Finishing what you start

Hi there,

At some point, I realized that wrapping up a project (or job or assignment) is a skill in itself. That changed everything for me.

Turns out that if you finish things, you’re part of a tiny minority. In any process involving more than one step, people drop out every step of the way. Stopping takes little effort; powering through takes all the more. And so we often have to contend with that little voice telling us at each new stage: Why are you doing this? You could be doing something that’s easier or more fun!

Then there’s the fact that once you’re nearly finished, there’s not much to report. Oh-so-different from when you start something new and want to shout it from the rooftops. That’s part of what makes it so enticing to start new things: Starting is both easy and appreciated.

Another downside to finishing: There’s a chance things won’t turn out as expected. You may even decide you’ve wasted valuable time and energy. That can make wrapping things up and delivering the final product a little scary.

And so we keep gravitating towards starting new things, while procrastinating on those jobs we once took on energetically. Slowly but surely we get the feeling we’re not all that great at seeing things through and finishing what we started. 

In short: it’s not at all surprising that pushing on and finishing up doesn’t always happen. Like anything complex, it’s an art. But it’s also a skill you can get better at. And that’s what’s really helped me: knowing that finishing things is just an exercise. Do it more, and you’ll be in better shape. 

So today I want to encourage you to practice finishing things.

Why finish? (besides the obvious)

Only once you finish something, do you find out whether your idea was any good. Finishing forces you to make tough choices: what still has to be done and what can you skip? Finishing also implies sharing your work—publishing or announcing what you’ve done in some other way. You throw open the doors to hearing what others think, and that’s always valuable. 

If you haven’t been a strong finisher, then perhaps the most important benefit is breaking the cycle of saying you’re not good at seeing things through. It gets easier each time to prioritize finishing before you start something new.

How to be a strong finisher

Here are a few practical pointers that help me: 

• The harder it seems to finish, the more specific you’ll need to get. A detailed list of last steps can be a big help.

• Do something each day that moves you closer to finishing. Reserve time in your calendar for the steps you wrote out.

• Make the final product smaller. Strange as it sounds, bite-size projects mean you’ll get more done. That’s because hitting a milestone—however small—gives you fresh energy for the next stage of the journey. 

• Is a big, unfinished project looming over you right now? See which aspects you can make smaller, and get started finishing one of those.

• Give yourself a little break before starting something new. This is especially nice when you know you start new things easily, before you’ve finished ongoing projects. Make a deal that you’ll only start the new thing once you’ve slept on it, or taken a weekend to think it over, or if you’re still excited about the idea after making your plans for next quarter. 

• What can also help push through those final steps: Agree not to start the new thing until you’ve delivered the old one. Then you’re using that fresh energy to power your finishing skills. 

Good luck wrapping things up this week, 

Rick

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