Thursday, April 3, 2014

Finishing What You Started

I have nothing to post for Thursday.

That’s what I thought yesterday. Then I browsed through my Google Drive folder where I usually begin to write and brainstorm ideas for posts and counted all the posts I had started, just sitting there waiting to be done.

There were eight. Eight posts that I started, began to take form… and then at some point, I moved on to something else. And then another thing. And another.

I did have something to post for today. I just didn’t get one of those eight posts done.

Why didn't I finish those posts? A combination of laziness and excuses -- the two mortal enemies of finishing. I told myself I would finish them later. Or that it would take too much effort. Or that there’s no time.

We need to kill laziness and show excuses the door. They have no place in the creative process. They are the quicksand that drags us down into stagnation.

If we aren't careful, we’ll look back and see a trail of neglected projects -- monuments of our laziness and shrines of our excuses. We’ll be left with a bunch of what-ifs, unrealized potential and little else.

I don’t want to live a life marked by excuses, laziness and unfinished business. I hope you don’t, either.

Starting is hard. So is finishing. Finishing takes time. Finishing demands sacrifice. Finishing requires patience and perseverance. Finishing means doing some research, getting up a little earlier in the morning, and doing the necessary work.

One finished product has more power than eight that are just lying there waiting for me to finish them. No one reads a half-finished novel that never makes it to the shelves of a Barnes & Noble. No one hears the song missing the bridge that never made it to your SoundCloud account.

Before I start anything new, I'm going to go back and finish what I started. You’ll be seeing those eight drafts finished soon.

If you’ve started something, go back and take the time to finish it.

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