Fighting the Resistance to Finish

I find this ironic.

I prefer starting to finishing. Projects, ideas, conversations. Content. 

Beginnings have hope and energy and vision.

Middles and endings, not so much. When the pace slows, the details set in and the “how” monster shows up. Things don’t feel so fun anymore. 

I didn’t even want to finish this email. 

There’s a lot behind the resistance to finishing:

• Perfectionism – it’s not good enough to declare “complete”
• Fear of evaluation – we’re opening ourselves up to someone’s external opinions and judgment
• Loss of excitement – finishing can be tedious and slow
• Perceived complexity of final steps – finishing something can look more complicated than it really is

All of these resonate for me when it comes to finishing. What about you? What makes finishing hard in your world?

We’re wrapping up the month with this topic not only because it’s the end of October, but because we are now squarely in the finish of the year. 

It’s been a full one.

Full schedules can leave us with disempowering stories about our ability to finish. Stories we tell ourselves that take away from the thing we want most. 

Stories I’ve told a lot this month. 

And just when I felt the weight of the “undone” in my world, I got a text from a friend that reminded me of all the places I was winning. Of all the places at work, as a friend, wife and leader, where I was finishing things I’d started. I even started AND finished a pantry project this morning and I can’t believe it. 

Among all of the action items I could share about finishing strong, the truth about where we’re already finishing has the power to give us the momentum we need most. 

So if no one’s asked you lately, what did you finish this month? Where are you winning? NAME it so you can get more of it. 

What’s possible if we started here? With the evidence of where we’re contributing first?

It can change the way we finish our year. It’s already changing mine.