6 Rules to Finish What You Start

Given we all have 24 hours in a day, I’m constantly surprised by how many people squander that precious time and waste it on things they know they shouldn’t be doing.

I see this all the time with my friends, loved ones and my peers, and do my best to share my knowledge on habits, time management and tools to help them. 

Most of the time they end up resenting where their time went and what they didn’t achieve.

So how can you avoid this?

Well, you can start by listening to this podcast episode where I divulge the 6 Rules to Finishing What You Start.

I’ve read my fair share of books and one of the most inspiring is Peter Hollin’s “Finish What You Start”. 

In this book, he shares his lifelong curiosity around how we manage our time and also why we don’t finish the things that we start. He then goes into a plethora of practical ways to reclaim our time and actually get things done!

One of the methods he suggests, that I found to be a real eye-opener, is creating a manifesto. A manifesto, in his words, is nothing more than a set of rules to follow everyday.

By having this manifesto as your guiding principle, you immediately place a value on your time and activities that makes you prioritize what’s important, and it acts as a guiding star for any new projects you may want to start, and to avoid any distractions that will inevitably come your way.

He also shares 6 rules to finishing what you start, and I divulge these on this podcast episode, but in a nutshell they are:

Rule 1: Are you acting out of laziness? If so, is this a characterization you want about yourself?

Rule 2: Three major tasks a day, maximum.

Rule 3: Create daily limitations and requirements for yourself.

Rule 4: Reaffirm your intentions by stating “I want,” “I will,” and “I won’t” statements.

Rule 5: Try to look into the future, 10 minutes, hours, and days at a time. Do you like what you see when you consider not following through?

Rule 6: It’s just 10 minutes, right? So if you want to quit, it’s just 10 minutes. And if you need to wait, it’s just 10 minutes.

I go into more detail on what each of these rules means and how to apply them and also share 

• How to write a manifesto
• How to reaffirm your intentions

Resources

• Read this book by Peter Hollins – Finish What You Start: The Art of Following Through, Taking Action, Executing, & Self-Discipline 
• Read this book by Chris Guillebeau – The Art of Non-Conformity
• LifePilot – my system and methodology for turning your dreams into reality that lets you map out your life and goals each quarter, month, week and every day.

Let me know what you think of this episode and if you enjoy the insights I shared into how to value your time consciously and make the most of every minute.