“If you start something, finish it.”
“Never give up until you finish what you’ve begun.”
“Don’t stop trying until you reach the end even if you hate the process.”
I puke mentally when I read stuff like this.
Not finishing stuff is getting a bad rap in today’s hustle culture and I want to play the devil’s advocate.
Whoever came up with the idea that you gotta finish everything that you start must have been high on some good sh**.
Imagine if Marvel or the makers of Fast and Furious obeyed that rule…
Or if MS Dhoni had never stopped playing football…
Or if Tarantino continued to work in the video store forever instead of making films…
You get the drift.
Not all things deserve your focus and attention.
And it’s okay to try something and GTFO if you’re not ‘into’ it.
Personally I’m a fan of this rule.
Last week I was reading a book written by a famous author. It sucked. I threw the book away and never had to worry about it again. Peace.
That was just an example. But you can literally put this idea to use in anything that you do in life.
Staying in a relationship with a toxic partner just for the sake of it? Man up (or woman up) and dump them.
Don’t like the subject you’re majoring in? Opt out. Find out something that you love to learn.
Hate yoga but like beating people up? Take a kickboxing class.
This is what Tim Ferris, the author of The 4 Hour Workweek calls as the ‘art of non finishing’.
How beautiful that sounds…
The more you put your time into something/someone that you’re not into anymore, you’re doing a disservice to yourself. You’re not respecting your time enough.
And moreover, you'd be half-assing the stuff you're not interested in.
All the naysayers in the back right now would be fuming with objections to this rule. Most of them would be safety/security related.
And I would say to them: grow some balls.
Here’s a caveat though: To make this work, you got to learn how to prioritize things.
If you like making cupcakes but nobody buys it, you should still keep your soul-sucking accounting job at the firm (if your priority is not MONEY, then try your hand at selling cupcakes for god’s sake!).
You’re beginning to get it. I can feel it as I write. But remember, the name of the game is: prioritizing.
And most importantly, don’t finish everything you start.
Life is too short for that.
Peace out.
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