From $90,000 Failures to Lasting Foundations: My Escape from Shiny Object Syndrome
For Anyone Trapped in the Start-Quit-Repeat Loop Who's Ready for Something Different
Here I am, sitting in front of the screen and typing the first sentence. Finally after going through every possible excuse which were covered in my head as "essential stuff" I need to do before I could start writing my first blog.
This hesitation is familiar territory for me. For years, I've struggled with a cycle that begins with excitement and ends with abandonment. I know the pattern all too well.
The pattern was simple but devastating: A new, shiny idea would capture my imagination, promising to change my life. I'd work with intense bull-mentality productivity until launch day, when sky-high expectations would collide with underwhelming results. The immediate feeling of failure would be quickly replaced by the allure of yet another shiny idea on the horizon. And so the cycle would begin again.
Where did this destructive pattern come from? I can trace it back to my teenage years.
Long story short, I've been living this life for roughly the last 12 years, with the primary source of motivation being to earn money, simple as that. I started my first business when I was 15 years old, selling flowers near the cemetery in my hometown. And from that moment, when I earned my OWN money for the first time, I couldn't stop.
Resume of False Starts
I kept looking for new ventures to jump into. My first business lasted roughly 2-3 months during one summer. What followed were "businesses" that mostly lasted no more than 4-6 weeks:
2015: Selling flowers at the cemetery
2016-2018: Multi-level marketing venture (quick runs of consistent 2-week bursts until my motivation depleted)
2018: PTC (Paid to click) (a gimmick I followed briefly before abandoning)
2018-2019: Insurance website (super excited about the launch, quit when the real work began)
2019-2024: 8 different e-commerce shops (worked after hours, poured all savings from one shop to another)
2022: Marketing consulting agency (just a quick idea I wanted to test)
2021-2023: Video editing agency (saw consistent growth, mainly because I wasn't in charge)
2022-2025: Content creation agency (the only successful business, providing financial freedom)
2023-2024: Digital platform that burned through my cash (too hard to quit due to financial investment)
2017, 2025: Affiliate marketing (started with blogs, returned years later with paid media)
Are you also trapped in a cycle of endless starts and quits? Let's break free together. Keep reading to see how I'm finally changing my approach.
Even though you might look at those ventures and think, "But you had some success and good runs," not everything is as it seems. What all these ventures had in common was a fundamentally flawed approach. I operated like a bull running toward a red flag, all instinct, no strategy (btw I was born in May and my zodiac is Bull, but I hope it isn’t related to it :)) . I never thought twice; I was just eager to try out and launch whatever version I could create at the moment, regardless of its readiness or viability.
More than anything, I wanted QUICK success.
This hunger for immediate results transformed my mentality and work ethic into blindly following whatever course or YouTube video guide promised the fastest path. I rigorously executed their instructions until launch day without questioning whether they made sense for my situation.
Then, after the big day, my electrified mind imagined all my dreams becoming reality, with fortune pouring in from all directions. The gap between my fantasy and reality was as wide as the Grand Canyon.
You're probably thinking I'll tell you that after all this build-up, after launch, it finally HAPPENED! A fascinating overnight success that validated my approach. But it never did.
The Rooted Pattern: An Inevitable Cycle
Instead of success, what I found was a predictable ending to every venture. What happened instead is that I always quit. When struggles occurred, I couldn't persevere. Looking back to iterate and improve what I'd done felt uncomfortable. I wanted more than anything to hit a home run from the get-go.
This nightmare loop followed me throughout my life: New shiny idea → Bull-mentality productivity → Launch → Disappointing results → New shiny idea appears → Repeat.
The worst part? I created a comfortable excuse to protect my ego.
I quickly adopted the idea that money and time would easily solve everything. I 100% believed my business ventures failed simply because I lacked time or money.
Fast forward to 2021-2022. Through sheer luck and various unrelated actions, I partnered with a friend who invited me into his video editing business. We quickly transitioned to video production for Snapchat, where we hit our first-ever home run: one video earned more than $10k per day.
This was unbelievable. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. It felt like we were doing something illegal while simultaneously cracking the code, escaping the matrix, and becoming kings of the world.
Remember when I said success never happened? This was the exception, but ironically, my toxic mentality led to even more failures.
A year after starting the business, we split because I wanted to go solo with my own way. I thought now I finally had TIME and MONEY. Nothing could stop me! I didn't want to co-create; I wanted to build something on my own to prove I could.
Sound familiar? If you've ever tasted success only to sabotage yourself afterward, you're not alone. Join my newsletter below to learn how I'm reprogramming these self-defeating patterns.
The $90,000 Lesson
After splitting our business, I jumped into a new project where, throughout the year, I invested more than $90k USD and earned roughly $130 USD. This became my biggest failure and the realization that money and time don't necessarily translate to success.
Even with extensive planning and idea validation, I was repeating the same pattern on a different project. The main problem was never iterating long enough to see if the ideas were valid. I'd get excited about a new feature or marketing strategy, charge at it like a bull again, and when immediate success didn't materialize, I'd kill it immediately.
Some might think, "Well, this is just testing." The difference was that after the inevitable failures of running projects for only a couple of days, I'd feel terrible and spend days gaming or doing nothing. Then, I'd repeat the cycle with another idea.
Eventually, when my bank account started running low, I had to make the hard decision to close the project.
The Turning Point: Finding My Roots in March 2025
Fast forward to March 6th, 2025, when I started a Dopamine Detox and finally decided to make a lasting change. This time was different; I felt it and wanted to stick to it once and for all.
Have you ever seen those trees that grow along windy coastlines? The ones that begin as fragile little trees but slowly transform, their trunks and branches permanently bent by the relentless sea winds. Over the years, they don't fight the wind; they adapt to it. What begins as a small spark of change eventually creates a completely new shape, one that's stronger precisely because it embraced the pressure instead of resisting it.
That's what March 6th was for me: a spark. After a month of planning (and yes, hyping myself up about content creation again), I'm here writing and sharing my story, not as another bull charge toward a red flag but as the first conscious bend toward a new shape.
I can't change my past; it's already done. But sharing it all with you helps empty my head for new, exciting things I want to share. Just as those coastal trees don't erase their bent trunks, they build upon them.
So, if you've gone through my journey and are still reading, then something here likely resonated with you. If you're caught in endless loops of starting and quitting, I invite you to join me on an adventure into habits hidden in the foundations designed for long-lasting change.
The overall mantra is building good foundations, planting your sparks when you're feeling normal or motivated. These sparks, with consistent attention, grow into something solid like those coastal oaks, resilient when storms come, able to bend without breaking, and prepared for difficult moments. Here are a few core branches that I truly believe help to create long-lasting foundations:
Sleep: How I finally established a consistent 8-9 hour sleep schedule and why it's the foundation of everything else
Nutrition: How proper food fuels your body and mind like premium gas in a sports car
Personalization: Becoming your own life scientist, constantly iterating and leveling up like in a video game
Mindfulness: Training your brain without becoming a monk, staying conscious, and facing life's struggles with a cool head
Movement: Trick your mind into loving exercise and avoiding injuries from rushing too hard
Yes, there's a lot of ground to cover, but that's my nature. I can't stick to just one thing; I love to explore many areas and combine them to find my own path. Maybe that's your approach too?
Ready To Break Your Cycle?
If you're tired of starting strong but never finishing, subscribe to my newsletter below. I'll share weekly insights, practical tips, and the honest ups and downs of my journey toward lasting change.
Let's build something that lasts together.
I am Gedas, the founder of the Spark Tree and a recovering professional starter. :) After 12 years of start-quit cycles and shiny object syndrome, I am now focused on building sustainable foundations and helping others do the same.
Thank you for sharing your story! Can’t wait for more posts! ✨