IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW YOU FINISH

I don’t know about you, but I’m great at starting things. I could start new things all the time. Each idea comes in like a brilliant flash of inspiration + I feel compelled to drop everything + jump on it. I’ve done this often. But bringing these ideas to completion? That’s a different story.

It’s easy to start something. Starting something doesn’t require a whole lot of focus or discipline or motivation. That initial rush of a “ohmygod, I have the best idea” is enough to dive into something shiny + exciting + new. Sticking with something though, seeing it through, that takes a gritty doggedness that’s harder to cultivate.

But not impossible.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned (am continually learning) is that it doesn’t matter how you finish something. Honestly. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be excellent. (Especially if you’re just trying to get the hang of sticking with something.) You really only just have to finish it.

A friend recently told me a quote, something along the lines of “if it’s 70% perfect, you’ve already waited to long to put it out there”. That’s not the exact quote…but you get the gist.

Some thoughts on this :

• perfectionism is a way of procrastinating;
• but also, please don’t put out crap;
• nobody knows the vision you have in your mind, so won’t see the flaws, mistakes, or sub-parness of your project like you will;
• getting it out there starts to show you that you can in fact #dothethings, which helps cultivate the grittiness you need to slog through the unexciting process of getting it done.

My beautiful sister is wrapping up her third degree. It’s a tough program. She + one of her closest friends embarked on this program together, + their motto at the start of the program was “Bs + Cs get degrees”. They’re both smart cookies + capable of top marks. They also have family + other significant commitments which are much harder to put on hold then when you go through post-secondary the first (or second…) time round. They realised that instead of working towards the highest level of what they knew they could academically achieve, their focus + goal was to get their degree with personal lives + sanity still intact.

The goal wasn’t the grades. The goal was the degree + then being able to actually work in their chosen field.

Keeping a big picture view of what is important + what you’re actually working on is much more important than excelling at each minutiae part of the process. PS, my sister is incredible + I’m so proud of her for finishing this. It’s incredibly tough to take on a (third) intensive degree when you have family + significant responsibilities. I did a second degree, which was hard enough without a partner or children. To do that now? It would be a much harder decision to make.

To all the peeps out there who reevaluate their situation + work to make change in how they want their life to be, you are making choices + doing the work that most people wouldn’t. + that in + of itself is a huge achievement. Be easy on yourself when it’s hard. Know you’re making a huge difference.

I want to encourage you to realise it’s never too late to start over. That’s something I believe deeply.

But that starting over, starting new, just starting…it’s actually the easy part. It’s intoxicating + exciting. But there’s a lot of hard work, commitment, focus, + dedication (ie., GRIT) that’s required to realise what you’re working on.

So. Sometimes. It doesn’t matter how you finish. It really just matters that you finish. Because the bigger picture – the life you’re creating – is on the other side of finishing one goal at a time.