The Art of Completion.

* Blunt, offensive, politically-incorrect Craig wanted to call this article…. “Get That Shit Done” but it doesn’t sound nearly as mystical, sophisticated or clever as “The Art of Completion”.. does it?
So boring, let’s-keep-everyone-happy Craig has gone for the soft option.
Oh well.
Next time.

Like many of you, my life is busy
Okay, crazy.
But crazy in a fun and rewarding kind of way.

That craziness means that I regularly need to rely on other people to get certain things done so that I can keep moving forward with the various projects, businesses and endeavours that I’m involved in.
And because of that necessity (to rely on others to get things done), I have had to develop a unique skill; the skill of being able to identify the people who can and will consistently and efficiently get things done no matter what… People who I know will navigate and negotiate the speed humps, deal with the inevitable challenges and find a way to complete what I have asked them to do.

It’s a tough gig let me tell you, because these Gems… are few and far between.

My experience tells me that, while the majority talk about doing things, the minority actually get them done (start, adapt, improvise, persevere, finish).

A decision we all need to make at some stage of our journey is which group we will be in; the majority who talk about it, or the minority who consistently finish what they start – those who get the job done… always.

In the various capacities of my career, I have spent much of the last twenty five years watching people start, but not finish a wide range of endeavours… People who would hand over their hard-earned cash for a one year membership at a gym and then subsequently show up three times.
At about four hundred bucks per visit, that’s some expensive bench pressing.
They make a decision (to change a behaviour) and then don’t follow through.

In a way, gym owners rely on the fact most people won’t (typically) follow through with their intentions or plans. They (gym owners) know that most people will make a decision, start the process and then, for a range of reasons, lose momentum, gradually decrease attendance and then stop all together… but fortunately for the gym owner, the same person will front up in a year (or so) and repeat the process because they “are serious this time”.

Yep, sure you are.
Sign here Dumbo.

Some of you might think that I’m being a bit harsh and/or condescending, that’s not my intention at all. I’m simply describing what happens thousands and thousands of times every year in this country (and many others).
That’s just what people do.

Imagine the mayhem and chaos if gyms with five thousand plus members (which many of them have) had a one hundred percent attendance record (most gyms have about fifteen percent!). Mmm… could make for an interesting spin class or weights session.
And let’s not even talk about the car-parking or the child minding situation.

Imagine if everybody actually did what they said they would…

Every day I talk to people who have the ability and the potential to create forever change yet, for a range of reasons, they never seem to finish what they start.
They have a history of almost getting things done.
A history of starting, but not maintaining or finishing.
A history of thinking about it, talking about it but not actually (consistently) doing it.

I’m actually surprised that there’s not more written on this subject (the art of completion) because without doubt the number one obstacle to creating forever results is our inability to finish what we start; our inability to persevere and persist.

I learned early in my career that I would need to make up for my lack of talent with attitude and perseverance… I couldn’t control how much ability I had but I could control whether or not I threw in the towel or persevered… so when most people got bored, tired, uncomfortable or fearful… I hung in there (mostly).
I knew that if I was going to create my own version of amazing, then it would have to come as a result of me doing what most people wouldn’t… finish stuff.

Some of us will spend our entire life starting endeavours which we will never complete.
Great at starting, crap at finishing.

We start reading a book; we don’t get past chapter two (the vast majority of people who start reading books don’t finish them).
We start a running program; we last two weeks – I know people who have started and stopped fifty running programs in their lifetime.
We have a great business idea…. we don’t do anything with it.
And then when someone else takes ‘our idea’ and turns it into a reality, we sulk for three months and feel ripped off… when in reality, the only person who short-changed us was… us!

We start a diet on Monday (apparently it’s illegal to start on any other day), we’re done by Wednesday. On January 1 this year, 4 million Australians (that’s twenty percent of our population) started a diet (according to media stats). I don’t have the figures on how long the majority of those dieters stayed with their resolution but here’s my educated guess… not long!

They didn’t finish what they started.

So wadda we do?

1.Don’t start something you can’t or won’t finish.
Why handicap yourself before you begin by taking on something which is unrealistic and not maintainable in the long term. It’s great to think big and to be ambitious but it’s also great to still be doing ‘it’ (whatever it is) a year from now.

2. Don’t make reactive, emotional decisions.
Okay, so last night at that party someone said you’ve put on a few pounds…. that doesn’t mean you need to run fifteen miles today…. after ten years of no exercise.
That’s not a good way to create forever change, it’s actually a good way to tear a hamstring or have a heart attack… or both.

3. Understand what’s involved.
“Wow, nobody told me it would be this hard.”
I’m always surprised by the volume of people who want to get into Personal Training because they want an ‘easy’ job which generates sixty bucks an hour.
If working from 5am to 9pm and dealing with some very interesting egos, attitudes and personalities is your idea of easy, then sign up!

4. Don’t throw it in because the process is not fun, easy or convenient.
I know I’ve hammered the deal-with-the-discomfort message many times but people often don’t finish what they start because of the discomfort factor.
Change your attitude, stop being precious, tough it out and do what the majority won’t; finish the job.

Or as rude, offensive Craig would say: “just get that shit done once and for all!”

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