How to Start and go Beyond That Phase
Are you a starter? Would you define yourself as somebody who likes the excitement at the beginning of things, but tends to lose their mojo midway? Do you think you fall into the category of people who can’t seem to pull anything off to the end no matter how hard you’ve tried?
However, you term it, if anyone your answers to one or more of the questions above is a yes, then this article is highly recommended for people like you.
First, we have to determine the psychology behind discontinuation
The ability to start and finish a task or goal tells a lot about the person and the said accomplishment. It depicts a dedicated, hardworking, passionate, motivated, and go-getting spirit.
Why?
Because it’s not so simple to complete what one has started. Although, often, starting is the harder part.
If you’re able to start something but cannot continue, there are reasons why this is so. This may not be concrete for specific reasons but it’s applicable in a more general term.
Let’s delve into some of these reasons;
The motivation to start in the first place was external
Any venture you get into that wasn’t majorly self-motivating is bound to flop in some way. This is because you cannot control some external factors giving rise to your goals or tasks.
So, for instance, if your motivation to kick-start something was based on the people involved and along the way, they decide to go their separate ways, that can affect the longevity of your project.
Another twist…
If people motivated you to kick-start something you didn’t feel like doing, probably to please them, it’s bound to flop big time. Regardless of whether them being involved in it or not.
In essence, if you rely on others to forge ahead in something you want to do or don’t want to do, it’s possible you won’t get to the finish line.
Likewise, other external factors such as weather, and country of origin, are hardly changeable things like this.
Management guide:
Check your inner compass and do whatever it’s aligned with. Even if others advise or suggest to you, make sure it’s in sync with your being.
The passion wasn’t there for the thing in the first place
Did you even remotely like what you’ve started?
Again, motivation can only get you so far as described above. However, if you don’t have more than enough passion for the project you are tackling, it’s likely not going to go too far. Passion is like fuel. The more you feel the more you give. And sometimes, even when you don’t feel like it, you keep going.
Passion is what reminds you of why you wanted to start that thing in the first place too.
That’s the spirit behind continuing and hopefully, completing a task.
For example, I enjoy writing. But it’s not always the easiest thing to do, especially now with a kid who needs my attention 24/7. Other times it’s harder when I have my occasional meltdown. But no matter what, I keep hitting that publish button. I keep going. Because it’s my passion. I’m passionate about writing, which on its own is therapeutic.
So, if you want to figure out why something you started isn’t getting to the finish line, ask yourself if you even like it in the first place. It is what reminds you of why you wanted to start that thing in the first place too.
Management guide:
Start first. The motivation will follow later. The results or little wins will double down the motivation.
You’ve gained new insight(s) and taken a detour
There’s nothing wrong with changing our minds. It is one of the freeing prowess we have as human beings.
So, it’s not a surprise to think that what got you here, isn’t necessary to continue with. In which case, it’s normal to shift gears and try something else. Leaving the other task at a halt.
Management guide:
Reevaluate your options and make sure it’s worth abandoning the old project for something else.
The task isn’t meaningful anymore
Sometimes we soak up things for a worthy cause. But along the line, we may realize that the meaning or intention for which we delved into those things aren’t coinciding with our spirit or relevant to what the initial result was meant to give. In which case we’re forced to discontinue.
The “Who, What, Why, How” questions like:
Who was I doing this for? Is the person still relevant or is the gesture still relevant to pull through?
What am I still into this project for? What do I hope to reveal in the end as a meaning?
Why did I start this venture?
How did I think to bring this goal to fruition when the signs weren’t clear enough?
You know, as humans, we are bound to rethink and change our minds from carrying on with something. Simply because it lacked meaning or importance at some point.
Management guide:
Evaluate your goals or tasks from time to time to determine that your purpose for going ahead with them is still credible.
Lack of self-esteem
Saved the best for the last.
Sometimes we don’t know we are on the right track with the things we started, and as a result, we give up simply because we lacked the belief in ourselves to pull it off.
If you lack self-esteem, it’s going to deny you many opportunities to grow and learn. The fear of not completing a task because you feel you’re not good enough will cause you further heartache and even lower esteem. So, it’s best to start with the mindset of a novice no matter how much you think you know and go from there. That humble beginning grounds you to take it slowly and make progress along the way rather than thinking so high and rushing through things only to flop along the way.
For example, explains in a “one-hit wonder” musicians. They tend to go with their all and lose “it” along the way after perhaps, getting carried away with the success of the previous hit.
Management guide:
Learn to be humble and compassionate with yourself as you partake in your venture. That way, no matter what tries to strain you, it won’t get you due to these mental and emotional toolkits you began with.
To recapitulate:
Some people will tell you starting something is always easier than continuing. For others, like me, it’s harder to start but somewhat easier to get on. For some others, they swear it’s way harder for both.
But I’ll say this, mainly to the people who have had the boldness to start but can’t seem to continue: you’ve done the hardest part of the job which is starting.
All you need do now is determine the type of loophole sabotaging your efforts to move on or might await you and deal with them appropriately.
It could be a lack of self-esteem, in which case you need to build your character to the point it supports your being and is esteemed by it.
It might be a lack of meaning to your venture, for which you need to go back in time to what led you to want to start it in the first place. The meaning is somewhere there.
New insights along the way could create a loophole to an ongoing project, but in a better way, if you let it.
Lack of passion is another factor that will gravely cripple your plans along the way. So you need to make sure you cannot do without what you’re into so that when the going gets tough, you keep going.
To crown it all, your motivation to start anything shouldn’t let anywhere else than from the internal realm or else you stand the risk of losing it as your motivations fluctuate in the future.
Always make your start-up a YOU thing at first — so that you can continue continuing and also get to the endpoint.
Good luck.
