Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done pdfdrive com

Time for a Little Judo
As anyone who has struggled with hiding places knows, one of the best ways to
fall in love with a new goal is to just try to finish an old one.
You are never more creative for new ideas than when you are almost done
with an old one.
“What’s next” will always look more interesting than “what’s now.”
Please know that the minute you pick a goal and make it fun, a new goal
that’s really a hiding place will pop into your head. I don’t mean eventually, I
don’t mean later, I don’t mean on Day 14. I mean on Day 1. Before you’ve even
left the harbor, perfectionism will have some other port calling your name.
Faced with this temptation, you will do the worst possible thing, which is to
try to kill it.
I’ve got to focus, you will say to yourself.

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I’ve got to focus, you will say to yourself.
I’ve got to ignore it, you will shout.
In a matter of minutes, you’ll be right back to your old habit of trying harder.
If you’d just try harder, you wouldn’t be so distracted. Cue perfectionism.
But what if that’s not a distraction but a great idea? What if that new thing
that came out of seemingly nowhere is actually something you should definitely
do? What if that’s the best idea you’ve ever had and it got stirred up by all your
hard work?
I don’t know if it is, but I know that ignoring it is the wrong approach.
Fighting it is a waste of time and energy. Instead, embrace it. Admit that it
might indeed be awesome. And then make exploring it a condition of finishing
the goal you are working on.
In judo, you don’t try to stop an opponent’s power, you use it. You take his
momentum and weight and strength. You don’t push back against a charging
foe, you lean backward and allow the rush to topple your opponent
unexpectedly. That’s what you should do when a distraction gets too loud.
For example, I want to start a podcast. I’ve wanted to start one for a while,
but I didn’t really get passionate about it until I tried to finish this book. As soon
as I buckled down to writing this, you’d be surprised how attractive that podcast
became. I could rattle off my future guests, list the questions I’d ask them, and
discuss how I would grow the audience with the greatest of ease.
Instead of feeling shame and trying to ignore that project, I placed it directly
after the finish line for this book.
I didn’t say never; I said later.
Want to create a reward you really love? When new ideas or new goals get
shiny, put them at the finish line. Don’t try to grow callous to the shiny objects;
if anything, let them gleam. Let them be brighter than the noonday sun. Just
make sure they point the way to the finish line.
No podcast until the book is done.
No other diet until you’ve finished the one you already committed to.
No other small business idea until you’ve completed the original one.
Line your finish line with the dream goals you’re currently using as hiding
places and then watch how fast you’ll run toward it.