Why You Never Complete Projects, And How To Escape That Vicious Cycle?

The art of incomplete projects that rob you of the life you’re trying to achieve, or not?

A Radical Transformation Hurdle

Despite all years of dedicated work, this painting was never finished. It could have been a deflection in personal development, so life-changing, so…

Complete.

But then, on the other hand, it might not have delivered the same signature, the same “forever evolving image,” that same sense of both “perfection” and “imperfection.”

You start a project and then lose interest in it.

Sounds familiar?

Quickly or not, the matter is you don’t ever seem to reach the finish line. You seem to start excited and enthusiastic, perhaps even spending a ridiculous sum of money on getting your project started.

Even worse, you have an entire tactic lined up for this endless-project process subconsciously. This tactic helps you to avoid finishing what you’ve started easily.

Great, you’re now “the King/Queen of the imaginary finish line!” You’ve just made the impossible even more impossible.

This doesn’t occur rarely, but rather all the time.

Don’t abandon this post just yet if you want to discover some counter methods.

Guess what?

Determination and motivation alone will not get you to the finish line.

For a while, I thought I was one of the rare persons who experienced this, so I just neglected it like I usually do. Yet, recently I ran into an Inc.com article stating that More than 90% of the population doesn’t complete their projects or achieve their goals. This functioned as a mental relief valve, “so I wasn’t the only one,” still, I was surprised that not completing tasks or personal projects seemed to be “a huge problem for many” to face.

“Procrastinator” refers to those who start but never complete things.

Frankly, you put off the start or finish of a given task or project by substituting a “more attractive” or “satisfying activity” instead.

I’ll tell you what, It’s frustrating, and you wish you could change it. Some people even declare to be like this all of their life. Imagine that.

Having so many interests providing you with the feeling of constantly moving forward can cause this problem to manifest deeply. Too much physical and mental pressure hurts your ability to exercise self-control.

Getting involved in new interests induces dopamine hits repeatedly, tricking your mind into masturbating.

The knowledge acquired and the idea of how well you would succeed in a given field if you continue doing what you do now seem enjoyable enough for you. Frankly, the idea alone is satisfying enough. Sometimes the thoughts are relieving enough, even before you actually invest time or money into your project.

Enjoyable but hugely unproductive, ensuring you never finish and don’t accomplish anything. The longer this process takes, and the older you get will cause your enthusiasm vanishes pretty quickly too, after a while, you are “trapped in a never-ending vicious cycle.”

Nobody wants that, and you are right, it’s time to get out!

Perhaps it’s the “ridiculous idea” you have cemented in your head: “you will probably never be wildly successful at anything.” Be careful what you think of because your thoughts have the power to convert ideas into reality.

The essence of the problem you’re facing is “not finishing things repetitively again, and again, and again.”

The golden question is:

What exactly causes you not to finish your projects?

Why is it, or what’s holding you back?

Does your goal seem intangible?

Too far away? “Define it,” make it tangible, get acquainted with your “specific hurdle,” and adjust your way out.

Here are some occurring causes:

• Panic of procrastination?
• Lack of self-discipline?
• Mental masturbation?
• Overload of interests?
• Fear?

Let’s review them together and find out how you can work out of this “huge personal development problem.”

Psst…Most people are motivated and excited at the start of a project, which is great! Just take in mind, that things might not always work out as planned, that’s exactly why you want a framework.

Panic of procrastination

The imaginary restriction requires you to recognize when you are procrastinating. Analyze your project goals and behavior towards those goals honestly and repetitively, something not everyone can do naturally. Low confidence and self-esteem induce this problem, possibly being “overwhelmed by the competition.”

The internet has the power to overwhelm you. Let’s take a content writer as an example, it’s easy to focus on the huge successes of others. As a matter of most failures are never presented. As a result of being overly exposed to the successes of others, you are on the edge of a breakdown. You experience this as competition and become more and more afraid that you won’t be able to keep up.

The panic that you would procrastinate builds up. You think you’re toast. It’s an imaginary line that holds you back from completion.

Rather, knowing why you procrastinate at a given point will be a good idea why you avoid the last stage of your project.

Here are some quick strategies that can help:

• Focus on one task at a time
• Make the work process itself enjoyable
• Chop a big project up into smaller pieces
• Schedule time frames to complete your task
• Work in your own league, a separate category
• Set a deadline for your goal to counter procrastination
• Back-engineer your deadline, knowing how long you need, and precisely when to get started
• Clearly prioritize to-do lists, and take your personality trait into account. (Introverts might already have huge lists which will benefit them by eliminating rather than adding, and vice versa for extroverts)

Anxiety can cause a panic response. It will inhibit your growth. It will be from an imaginary hurdle that’s preventing you from finishing.

You want to acquire a healthy mind to be able and control those emotions better. Forgive me again, but there isn’t a great pathway without superior recovery. A solid foundation of sleep and vivid dreaming could offer underlying but stable support to counter the effects.

Call it a solid basepoint to execute the framework.

When you don’t build a resilient mind, there’s another problem you could face…

Fear of completion

Fear of not being able to complete a task, for the following reason:

That you will not perform at the same level as your competition.

Somewhere along the path, chances are that you’ve programmed yourself into believing that you aren’t good enough.

Better yet, this problem could have been developed so that you think of yourself as incapable of finishing a given project. A toxic environment can negatively hypnotize you.

If this resonates, your way out can be:

• Understand that it’s “ok” to make mistakes, but inaction isn’t.
• Change your environment, find people who push you, and seek great mentors
• Deep Work and incremental daily improvements, if done with enough commitment, will land you in the top category every time. Inevitably, you wouldn’t reach your goals
• Avoid being subjected to the successes of your presumed competition, and isolate yourself as much as possible so you can fully focus on that thing you want to do. Avoid tempting situations.

The greatest minds in the world price solitude for certain times so they can think undistracted. I don’t need to address the proof list here. Most will understand this by now.

Additionally, all these people had another skill they shared: discipline. “When you aren’t disciplined, your chances of not completing increase significantly.” Face it, when there is no discipline, don’t expect success.

Lack of self-discipline

You’re not planning well.

Aiming too far or taking huge steps makes it harder to achieve your goals. Your energy will be drained much faster. Sticking as glue to the plan will ensure your energy is distributed efficiently. Meaning precisely focused with the right intensity and time, without gathering unwanted toxic residue.

Create a total belief in yourself. Line out a map with achievable milestones (Intermitted steps). “Do more, undertake more action”… Hypnotize yourself with your self-talk.

Self-hypnosis induces discipline

Analyze yourself, take an inventory of strengths and weaknesses, skills, abilities, and desires, and structure it accordingly to how it could blend into your life, so it becomes achievable.

Arrange it according to your energy levels throughout your day, and schedule it efficiently energy levels throughout your and day, schedule it efficiently. Set yourself up for optimal achievement.

Clear heading and positive self-talk results in actual arrival at that desired destination.

Transform yourself from the “Try” to the “Are” mindset.

When you fail to plan, failure of accomplishment is inevitable. You’ll develop a reputation as somebody who always starts new ventures and never completes them. You then get trapped in a vicious cycle that ultimately will erode your self-esteem and confidence.

There is only one solution to this problem:

“Choose your goals according to your abilities.”

Once you are confident that you can succeed, go for it. “Try” means your not placing yourself in the winner spot. Whereas “do/are” is decisive and assertive, you place yourself at the finish line, and you can feel victory.

• Undertake deliberate action
• Self-talk induction
• Feel completion

Plan to replace your “trying” with “are or doing.” Phrase your sentences as you “ARE” already there. Lack of self-discipline is a programming error, and you must fix it. Positive self-talk.

When you start on a new project, your perception shifts from the finish line to the milestone.

You go from imagining to noticing reality with all its flaws. When there isn’t a plan with end steps, the common mistake is made to focus on another project rapidly. We, humans, are lazy from nature. We tend to choose the path of least resistance. This hinders our ability to complete tasks or projects.

After a while, we tend to forget that completing projects feels hard, requiring a lot of energy to be put in. The better you plan, the more efficiently your energy will transcend towards a given project.

Repeat yourself internally of being willing to do what you need to do in order to entirely transform yourself into this “are” version. This will enable you to distribute your energy more efficiently. Your subconscious mind will then assist you in completing that desired goal as best as possible.

Mental masturbation

It is a thought process that only serves to satisfy yourself. It’s an imaginary hunt for satisfaction. Your mental masturbation process raises dopamine levels in your brain by telling people how you will implement change in your life.

Often this is done by presenting others:

• Your projects
• Your goals
• Your plans

This process involves a lot of explanation and imagining with immediate-directed action. You’re between drawing attention and being addicted to not undertaking effective measures.

When you want to avoid being trapped in the mental masturbation cycle, you better keep projects for yourself.

You can work, enjoy the process, and only bring out the word when you are nearing completion. You want to break out of the negative dopamine cycle to reach completion.

Focus on doing at least 90% of your project or more before you announce anything. This will reduce your stress significantly.

Overload of interests

Multitasking is counterproductive. Making sure your work is broken down into smaller achievable steps can free you from your non-finishing cycle.

Are you easily distracted? Perhaps, it’s your “curiosity” that induces that distraction?

Possibly your curiosity leads to an overload of interests.

Introverted people who lean much to one side of the spectrum tend to be highly sensitive and distracted. Nevertheless, you can influence your behavior and shift towards a preferable side of that spectrum. Saying this to point out that the procrastinator problem is fixable.

Environment, structure, and behavior can reshape that over time. Many misconceptions exist that people with learning differences, such as dyslexia, would have lasting consequences. On the other hand, people with dyslexia have proven to be “smart,” “creative,” and “resourceful thinkers.” People who draw on different parts of their brains to read than typical readers.

Diversity of interests, imperfect perfectionism, incomplete curiosity,…

The Da Vinci-Complex.

Leonardo Da Vinci was found by many to be the most creative “human” of all time. For sure one of the most legendary artists, inventors, and outside-the-box thinkers in history. He tried to solve complex problems, and perhaps he was the purest polymath. Especially the subliminally hidden messages within his paintings that only start to unfold nowadays are what separates him from many others. He found a way to speak from the past.

However, like any human, also Leonardo had his flaws.

According to Salvatore Mangione and Rolando Del Maestro, Leonardo Da Vinci had dyslexia.

Da Vinci had many interests, easily flowing from one to another because of the art of his dyslexic brain. Being easily distracted can be an indicator of a dyslexic person. However, does this mean that it’s a “problem” or a “gift?” You decide.

Set yourself up with a system that works better than your current system. Follow that system. Avoid distractions as much as possible, even if it requires you to lock yourself up. Make your situation unavoidable of not reaching that finish line.

It’s not a handicap but rather a brain that functions differently. To create and follow another system that works.

Your Gateway To finished projects

Whether you face: Panic of procrastination, Lack of self-discipline, Mental masturbation, Overload of interests, Fear, etc..… The bottom line is that it hinders your personal transformation.

Finding a mental relief valve or a button to press would be best.

Something that makes you aware that you aren’t the only one who struggles with not finishing. It’s not obvious, and our modern world is working against you.

Things you want to avoid?

• Negative self-talk.
• Noisy environments for longer periods.
• Spending time in tempting or distracting situations.
• People who distract you from the work you love to do.
• Smartphones are only smart at one thing, disturbing your flow frequencies. When you want to work smart, kill your phone.

Perhaps you try too much…Telling yourself that you’ll try instead of doing it, eventually setting you up for failure.

Self-talk is powerful, but it’s a double-edged sword. Tell yourself that you are a finisher, someone who gets things done, someone who completes his or her work.

What would you like want to take care of?

Most of us thrive on uncertainty, and if you persevere, your best work can appear just around the corner. If you give up now, you will never know what the outcome of your hard work could have been.

Top performers fail all the time. But they fall in love with the process.

What makes the difference is that they drive through and succeed. They complete their work. Top achievers know they need only a few major successes to set them up for life.

This same principle applies to you too.

It doesn’t matter if you come up with terrible ideas. What matters is that you keep driving through. The belief is that when you put in the work and focus on the end goal one time, you’ll reach it.

Many people have low self-talk-esteem, which inhibits their development. Success requires belief. Belief in yourself and realistic goals. I encourage you to believe in yourself and do it. Don’t try to be. Are to be.

Transform yourself from the “Try” to the “Are” through self-talk

• Envision the end goal but focus on the milestones.
• Analyze your faulty behavior repetitively, write it down.
• Repeat yourself internally of being willing to do what you need to do in order to entirely transform yourself into this “are” version.
• Focus on doing at least 90% of your project or more before you announce anything. This will reduce your stress significantly.
• Detect your cause, and get acquainted with the rooted problem, know why you procrastinate at that specific point throughout your project.
• You want to systemize your way out and understand that you’re in a vicious cycle, a repetitive act integrated into your thoughts or habits. Break that cycle of thoughts or habits, and try another pattern.

From now on, you’re not a procrastinator but someone who knows exactly what to do and follows a specific execution plan.

Know that even with a designated plan, you’ll need effort, focus, and direction. They form your life compass. Detect what’s holding you back from completion, change your habits, and improve!

When you think this is getting too much for you, don’t let it rest. Try to present them to other people and ask them what they think.

An outstander’s opinion is worth gold.

Perhaps your work is already finished while you aren’t aware of it.

Like in a way, some of Leonardo’s works were finally perceived to be finished.

Perhaps that’s why art is called art?

Perhaps you’ve been chasing art too?

Perhaps you want to specify your craft to reach completion?

Congratulations!

You have read this entire post!

That’s a small project finished.

Meaning, you aren’t an average joe or Josephine! Neither are you ordinary. You are a different breath. A person who finishes things.

A league on your own: No competitor in a competition, but a true “COMPLETER.”

Keep putting the work in, not giving up, and focusing on the end mark until it’s reached will eventually make you complete things repeatedly.

Absorb, Read, Write, Sleep, Exercise, Thrive!

Thanks for reading this post!

P.S.: I’m a firm believer in building a resilient mind. I like to write about:

Sleep & Dreams / Writing tips/ Life lessons / Mental Health / Circadian Rhythm / Submarine Power Cables.

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