Finish What You Start: The Art of Following Through, Taking Action, Executing, & Self-Discipline (Live a Disciplined Life Book 2)

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Whenever you feel like you are losing the focus of following through, wait for 10 minutes before giving up. A part of us doesn’t want to know what’s possible beyond that because we’re afraid to want it and to have to do the hard work that will get us there. Avoiding negative social emotions works well because no one wants to feel shame, guilt, or rejection. By identifying the paths of least resistance that lead to productivity, you can make it easier for yourself to follow through and stay on track. Most of the examples come in the form of fictional thought experiments, and while studies are referenced every once in a while, none are really ever dug into.

Are you the type of person who has a dozen half finished manuscripts on your laptop and even more online courses you bought but have never finished, or worse, even started?Unlike your self-discipline and willpower, a system organizes you and helps you perform your duties without having to push yourself. With the “finishing = learning” mindset, you can keep perfectionism at bay and focus on strengthening your follow through muscles; that allow you to focus, take action, resist distraction and persist. It took a Goodreads friend asking me how the progress was coming along to jog my memory and help me finish what I'd started when I opened this book months ago. How will your future-self feel in 10 minutes, or 10 hours, or 10 days if your present-self does not follow through and gets distracted? I think for me the cherry on top was when Hollins is talking about this idea of “temptation bundling,” which essentially means “reward your present self while you do the hard thing that’s going to get your future self to the intended goal”, and he uses the example of eating Twinkies while working out.

Giving ourselves, a well deserved break by indulging in activities, we find enjoyable would help recharge us. When it comes to a topic such as Following through, I think everyone needs to be reminded of the beginning steps.It’s worth noting that I’ve always believed that self-help strategies should be used to supplement a pre-existing understanding of self - as such, definitely agree with Hollins that motivation ought to be intrinsic, but it would do his work a service if he would present a more compelling argument for self-reflection.