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Why It Doesn’t Matter If You’re A Starter Or A Finisher
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?
It’s a lot easier not to focus, not to finish. That way you don’t have to worry about failure or success, yes?
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!
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17 thoughts on “Why It Doesn’t Matter If You’re A Starter Or A Finisher”
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Good article, Harv. I’ve realized for a few years that I am a “launcher”, so I guess that fits into your “starter” category. But a launcher gets the rocket up into the air before going off to start another project. That requires a commitment to a lot of tedious details–doing of which can be almost painful for the starter personality–but which ultimately pays off as we see our rocket streaming towards outer space. My hardest part is the loss I feel when I must inevitably have to let it go. Sometimes I want to hang on too long. Your post inspires me to choose to celebrate the release as much as the excitement of the launch.
Wow. What a timely article Harv. Thanks a lot. Been doing some reflections and felt guilty to be a starter. I have all the traits you wrote. Glad to know what to do now. What a relief:)
I loved the article. I am a starter but through time I started feeling so down as I am always unable to finish and easily get bored and distracted by new ideas. The problem is that my work is digital marketing and I try to focus but for me it is so boring and routine. Do you recommend specific jobs for starters, more creative jobs that include ideas and suit starters personality?
Oh yeah, I’m a starter. Thanks for this great post!
I am an AMAZING starter! I start this exciting project over here, that fun project over there…and another worthy project on top, just for good measure. Finishing any of these projects…WAY more difficult. There’s always fun, new projects getting in the way of finishing one of my previously started ones…and my self-esteem suffers as a result of that “gotta keep these 20 plates spinning” mentally, because I’m also not someone who likes to quit. It’s truly Entrepreneur Purgatory.
Kevin
Loved this. Fortunately my partner is a brilliant and dynamic ‘starter’ and I’m better at being a ‘finisher’. Isn’t that great!? Between us we make a great team.
Fantastic article and so important to success. That is, the recording of each completed task and reflection on how it was achieved and whether or not it could be improved next time. Vital to growth. Thanks!
Merci Harv pour cet arrticle. Il porte à réfléchir, ais pas trop.. Merci
Victor
thanks Harv for that wonderful perspective!
i am a starter and for the firs time, i don’t feel guilty about it,. its just a fact and and i don’t need to be ashamed of it. i am more equipped to deal with it now. thanks again .
Thanks Harv for all your great wisdom & encouragement through mind valley. We’ve lost everything. Starting over ….Who at mind valley will help us deal with brules (bs rules) being Canadian, doing business in the U.S.
brilliant article.I am a starter in various businesses and i will probably focus on the one i do best and delegate the rest to the others who are experts in the other fields just like Henry Ford did
amazing fabuloso
Just in time! Excelente artigo para uma segunda feira de uma semana em que preciso finalizar diversas coisas, apesar das fascinantes ideias novas que gostaria de começar
I am a starter! As soon as I see new way to make money I loss focus of what I started with!!! I am at this mode for many years and now I know why I haven’t been successful yet for all these years wasted without having the correct knowledge. This is such a great article Harv!!!
Thanks Harv!
Now I wont blame my self not to finished proyects in the past any more. And since I understan better how I work I can focus on making the must of all situation to continue proyects and drive them to success.
I often run into articles about not finishing but starting projects. And while I definately can relate to that, my biggest problem with not finishing, it that nothing feels really over. I ”dealt” with this in college by doing everything last minute. If I set aside the minimum time I can to studying or writing a paper, it doesnt eat my time and energy and it gets done by the date it should be. I have never put in a paper or went into an exam with the feeling of ”this is the best I can do, Its finished”. I simply always think that paper can have more work put into it, more research, it could be made better etc. Drawing has been my hobby since I was a kid, and the same goes for my art, I always see things that could be added, fixed or worked on more. I have great grades and everything, and its not a nagging perfectionist feeling of disatisfaction. Its just the only way I found to deal with it, is procrastinate until the ”last minute” of how much i need to finish, so it doesnt suck up all my time and energy.
Nice article. I think there is a distinction between true starters and those who just can’t focus and get things done. True starters with game-changing ideas and know-how are a rare breed and treasured resources at innovative organizations. On the other hand, people who enjoy initiating projects only to abandon them in pursuit of the next idea are a dime a dozen and a burden to the team.