What happens when you have a job and you don’t complete your project on time? Usually, you’ll get fired. At the very least, you’ll get written up or just look like an idiot in front of the rest of your team. There are direct consequences to not being a finisher in structured areas of our life. When we start our own business and no one is holding us accountable, what happens? We stop being finishers.
I had to force myself to become a finisher to start getting the results I wanted. Starting projects might be fun, but it doesn’t provide any value to anyone else. It just gets you pumped up. You need to become a finisher, and here are eight ways to do that.
1. Stakes on the line. You have to create consequences, and a good way to do this is to get an accountability partner.
2. Have mandated deadlines. Clearly outline your project and have hard deadlines just like you would during a semester in school.
3. No exceptions. If you give yourself the opportunity to get out of something one time, you will keep giving yourself that opportunity.
4. Have mid-range planning. It’s okay to have daily and weekly planning, but it needs to fit into a bigger picture.
5. Pain vs. pleasure. You have to associate your goals with what the pain will be like if you don’t achieve them, and what the pleasure will be like if you do.
6. Finish the first project. You’ll feel really good after it. The more you finish projects, the easier it will be to finish the next one.
7. Detachment from outcome. Do not look at your results day-to-day. Complete your work regardless of what the results are.
8. “Yoda” yourself across the finish line. Yoda said “do or do not do. There is no try.” You have to get it done no matter what.
If you want success in life, it’s not about starting projects. It’s about finishing them.
To learn more about becoming a finisher, visit https://www.digitalnomad.com/podcast