Starting and Finishing Are Different Skills (Train Both)
I know someone who has started eleven businesses.
Websites built. LLCs formed. Business cards printed. Logos designed. Eleven times.
None of them made it past the first year. Most didn't make it past the first month.
He's not lazy. He's not lacking ideas. He's incredibly good at starting things. He's just never learned to finish them.
Two Different Skills That Look Like One
Here's what I keep noticing: starting and finishing are completely different skills.
We talk about them like they're the same thing. Like someone who's good at beginning a novel should naturally be good at completing it. Like the energy that launches a business should carry it through year two.
But they're not the same. Not even close.
Starting requires vision. Excitement. The ability to see possibility in a blank page.
Finishing requires endurance. Discipline. The ability to keep going when the excitement fades and all that's left is the work.
Different muscles entirely.
The Collector's Graveyard
Look around your creative life. What do you see?
Half-written drafts sitting in folders. Half-built systems abandoned in apps. Half-launched ideas that never quite made it out the door.
If this sounds familiar, you might be a Collector.
Collectors are brilliant at beginnings. They see potential everywhere. A new idea sparks and they're off — outlining, planning, building the foundation.
Then another idea sparks. And another. The collection grows. The finished pile doesn't.
I'm a Collector. I've got notebooks full of story ideas. Folders full of business concepts. Hard drives full of projects that made it to 30% and stopped.
For years I thought this was a discipline problem. If I could just focus harder. Try more. Want it enough.
But it's not about wanting. It's about skill.
Why This Isn't a Character Flaw
Here's what changed my thinking: you can get better at finishing the same way you get better at anything else.
It's not a personality trait. It's not some fixed thing you're born with. Finishing is a learnable skill.
Which means if you're bad at it, that's not a character flaw. It's a skill gap. And skill gaps can be closed.
You probably never practiced finishing. You practiced starting over and over — every new project was practice at beginning. But the moment things got hard, you started something new instead of pushing through.
No reps at finishing. No wonder you're not good at it.
How This Shows Up Everywhere
In writing: The first chapter is thrilling. Possibility everywhere. By chapter seven, you're in the muddy middle. The shine is gone. A new idea whispers. You start a new book instead of finishing this one.
In business: The launch is exciting. Building the thing is fun. Then comes the long slog of actually running it. Marketing. Customer service. Iteration. A new business idea sounds better than fixing this one.
In systems: Setting up a new productivity system is energizing. Using it for six months is boring. So you redesign it. Again. The system-building becomes the procrastination.
Same pattern. Different domain.
How to Practice Finishing
Here's what I'm trying: finish small things on purpose.
Not the big projects. Those are too far away. Start with tiny completions. A blog post. A single scene. A weekend project with a clear end.
Each small finish is a rep. Each rep builds the muscle.
The goal isn't to stop starting. Starting is a gift. The goal is to balance it with finishing. To build both skills so they work together.
Because ideas without execution are just dreams. And execution without completion is just motion.
The magic happens when something actually gets done.
Try This Today
Pick the smallest unfinished thing in your creative life. Not the novel. Not the business. Something you could complete in an hour.
Finish it. Not perfectly. Just done.
That's one rep. Tomorrow, do another.
Are you a Collector or a Finisher? And which skill do you need to practice?