The diagram above is called the "Cycle of Completion". Each of the six steps listed (Decide, Plan, Start, Continue, Refine, Complete) is required to be successful in anything, to achieve desired results and to complete your projects. Yet how many of us never complete what we start? Maybe we do all the way up to the finishing phase and then we leave the very last thing unfinished. Think about it: Are there any unfinished projects or relationships in your life? When you don't complete the past, you can't be fully free to embrace the present and plan for the future. It is always important to know when a stage in life ends. If you insist on locking yourself up in it more than necessary, you lose the joy and meaning of the rest. You need to know how to turn the page, you need to know how to close certain things, you need to know how to conclude certain chapters. The important thing is to know how to close the circle and let certain moments (or projects) of life come to an end.
If you are still attached to an old dream from yesterday, and you keep putting flowers on its grave all the time, you cannot plant the seeds for a new dream that can grow today.
Joyce Chapman
If you don't complete the things you start, you risk accumulating too many distractions at the same time, and every promise, project, or to-do list leaves you less energy (mental and physical) to devote to your main goals, daily tasks, and new growth opportunities.
But why don't people complete things?
Often incompleteness represents areas in life in which we do not have clear ideas or where we have emotional and psychological blocks. One reason we tend to pile up unfinished projects is because we can't say no: (we have already seen in another article that you have to learn to say no by creating a "stop doing" list): we make commitments that we don't really want and we postpone their completion because we are undecided about what to do. Other times, however, we find ourselves in circumstances in which we must making decisions that are difficult or uncomfortable. So, instead of struggling by addressing the critical issues, we let the incompleteness accumulate. But the causes of our failed completions do not end there: sometimes they are the consequence of bad habits (for example working), sometimes of the lack of adequate skills or knowledge to support their tasks.
If you want to tackle unfinished projects you have to enter into the awareness of completion. Constantly ask yourself: What do I need to do to actually complete this task? Only then can you consciously begin to take the next step. The truth is, 20 completed projects have a lot more power than 50 half-finished projects. A single finished book, for example, is better than multiple uncompleted reads.
Another way to take care of things to do is time management, and is carried out in the following phases: do it, delegate it, put it off or abandon it. When you are faced with a new task to perform, decide on the spot whether you will take care of it (within a few minutes); otherwise abandon it. If you can take care of it within 10 minutes, do it immediately, without delay. If you still want to take care of it yourself, but you know it will take longer, send it back by filing it in a to-do folder later. If you can't do it or don't want to give it time, delegate it to someone you trust to get the job done. It is a very decisive approach, the adoption of which determines a notable increase in terms of psychological well-being and productive time management.
So what are you waiting for make room in your life for something new? Get rid of all incompleteness right away so that success can fully emerge.
