Many people are great at starting things and bad at following them through. I bet if we went through our closets, drawers and garage shelves we would find signs of incompletion: a pile of magazines that we ordered a while ago, but never had time to read; a work out machine, collecting dust in our garage; a guitar that we never learned how to play. And what about all the emails that we did not have time to answer? What about New Year’s resolutions that we are unmotivated to finish?

If it sounds familiar here are a few things you might want to consider, before leaving something unfinished:

1. You spend more energy thinking about uncompleted tasks, than actually doing them.

All the mental energy that we spend thinking about all the unfinished tasks, could have been directed at doing something way more productive and satisfying. So next time you will feel like leaving something incomplete, think twice. Because you are actually making yourself work harder.

2. The hardest part is starting, not finishing.

Starting something is already a big achievement in itself. There are a lot of people, who get stuck in the thinking phase, so they actually never get to taking action on their ideas. Even if you took one little step towards your goals, you have already made progress. You are on the right track. All you have to do is take another step and another step… and little by little you will get there.

3. Perfectionism is the worst enemy of completion.

(more…)