Man Just Go!

Everyone has an incomplete project or two somewhere in some aspect of their lives. Maybe you experienced a spark to start a painting, purchased a blazer and never quite got around to searching for those matching bottoms, have yet to take advantage of that gym membership you signed up for a few months ago, or just can’t get around to finishing that book you purchased late last year. Things that at once felt urgent, pressing, exciting, and possibly life-inspiring fade to incomplete drafts, quiet guilt, and macOS folders with long past modified dates. I recently experienced this phenomenon while completing my course load for my previous semester. The spark that I started the semester with faded while completing my final classes’ coursework and I definitely had to push a little extra to get out my funk and complete my mission. This is the part of projects that no one glamorizes but that matters most. 

Here’s some ManJustGo advice on how to have your arm raised after wrestling with completing a long project:

You Need More Than Motivation

Face the music, it’ll never be the perfect time to finish your project. Passion and motivation do not complete projects alone- they require routine. Show up when you don’t want to do the work- Even when unremarkable, tedious, or annoying. 

Motivation contributes to success, but is not the primary driver. That job belongs to routine, habit, and commitment. A systemic approach will push your story forward. 

What is “Finished”?

Perfectionism is the easiest way to a cluttered mind filled with guilt over incomplete works. At one point or another, your mindset needs to shift from perfection to completion. A slightly flawed completed project will teach you lessons you can’t learn from ones that never leave your computer. 

Ask yourself this question: What does the simplest version of your completed project look like to you?

Start there, and revise as necessary.

Make a List

And no, “Finish Project” should not be a task. Include items like

“Edit page two.”

“Work for half an hour.”

“Write 400 words.”

That’s achievable. You build momentum from consistency rather than intensity. Tiny spurts of progress compound in ways that moments of mass intensity cannot. 

Interference on Resistance 

Already have your eye on the next project? Reorganizing your desk? Feeling like that project just doesn’t represent you anymore?

That’s resistance roughing you up on your way to make a play for the ball. Play usually gets rougher towards the end of the game, because completion includes exposure, judgment, and closure. Recognize it, power through, and let the referees handle anything out of your hands. It means your work matters. 

Outgrowing the Project

It’s okay if the person currently working on the project isn’t the same person that started it. Personal growth shouldn’t devalue your work but instead, add depth to it. Start to look at completing the project as a present to your past self, and as a bridge to what’s to come. 

“Future You” as Your Reward 

Take a look at yourself in the mirror and pretend that you’ve completed your project. Imagine the mental clarity, confidence, and pride you’ll feel. Completing projects changes how one views themselves. Your mindset switches from “I’m working on something” to “I’ve completed something”. That identity development is worth the discomfort felt while finishing your project.

For final thought, finishing long projects isn’t about how talented or inspired you are. It’s about your endurance and how honest and respectful you are towards your time, efforts, and ability to persevere. It’s not about perfection or inspiration; It’s about finishing.

And once you finish, you’ll realize that the hard part wasn’t doing the work, but believing that you can do it in the first place.  

-Giovanni Alvarado