The Discipline of Finishing Strong
How many projects have you started, sat through the highs and lows, and finished? Even if it wasn’t successful, how many projects have you committed to till its logical conclusion?
Starting something is easy but sticking with it till the end takes discipline.
There are a few reasons why we begin but aren’t able to finish;
- Distractions – Things come up along the way that shifts our focus from the project at hand.
- Difficulty – Challenges often come in the way of achieving a goal.
- Discouragement – When morale is down, it is difficult to muster up the drive to finish a project.
- Demands – When the demand on you becomes more than your desire to finish a project, you are likely to lose interest.
Not all projects or endeavours are worth finishing, but building the discipline of finishing what you start is vital. I mean, you don’t want to end up leaving many great works or projects undone.
This challenge is something that I noted in my life: I get motivated about something, but after a while, when the motivation dies, so does the project. So, I have started doing certain things to cultivate the discipline of finishing.
- Understand yourself – Know the kind of person you are. If you can focus your energy on different tasks, you might be better off focusing on one job, finishing it, and moving on to the next.
- Start small – If this is a long term discipline you are trying to cultivate, start by making sure you complete small tasks. When you develop the discipline of finishing a task, you build the grit to tackle bigger and bigger jobs.
- Be mindful of the tasks and responsibilities you take on – Before you take on an assignment, ask yourself:
- Am I passionate about this project?
- Do I see myself finishing this?
- Do I have a way to keep myself motivated about this work?
- Don’t be so quick to take up something because it is new – check to see if you have what it takes to finish.
- Draw up a plan of action – Set reasonable milestones for yourself and an appropriate time to reach them.
Finally, don’t let one bad day become a bad week or a bad week become a bad month. Developing this discipline is not something that you would succeed at overnight.
Some days will be better than others, so make sure you give yourself a break and start fresh each day.
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