything. They hire the best at one thing. Want to charge higher? Niche down and master that skill. Less work, more income.

At the end of the day, focus is the real superpower. Kahit gaano kaganda ang opportunity, if you’re always jumping ship, wala kang masasabing ship na natapos mo.

So, anong shiny thing ang kailangan mong i-drop today?

Shoden “Shining Shimmering Splendid” San

PS: If focus is your struggle, hit reply. Let’s talk about your one thing.

And if it happens na yung one thing mo is to go all in on freelancing, The Freelance Movement Tribe is now open. And it's the best thing to help you focus (not just 90 days, but for a whole year)

Hahaha! Sabay nag-pitch e no. After ng sinabi ko sa taas about dealing with Shiny Object Syndrome, tapos may affiliate link pala. Kalorkey!

But wait, if you're still reading, I know you're really here for the storytelling naman and not this aff link. (You're most likely inside the tribe already, or have been a member )

Even if I know that, like a hopeless fool I won't ever stop promoting the ABSOLUTE BEST THING that happened to my own freelancing journey to anyone who might listen.

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So as a favor, share mo naman link na to sa wall mo (kahit affiliate ka rin hahaha)

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🎉 Pst. Don't Keep Me A Secret. refer this newsletter to your freelancer friends. This REALLY REALLY helps me a lot, thanks!