Break Free From The Habit Of Half-Finishing

by Bonnie Boots

Creative people are often bedeviled by the habit of half-finishing. I've met writers with boxes of half-finished manuscripts, painters with basements full of half-finished canvases, crafters with rooms filled to overflowing with unfinished embroideries and needlepoint projects.

I was that way myself until I stumbled into writing and designing for a career. The thing about writing and designing professionally is this--you only get paid for finished projects. That has a highly motivating effect!

With financial need urging me on, I soon discovered I had a talent for starting AND finishing projects. In fact, I was so good at it that editors often took me with them as they moved from one publication to another (which often meant moving from one topic to another.)

"Who cares if you know anything about auto repair, "one editor said to me. "You're one of the few writers I can trust to turn in a finished article on time!"

That editor would have been stunned to know I had once been the Queen of the Un-Done, ruling over a basement half-filled with half-finished projects.

If you have been ruling over your own underworld of undone projects, here are some tips for turning yourself around.

**Be realistic about the amount of time it takes to create and market a product. If you have unrealistic dreams of "overnight internet millions," you'll become discouraged at the slow pace of progress and stop in the middle.

Creating a product and getting it up for sale on the internet involves a vast number of steps.

 If you're starting from scratch--that is to say, you've never put up a web site or blog, never worked with a payment processor, never worked with an autorepsonder--it can take a year or more to make it through the entire process the first time. Yet the internet abounds with books and articles claiming you can "Create your own product and have it up for sale in as little as four hours!"

There's some truth to claims that you can create a new product in a few hours. I could create an audio product in that time. But only because I already have everything in place, including sites, shopping cart, tons of software and extensive media experience. Without all that, I'd be faced with a more likely timetable of one year.

Be prepared--and committed--to do the ground work that goes into being an "overnight success," and you're more likely to see it through.



**Don't talk too much about what you're making. It doesn't matter if you're working on a book, a video or a teleclass. If you talk it out too much, with friends, in forums, in chat rooms or even with advisors, a big part of your brain will consider the project done to death. Your fresh idea will start to seem old. Your brain will get bored and urge you to move on.

I learned this lesson from a woman that had a long career designing for Hallmark Cards. She told me she learned early on that a big part of her urge to create was the desire to share her talent and ideas and be rewarded for them.

If she was rewarded early, perhaps with compliments from friends and family, she had no reason to finish.

 "When I made up my mind to see if I could sell my work, I didn't tell anyone, " she said. " Not even my husband. I created my designs, photographed them and sent them to Hallmark. When I got a contract, I completed the work. And only after I was paid did I finally tell my family."

She maintained that tight-lipped approach all her working life. She was one of the most prolific artists I've ever had the pleasure of interviewing.

**Silence your inner critic. If talking too much to other people can kill a project, talking too much and too critically to yourself can kill both your project and your spirit.

It's natural to have doubts and insecurities when you're working on something you're not entirely expert at. Recognize that and keep it in check.

Be alert for self-doubt masquerading as perfectionism. That little voice urging you to keep researching and writing ad infinitum is trying to do you a favor. It's trying to protect you from the pain of being criticized for what your insecure self believes will be a flawed product.

When you notice your self-talk is leaning towards criticism and fear, correct your thinking by telling yourself--out loud if it helps--" It's true, I may not write like Hemmingway or be as smart as Einstein, but my knowledge and experience will be of great help to people and I intend to get it out to them. My desire to finish this book and this web site is greater than my need to avoid criticism. Even if I do get some critics, I can handle it. After all, other people aren't perfect. They get criticized and live through it. So will I."

Actually saying this to yourself gets those nasty thoughts out of your head and into the fresh air where they can wither up and blow away.

**Work your way through overwhelm. A sense of overwhelm is probably the number one reason people abandon internet-related projects before they are finished.

Feeling overwhelmed doesn't mean you're stupid. It means your normal. The internet IS overwhelming, until you know a great deal. Even then, it can be mind-boggling.

If you feel overwhelmed, it means you don't have the resources you need to finish your project. For example, if you've done you're research but now can't get past writing an outline for your book, it means you don't have the resources you need to write a book.

People aren't born knowing how to complete a book. Professional writers attend classes, join writer's groups, take workshops and buy endless numbers of "how to" books to learn how to plan and write a book. Unless you have evidence to the contrary, I have no reason to suspect you, and you alone, can master this skill without help.

If you've written your book but can't get past step one of putting up a web site or blog, it doesn't mean you're stupid. It just means you don't have the experience you need to complete this truly complicated task.

Deal with overwhelm by finding experienced help. Don't waste your time cruising forums where other inexperienced people will slow you down with misinformation and untested ideas.

Have enough faith in the value of yourself and your ideas to hire a coach or mentor. Spending a few hundred dollars to get the expert help you need is nothing in the face of abandoning, once again, your hopes and dreams.

 When you need help to keep your project moving ahead, remember that my Next Step Coaching lets you choose as much or as little time as you need to get you on track towards finishing your project.

For ongoing help, you may want to join my Product Creation Party, a membership site offering everything you need--including my personal advice--to take you through every step of creating your own product and marketing on the internet. COMING SOON!
  
 

 
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