5 Reasons Why You Should FINISH What You Start!

First off, I want to thank ALL of you that have subscribed and more poignantly--I want to thank those of you who reached out in response to last weeks article! I wrote that one while enjoying my usual old fashioned, and the words poured out of me in a way that honestly felt too good to be true! You see, I was in the zone because I wrote that one straight from the chest...but many of you reached out with such great thoughts/feedback that this one is written purely by popular demand! Now that we know that getting started is a worthy undertaking, let's discuss the importance of finishing the job--which is something most people don't do.

As a creative, academic, and businessman, every sector of my life comes with a constant urge to 'start something new' or extend my offerings by working on new ventures and manuscripts. Like many of you, I legitimately always have ideas on how to improve, advance, or do things differently...but we must remember that finishing what is on the task list now is far more worthwhile of an exercise to ensure that we keep our progression in check. If we spend our time starting a bunch of things but never finishing them, we can then be left with a list of pending projects--but no completions.

When I was a young buck, my grandma used to always tell me during dinner that I could have seconds only when I finished what was on my plate first. Below, I will share 5 reasons why my grandma was right about finishing what is on our plate before adding anything else.

1. Establish your brand as someone who sees things through - It is important to realize that major stakeholders pay close attention to those of us who are known for our abilities to finish whatever job we start--primarily because it is a skill that not many people possess. It is far easier to start and let things fizzle than to start and work through the tough seasons, which translates to unmatched dependability and reliability. No matter if it is a menial cleaning task around the house/office or finishing a multi-million dollar deal, treat every project with the utmost integrity of finishing and the resulting establishment of trust will pay dividends tenfold.
2. Every finish is the beginning to the next - In all of the projects I have completed to this point, my greatest joy comes in the understanding that every completion is a launchpad to the next project that I get to begin. Not only do we then get to check this task/project off the list (which offers a sense of accomplishment), we also get to visualize what it then leads to. This is something I have learned from producing research articles, op-eds, and even businesses: completing one project/task is always the perfect launchpad to know exactly what our next move is!
3. Expansion of opportunity - As stated in last week's newsletter, opportunity comes when the universe knows what we desire. Furthermore, finishing the jobs/tasks at hand has the potential to spark a chain-reaction of opportunity because people in the industry now know that we are someone who has completed a task/job/opportunity before and now have the experiential knowledge to do it again. This not only helps our self-efficacy and self-actualization of finishing and adding it to the list of abilities, but it also allows for our past work and completions to create more opportunities for us to repeat (and elevate) in the future.
4. Quieting self-doubt and imposter syndrome - Let's be real, many of us either don't start or don't finish because of personal battles with self-doubt and/or imposter syndrome. Trust me, I have embarked on many ventures (such as creating Siempre Sports or even being the first in my family to complete at Ph.D. at Florida State University ) and I can say with complete certainty that it is important to be active in overcoming self-doubt and imposter syndrome. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "do something that scares you every day," and I believe that for many of us, that thing is finishing the things on our task list. It's time to press submit or close the chapter and understand that we CAN do these anything we put our minds to. The only way that we learn that we can do things (or that we belong in a space/role) is to do that thing and see it all the way through.
5. Gain closure and learn from the journey - To drive home the fourth point, we must always remember that the joy of learning rests in the journey, not the destination. Life is a constant process of becoming and in that vein, we must be mindful of the lessons that we learn just by trial and error. Regardless if things work out the way we want to, it is imperative that we finish what we start and see the effort through to the end. I can't tell you how much I have learned from the school of hard knocks; the Ph.D. of the hustle; the voyage of stumbling and practicing resilience! A life of regret is one lived far worse than one of closure when knowing that even though it didn't go as planned--we gave it an honest shot. Accept the closure, learn from the journey, and celebrate the conclusion of knowing, "damn, I really did that."

Truth be told, I have learned that finishing existing tasks on the board is far more important than starting a million tasks that never get finished--because it is a mark of productivity and composure. In our society, we live in a constant loop of distractions and creative stimuli that spark different ideas in our brains...but if we never finish any of our thoughts or projects, we will never see rewards or be able to reap the benefits.

Many of us also suffer from an overconfidence in our ability to multitask, and although society tells us that being a 'swiss army knife' is desirable--studies show that it can be one of the primary reasons that we never finish things; we start too many projects at once.

Starting is the hardest part, but finishing is a close second because most people typically quit when the going gets tough. We have to be aware of the fact that it always gets harder before it gets easier and nothing that is worth it will come without trepidation. That is part of the process.

Finish what you start, then reflect on the journey and move on to the next great thing. Trust me, being known as someone who can finish the job will always yield dividends in your chosen profession--while also opening doors to other opportunities that you never knew were possible!

Let me know when you finish up your current tasks so we can get to this money! See you down the road!

Peace, love, and SVO!

-Dr. Savant 🌹

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