Most of us are pretty good at starting things, but completing them is a whole different story. Imagine the scenario… you start something new with determination, enthusiasm and inspiration but somewhere along the way you direct yourself off the path.
What happens then?
You end up not finishing that thing that you started and naturally feel sorry about it, and your inner voice appears in your head and unleashes a string of negative self-talk.
Sound familiar?
It’s a well-known fact that most people are either excellent starters and idea generators or they are ‘completer-finishers’. It is an innate preference, and for you to become more successful, we must become great at generating ideas and starting things and also great at finishing those same things.
To help support you, we have put together our top tips:
1. Make a new decision.
Decide today your intention is not sufficient and you will be satisfied only on condition when you have finished that thing. Too many times I see people wanting to lose weight for instance, and then when they’ve lost weight but haven’t reached their goal yet, they change their perspective and shift their focus to the weight that they’ve already lost and NOT the weight they have yet to lose. Focusing on what you’ve already achieved when pursuing a goal forces your brain to feel this premature sense of accomplishment and changes your perspective and lowers your energy on the ultimate result. What tends to happen is that you find another goal to start up and add that to your ever-growing list of things to aspire to.
2. Where focus goes, focus grows.
Focus on the goal and the resistance that you will overcome in case your inner voice decides to say that you can’t do it.
3. What is your prize?
Think about how you will reward yourself when you have completed this thing(s). Look at the goal and then immediately see what you will reward yourself with once you have completed it. Link the two together very carefully, and your mind will soon connect the two and reignite the passion and determination to finish.
I invite you to set this challenge for yourself, up your game and focus on finishing these untied loose ends – whether that be a project, tasks adorning your to-do list, finishing a book that’s been gathering dust since you bought it (most people don’t read past the first chapter!), heading to the ‘draft’ items in your mailbox and either finishing those emails and sending them or deleting them altogether – it could be anything that’s currently incomplete.
Think about the things that have been playing on your mind, write them down and take them to the finish line, one by one.
Go for it!
Nis Arend, Founder – The Corporate Confidante
We are all in this together.
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The Corporate Confidante is a global training boutique that specialises in elevating top talent, without the fluff. Aimed at training the top 1% in professional services, they are renowned for achieving rapid results, building high performing teams and shaping leaders.
