FINISH: How to Give Yourself the Gift of Done

Starting projects has been (relatively) easy for me. There's an energy, an excitement to creating something.

This year, though, I wanted to focus on finishing.

How Can Finishing Help You Simplify?

I felt it was time to hone in on a few key personal and professional goals.

• Publish a book on marriage and money
• Create a course to help couples work together on their finances
• Grow Simplify and Enjoy

To finish and see them through meant I had to cut out some hobbies, projects, and let's call it what it is – excuses so I had the time and energy to pursue them.

Yep, in short, I had to simplify if I wanted to finish.

Finish: The Gift of Done

As I'm working through the final stretch of this year and focusing my last goal, I came across an opportunity to get an advanced copy of Jon Acuff's new book – Finish.

I loved it. Like Jon's other books, he's gathered some fantastic takeaways and stories to push you outside the comfort zone.

Finish weaves in more data than the previous ones as researched based on Jon's 30 Days of Hustle.

If you want to finally knock off a dream or goal, please pick it up!

How to Actually Finish What You Start

Here are four crucial steps to take.

1. Get a deadline.
2. Grab an accountability partner.
3. Ignore perfectionism.
4. Go for the small wins.

You can use these in whatever goal you're trying to achieve.

Though Jon's book wasn't out then, I did use these four things. I'll use writing a book since around 81% of Americans have it as a goal.

Get a deadline.

One reason I went with a publisher instead of the self-published route (which I had seriously thought about for years) was the external deadline.

Grab an accountability partner.

Through my personal experience and covering marriage and money, I've seen how powerful accountability can be. As I was writing the manuscript, I updated and bounced ideas with my husband.

It was wonderful to get his support and encouragement, but I really valued his feedback and at times, push back. I know I couldn't have done with without him. (Thanks, hon!)

Ignore perfectionism.

Perfectionism also held me back in a huge way.  Over the years, I've written half finished manuscripts – 15,000 words one time, over 20,000 words another – only to scrap them because they weren't ‘the best'.

Do I think my published book is perfect? No.

Almost as soon as it was released, I was thinking about what I would add or change in a second edition. But I did realize that publishing the book would help and encourage couples to work together to get on the same page, dump their debt faster, and get on the path to financial freedom.

Go for the small wins.

Writing a book is an enormous goal and has many moving parts. You can easily

I tackled it by breaking it down into smaller bits.

With writing, I took it chapter by chapter.

Thoughts on Finish

You now have a better idea of what my struggles have been this year. While I wish I've had this break through sooner, I'm happy and just a smidge proud that I pushed through.

Enough about me, though, I'd love to hear from you.

What have you been trying to tackle? What's been your biggest frustrations? Any win you want to share? Please let me know in the comments!