Having a Hard Time Finishing?
written by Steven on March 01, 2010
My father always told me that the hardest part of any job is finishing it. Here are somethings you can do to make it easier to finish:
- Launch. If you don't launch, you'll never finish.
- Have a reason to finish. "To make my wife/parent/child proud." "I'm going to change the world with this." Keep this reason in mind when the going gets tough.
- Don't do it alone. Have someone that will pick you up and keep you going.
- Make something people will fall in love with. And then fall in love with helping them.
- Put all your eggs in your own basket. If the the other option is going to work for someone else... Who wants that? * Wear cool shoes. This won't actually help you finish other than you'll know you'll look cool once you do.
- Not only will you feel like a failure if you don't finish, but by definition you will be a failure.
- You are awesome! Not finishing is not an option.
- Your friends will quickly tire of congratulating and encouraging you on yet another new idea. (They never tire of it if you finish.)
- Your mother will love you anyways, but she will love you more if you don't quit. Yes she will.
- You'll look better at your high school reunion.
- You'll feel better about yourself.
- Whatever you do next will be more successful.
- Chicks dig quitters. Not.
- Would you rather tell the story of how you gave up or that you finished it and gave it everything you had?
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About Steven
Steven Bristol has written code for the past 20 years. He like green vegetables and kittens, oh and butterflies too. He loves to throw ninja stars at his enemies.
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47 Comments
Thanks for the post. I just launched my second personal product (www.bookticker.com). It doesn’t do half of what I want it to do, but it does to what it does well. I love books and I love to see what other people are reading. I got tired of the momentary snapshot of best seller’s list, so I built a site that tracks bestsellers over time. You can click on any book and you can see a chart of how popular the book is.
Benefits:
What about -
- it might make you some money.
I know we are all supposed to be doing these things because we have a massive “passion”, but a little bit of money and roof over the head sure helps.
ps I like the high school reunion one!!
Thanks for this Steven
I have two half finished websites that I have been putting off…I’m going to finish one now so my Mum will love me more when I tell her what I want for my birthday soon haha
Andy
Nice, I’ve got stuff to finish this month AND a high school reunion this year. Great timing!
@craig,
I assumed that money was already a motivator, but you’re right, let’s not forget to list it.
Good stuff. Thanks for that and the code you have contributed. This post goes well with something I wrote and stuck on the wall a few months ago:
I may be right or I may be wrong, but I will certainly be something.
I like the Mom line too. My Mom called to apologize for posting a comment on my blog about me in diapers. I told her “not to worry, every entrepreneur has a Mom.” She laughed. I moderated it out anyway :)
Great post Steve!
thanks guys.. just can’t finish my college, watduf! is this.. im on my 5th yr of college but my course should only take 4 years. I always have a good kick start but during halfway i start to lose interest.
Great post, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’ll share a quote I came across.
“When you don’t create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability. Your tastes only narrow and exclude people. so create.”
— Why the Lucky Stiff
Hi Anton,
Thanks for sharing the quote, but in this case, like many others, I think _why is full of shit.
Have taste!!! Having taste is what ensures what you create is good and remarkable.
If no musician ever had taste, all music would be as bad as _why’s.
they say the beginning is the hardest part of anything you do. but there is some point in your words. i can tell it from my own experience. always ready to start a new project, when it comes to an end striving for perfection it slways seems to me that smth is lacking and i can’t finish it, making changes… glad to know i’m not the only one:)
Great list! Those 15 reasons are enough to finish an unfinished job. I agree with the third one. It is sure nice to do it with someone so that he can encourage you to go on.
Having taste is what ensures what you create is good and remarkable.
Probably the biggest issue is starting – prevarication is the biggest obstacle to success.
I agree with the third one. It is sure nice to do it with someone so that he can encourage you to go on.
Fantastic and relevant tips :) I think everyone can print them out and post on the wall above the bed to see it every morning!
Kindest regards and thanks for the post.
All you need is a commitment on the thing that you do. If you commit yourself enough, I am sure that you wont just finish it, I am sure that you will complete it perfectly.
they say the beginning is the hardest part of anything you do. but there is some point in your words. i can tell it from my own experience. always ready to start a new project, when it comes to an end striving for perfection it slways
The post is absolutely awesome! Lots of useful information and inspiration, both of which I need! I will bookmark your blog!
I know we are all supposed to be doing these things because we have a massive “passion”, but a little bit of money and roof over the head sure helps.
Very helpful thanks a lot for this nice post
Thank you for nice and informative article and useful information for me. Thanks!
probably the biggest issue is starting – prevarication is the biggest obstacle to success.
Hi Steven, thanks for the tips, sometimes it is hard to stay motivated.
I don’t believe so. For me, starting is always the hardest. Once you have started, the momentum is there and finishing would be easy.
They say the beginning is the hardest part of anything you do. but there is some point in your words. i can tell it from my own experience. always ready to start a new project, when it comes to an end striving for perfection it slways seems to me that smth is lacking and i can’t finish it, making changes… glad to know i’m not the only one:)
Fantastic and relevant tips. Greetings Steven
Thanks a lot for the list! I find it very helpful!
probably the biggest issue is starting – for me, starting is always the hardest. Once you have started, the momentum is there and finishing would be easy.
Good read…like the part about the mom loving you more part ha; I have had a project going for a couple years but finally was able to see it through to fruition and that makes it all worth while imo.
Exceptional piece of writing cheers for the knowledge. A Perfect piece of info
Always ready to start a new project, when it comes to an end striving for perfection it slways seems to me that smth is lacking and i can’t finish it, making changes… glad to know i’m not the only one:)
How about finishing a “Never Ending Project”. How would you suggest dealing with something that has no end?
Just a word about NOT Finishing. We train people to play tennis and actually we expect that no is ever FINISHED with their lessons. Even the number 1 in the world of tennis, would probably say that he hasn’t finished perfecting his tennis. Of course, this is a different situation to that, which the author was writing about.
@Russisch Übersetzungen
You have to find places where you can stop and celebrate the victory of finishing. Some projects do go on indefinitely, but even in those projects there are logical places to finish. Never ending projects are a drain unless you can celebrate something. Launching a new feature, clearing out the bug list, finishing an iteration, working on something else for a while, finding a new job. :)
I suggest a book Getting Things Done. Bought a book ten years ago. Must admit though it is hard to follow the principles. The essence of your post.
Thank you for nice and informative article and useful information for me.
There are a lot of books about these things. Getting things done is probably one of the best. But it did not work for me. Too complicated to follow.
I certainly enjoyed the way you explore your experience and knowledge of the subject! Keep up on it. Thanks for sharing the info
Good stuff. Thanks for that and the code you have contributed. This post goes well with something I wrote and stuck on the wall a few months ago:
I may be right or I may be wrong, but I will certainly be something.
I like the Mom line too. My Mom called to apologize for posting a comment on my blog about me in diapers. I told her “not to worry, every entrepreneur has a Mom.” She laughed. I moderated it out anyway :)
Thank you for nice and informative article and useful information for me. Thanks!
Always ready to start a new project, when it comes to an end striving for perfection it slways seems to me that smth is lacking and i can’t finish it, making changes… glad to know i’m not the only one:)
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