I do declare that 2022 is going to be the year of ‘finishing.’
‘Finishing?’, you say. ‘That sounds weird.’
Yes, finishing. I’m a serial starter – I get super excited by new ideas and start IMMEDIATELY IF NOT SOONER. But being a serial starter means I’m great at starting… but often don’t finish things.
Meaning? I now have approximately 3276 half-done projects. Including an embarrassing amount of half-written books (5); an even more embarrassing amount of half-written blog posts (in the forties!); a half-finished website revamp; four half-started sewing projects; one half-sanded cot; a LOT of half-used beauty products (don’t even wanna try and count those); not to mention my van. Really, the list goes on… metaphorically, not literally as that could get super boring.
So I’ve decided that this isn’t going to be a year of ‘getting it done’, ‘trying new things that scare me’, and all those other common New Year slogans – but a year of GETTING IT FINISHED.
During this decision, I’ve been trying to work out why it that I’m so great at getting started, but so rubbish at finishing. Boredom? Fear? Loss of interest? Standards too high? I don’t know if it’s anything as profound as that and maybe simply because I’m lazy.
However, I find I relate all-too-well to how John Saddington mapped ‘The Emotional Journey of Creating Anything Great.’
Photo by John Saddington
It’s like Johnny-boy read my mind with this start of this graph. I love the ‘this is the best idea ever!’ and ‘this will be fun!’ stage (I love fun) – but it does decline into the dark swamp aka ‘too hard’ basket. The dark swamp is not like Shrek’s swamp (which actually looks like quite a fun place to hang out) but a mind swamp and likely where I, often subconsciously, get stuck and stop. (A bit like being stuck in the mud except there’s no one to crawl through your legs so you can run around again.)
I’m reading the self-help classic, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and, essentially, the entire book is about learning to self-manage and be a proactive rather than reactive person.
Proactive people focus on what they can control and do something about it.
Reactive people focus on what they can’t control and let it control them.
In order to finish, you have to be proactive. You have to focus on what you can control. You have to be good at self-managing and pushing through.
So, if like me, you love to start but hate to finish, the best advice I have is:
Be proactive and persevere, persevere, persevere
Ignore the little a-hole voice in your mind during the ‘Dark Swamp of Despair’ – instead be like the fairytale creatures when they takeover Shrek’s swamp
Just do a little bit each day (eventually, it becomes a LOT)
Self-management (and self awareness) is crucial if you want to make or create anything great – or just finish sanding and restaining your cot, if you’re anything like me.
So, wish me luck for the year of finishing! I’ll need it.
(Hey, look at that! I finished this blog – it seems I’m off to a roaring start, if I do say so myself.)
