How to Finish What You Start

As we have made it over the mountain of the hump of the week and we head towards our weekend, I am still in the mountains of Pennsylvania working on my mother’s house. There are so many projects, things to get done to prepare her home to put on the market. This is a “Project How-to” heaven. If you go in to a book store they almost always have a full section of How-To books on everything in home repair. And while that’s been much of my focus throughout the week, today I want to talk to you about Self Repair.

A few weeks back I did a post about self improvement. That’s another section in a bookstore that has every topic that one can imagine. More and more, as I search the web for things, I am finding programs online that focus on self-improvement. I want to research as many of these programs as I can. I do a lot of writing, and creation of self-help products myself. But the downfall to most of these programs is people typically do only half, or at most two-thirds of the program and never finish them. If you start something in life you need to finish it.

As I work this week at Mom’s, I seem to get so many things started. It was good to actually see some of the things being finished. When you take on any self learning you need to be able to finish in order to get the best result in your life. Imagine actually finishing all the lessons in a plan, applying them to your life and making a major change!

So today I want to give you five pointers to help you finish what you started.

1. Set a time limit for completing whatever program you are starting. If you know that it will take longer than you have to get through a section, break each section down into smaller bits to start. Set aside time-frame that you want to finish it in and work each day to make that time-frame happen.  With even your small steps anything can be finished. As you get started you may find that some parts go faster. But don’t rush just to get it done. Really take the time to do it properly so you can learn from this.
2. Make a set time in your daily schedule to work on it. My very first blog, back when I started this, was about how I was at a standstill and needed to take a break. I decided to go work on organizing the garage a little to fit in all the motorcycle stuff we had. I’d been putting it off for a long time because I felt I didn’t have enough time to get the entire job done but I decided I would give myself half an hour, understanding I might not finish everything that needed to be done but I would at least have made a start. In that 30-minute time frame I was able to get everything I needed done. Recently I started to set aside an hour a day to review studies I am taking for my personal self-improvement as well as self-guided coaching programs that I’ve enrolled in. I set a reminder to work on them each day. I have several things I assign myself to do each day. This one I have added to the list. I want to keep myself in a learning mode at all times.
3. Remove all distractions from your time of study. Even while I’m writing this tonight, I am sitting in the living room of the chalet I stay at while visiting the Poconos. I had turned the TV on when I walked in, but it became a distraction and after only five minutes, I turned it off. I wanted to get this post written tonight and turned in to the editors so it would be finished. I want to be a person who finishes what I start.
4. Reward yourself with something when you finish. Each time we reach a goal in life, we should do something that rewards us, giving us a feeling of satisfaction. I always have small rewards for myself for those little things that I get done. It may be a small chocolate bar, or café mocha at a local coffee shop. But it gives me a great feeling of accomplishment.
5. After you have completed any program always refresh yourself to make your newly learned lesson part of your life. It is no good to read or study something in life and then forget it. I hope that when you read some of these posts I write that you apply new things to your life to improve it. That is why I do this – to help people improve in life. These are here to really help you even if you cannot afford to hire a coach or mentor.

Today’s post was really meant to help you become a finisher in life. When there is a race, or other sports event, there is only one winner but everyone runs or plays to finish. I am reminded of sports stories where a team knows they have lost yet they get up and walk, crawl, whatever they have to do to finish. Well you may not always win at everything you do, but if you finish you will be better for the next one. So what self-improvement program do you need to work on? How soon will you finish what you started?

I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time for you to live the life you always wanted, Love what you do and who you spend your life with, and let me know how I can help you become the RockStar in your world.