One of the most sought-after qualities in business, and life in general, is the ability to finish. That “final 2 percent” person who makes sure things get finished is a rare commodity.
Ask any sports manager! That’s why goal-scorers, on average, command the biggest transfer fees.
The ability to finish is rare, and yet it is a key to success. It prevents wasted work, wasted energy, wasted effort, wasted time and wasted money. It helps to overcome having thousands of half-finished projects, or projects which reach 80 percent completion but never see the light of day.
And here’s the good news… Finishing is a Habit.
Like all habits, Finishing can be learned. It’s an invaluable skill. And once you get into that habit, you’ll be amazed what you achieve in that month… and how you feel about being so productive and effective.
So why not “go to finishing school” for 28 days and learn how to be a finisher.
It doesn’t just have to be about business either. It could be around the home, in relation to personal life, anything really.
Here’s how Finishing School works…
You draw up a list of all the things you want to get finished over the next month. This includes all the half-started projects, and little things which are hanging over. That could be business things from finishing a specific project to finishing a marketing flyer to finishing a proposal. It could be a report you have been putting off finishing, the preparations for a meeting or event that have dragged on too long, or that phone call which is overdue, or that meeting which really needs to be arranged. Or it could simply be that form that needs to be filled in.
Or they could be personal things (finishing the garden, finishing clearing out the cupboards, finishing putting all the photos in albums, finishing putting pictures up in the spare room, or the back bedroom that needs a lick of paint and so on).
Once you have your list, take yourself to “Finishing School”, and decide to finish something every day. Plan what you are going to finish tomorrow and then time slot into your schedule a time to finish it. Decide to invest an hour or two finishing it. At work set aside that Golden hour as finishing time. At home, sacrifice the lazy TV time, and just decide that you are going to finish something.
So take yourself to finishing school…
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- Lesson 1: The first lesson to learn is to decide What to Finish. Are you having your time deflected to tasks which are not connected to your goals/ objectives. Focus only on those tasks which will lead you towards a goal or objective.
Create a big list of all those things you can finish which will lead you forward. If they won’t lead you forward, you need to decide to ditch them (and thereby finish them!).
- Lesson 1: The first lesson to learn is to decide What to Finish. Are you having your time deflected to tasks which are not connected to your goals/ objectives. Focus only on those tasks which will lead you towards a goal or objective.
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- Lesson 2: Decide what “Finished” means in relation to these tasks. Note: it’s not about perfection.
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- Lesson 3: apply the FEVER formula (Focus, Energy, Vision, Enthusiasm, Reason). If you’ve read my books, or seen me do the live Board-breaking session, you know exactly what I mean here.
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- Lesson 4: Create a 28-day grid and decide to finish something every day! You could even decide which things you are going to finish on which day and write the item into the grid. Each day, a tick on the grid when you finish something from your list.
Having unfinished stuff lying around is bad for your perception of self!
Having a Finishing Binge will create fantastic results and opportunities. It will also get you into the habit of being a Finisher!