Yes, it is a good idea to start a project. Face fear and type the first word, or prime the canvas and put paint on it.
Believe in yourself, start. Come one, you can do it! Believe in yourself and start.
Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise.
―Horace
Have you started several projects? Did you start another one today? Starting a new project is exciting; the rush of adrenaline, the excitement of something new.
But what about the projects you didn’t finish? Are you afraid to fail? No sense finishing anything; just start a new one. That way you get the continual rush of excitement without having to face criticism or negative comments.
Today I say, FOCUS, and pick one project to finish.
Last Friday, my friend Kathy prayed for me to focus. Focus. One little word that seems to elude me.
Focus?
I find it hard to focus when the sink is full of dishes, there is laundry on the sofa and the K-Nex Roller Coaster is all over the floor in front of the fireplace. Last week I moved the clutter out of my office area and put it in the living room so I didn’t have to see it when I was trying to write. “Rearranging chairs on the Titanic,” my friend Sabine says.
This morning I picked one project to finish. A book I had written over a year ago.
I ignored the dishes, laundry and the K-Nex, and worked on the book, The Artist’s Manifesto. After several hours, I saved it, and sent it to my friend to edit. After I get the edits back,I will send it to a friend to write a forward, and then it will done. Finished.
Next month I may learn some new trick in Adobe Illustrator. And maybe next year I will find a new way to write more clearly. But, today, I did the best I could with what I know now. It is time to put the boat in the harbor, push the boat out to sea, and start making a new boat.
It is time to face the fear of finishing. It is time to battle fear; turn fear into chopped liver and fry it up with onions.
What is in your closet? Do you have a project you didn’t finish? If you’re not going to finish it, get rid of it. Your old projects sit around laughing at you. “You can’t finish anything. You start, and you never finish. Just another example of your weak of character.”
Don’t let your unfinished projects taunt you. Shut them up by finishing them, stepping on them, or throwing them away.
You don’t have to finish everything. No you don’t. You get to decide if you finish painting the napkin rings yellow with red polka dots. I will never tell you which of your projects are worthwhile. You are the boss.
Just pick something and do it.
You may not finish it today, but work towards finishing it.
Face the fear of finishing. A project that is finished will be looked at’ someone may say something mean. Yes, they might. But, they may also say something nice.
Remember.
You are not your book. You are not your napkin rings. You are not your burnt chicken dinner.
You made it. But you are not what you made.
Be brave and finish.
Whatever it takes to finish things, finish. You will learn more from a glorious failure than you ever will from something you never finished.
― Neil Gaiman
Would you like to receive a copy of The Artist’s Manifesto when it is finished? It will be sent free to subscribers. (If you already subscribe, I will send you a copy when it is finished, finished, not just finished.)
Do you have a project you want to finish?
Please tell me in the comments. I would love to encourage you.
Tweetables, if you like tweeting.
FOCUS, and pick one project to finish. tweet. tweet
Face the fear of finishing. tweet tweet
It is time to battle fear; turn fear into chopped liver and fry it up with onions. tweet tweet
You made it. But you are not what you made. tweet tweet
