There are two types of people in the world. There are starters and finishers.When you get interested quickly and then lose focus or interest, there’s a reason for that. One might be that you’re a starter.
I can hear some of you thinking, “Oh my god, I’m not a finisher!” Relax. It’s not a great thing, but it’s not the worst thing in the world, either.
The worst thing in the world is not to be a starter. If you never start, what good is that?
There are people who just like new things. They only have focus for a short period of time. They don’t like long projects or ongoing tedious work. They don’t like routine. They don’t like just one thing at a time. Their minds are very active. They like a lot of stimulation and the multitasking element. I’m one of those people.
Do I love the seventh month of writing a book? No, I don’t. I like the idea of writing outlines for a lot of books and courses, though. That’s great. A new thing here and a new thing there; that’s me.
Are you the kind of person that’s a starter or a finisher? Are you a change person? Do you like newness or do you like routine? You have to know what you’re like in order to not beat yourself up about this.
You might think, “I am obviously a new person who likes a lot of change. That’s not helping me. I’m still not finishing. I’m still not focusing.”
At least now you understand that this is against your normal personality, so how do you play within your strengths? How do you do things that embrace and take advantage of your new change-up personality?
It starts with asking what you’re doing. What are you taking on? Are you taking on routine-type projects, routine-type work? If you are, it’s going to be a problem.
You might say, “Harv, I have a business and I want to do well, so I’ve got to do all of it, right?”
That’s right, but if you have other people with you in your business or can get other people, maybe you should be the idea person and let someone else be the executor of the idea. Maybe you’re the definition of a true entrepreneur.
Know who you are and move toward your strengths. Be good at that and be okay with that.
If you want to complete things, then here are some tips for you:
- First, make sure it’s really what you want to do.
- Second, you’ve got to have a little bit of discipline; make it a priority and don’t move to another thing until you’ve finished the first thing.
- Finally, if you really want to get down to the personal development side of all this, and you’re not completing what you start even though you say you want to, why are you sabotaging yourself? What fear might be behind this? Is it a fear of failure? Is it a fear of success?
Practice focusing one hour a day. If you can’t do an hour, do 15 minutes.
Right after you finish doing this 15 minutes, journal what it felt like for you.
Once you get some successes under your belt, you’re going to start to do more. If you can do one day, then you can do 21 days. If you can do 21 days, then you can make focusing a true habit!
Are you a starter or a finisher? What problems/ challenges have you found being one or the other?
We’d love to hear from you!
