If It’s Important Enough To Start…
Some time ago, I had a grim thought: What if I am not around to talk to my son as he gets older? What life lessons would I want to record for him so he avoids some of the romantic train wrecks, humiliations, horrible career choices, needless expenses, wasted time, and lost opportunities that I have experienced? Accordingly, I wrote a few letters for my son… and for anyone else who will read my hard-won words of wisdom. These are all found in the thick file labeled “Don’t Ask How I Know”.
This article deals with an issue that is a common problem – starting a new project, activity, hobby, or course of study, but not finishing it. Succinctly, if it’s important enough to start…it’s important enough to finish. Technically, this is not explicitly expat-oriented; it can apply to anyone. However, it is especially appropriate for the expat with his inherent freedom/requirement to reinvent a new lifestyle.
So… what would I tell my son when he is old enough to understand? Let’s start with a simple concept: Finish what you start. One of the greatest killers of productivity (as well as self-esteem) is unfinished projects. Here is how to avoid unfinished projects in your life.
In the classic comedy movie, Animal House, the frat boys decide to leave a horse overnight in Dean Wormer’s office. They successfully get the horse into the office but there is one last step. Secretly, the upperclassmen have agreed to play a joke on their unsuspecting freshman accomplice. Handing him a pistol, they sternly instruct him to go back into the Dean’s office and shoot the horse. They uttered a line that became iconic: “Finish the job, Flounder.” The pistol was loaded with blanks but Flounder didn’t know that. Unhappily but resignedly, he goes alone into the office with the pistol. Unable to bring himself to shoot the animal, he fires the pistol into the air. I won’t tell you what happened next but it became a moment in movie history.
However, my point today is that those upperclassmen were right. If something is important enough to start, it should be important enough to finish properly. Entrepreneurs, authors, and owners of small businesses know that developing great products or services (including writing great books) means nothing if they are never released. “Get it out the door” is the clarion call of the successful innovator.
Take away two ideas from this concept.
First, don’t start a new project unless you are willing to make a commitment to begin immediately and to continue to work on it daily – or, at least, daily-ish - until the project is completed and out the door. The same rule applies to a decision to purchase a new product. If you aren’t ready to start using it immediately, don’t buy it. (There may be some allowable exceptions to this general rule but be sure they are rare exceptions instead of merely rationalizations because you have an urge to buy something.)
Second, before you undertake something new, make a conscious decision about what you will give up - something you are already doing - to free up the time for the new project. Don’t skip this step by assuring yourself that you will somehow fit something new into your already full schedule. Before you take up something new, you must decide on something old which you are willing to give up. Hint: If you cannot find something you are currently doing that is less important or less valuable than the proposed new activity, maybe you should reconsider starting a new activity - at least at this time. Like the father with two lovely daughters said to the boy in that John Sebastian song from olden days, “… say yes to one and let the other one ride.”
Save a lot of time, energy, and money by deciding not to start anything new until you are able to do it properly and completely… and to make room in your schedule by choosing something you are already doing and giving it up. No more unfinished projects! Next time you start something, remember you must, “Finish the job, Flounder.”
Finally, if this gem of utility and wisdom has brought a moment of peace and insight, enlightenment and even inspiration into your life, please complete the experience with a brief visit to my Buy Me A Coffee page and… finish the job, Flounder.
Animal House, one of my favorite movies.