In my life, I’ve come really close to finishing a lot of things. It’s just been my M.O. to be that guy that almost finishes stuff. I’ve pretty much accepted it as my identity. I’m a really great starter but not that good of a finisher.
A couple of examples:
- When I was in Boy Scouts I was 2 merit badges and a service project away from being an Eagle Scout. So close and I just couldn’t finish.
- When we tried to redo our bathroom at our house in Macon, I was really great at demo, but really poor at the construction part. We never finished the bathroom before we moved. We lived in construction for what amounts to years.
And then there’s the health and fitness part of my life.
When it comes to fitness, I’ve always wanted to be fit, and would start something only to see it all fall apart somewhere around half way through. I’m the guy that wanted to buy some dumb exercise video from an infomercial that ended up being the reason why my wife is now a Beachbody coach. I never finished it, but she did. And it changed her life.
I don’t know what it is about me or my life but I can’t seem to finish anything.
That is … until now.
Yesterday, I became a finisher.
I Identify as a Finisher
For the first time since we started buying Beachbody workout videos (back when Power 90 was a thing) I finished a program.
I never thought I would see this day. I never thought I would be able to say that from start to finish I did something like this. I think I’m a little emotional about it.
Yesterday I finished a workout program called 10 Rounds, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve learned so much about myself over the last 6 weeks. I’ve learned that I can do hard things. I’ve learned that in the right environment and with the right motivation and the right community I can do just about anything.
But bigger than even those things, I’ve learned that I am not someone who starts things and cannot finish them. My identity has changed.
I know that my life no longer has to be defined by incorrect labels and lies. To say that I am not a finisher is a lie. I don’t have to live with that lie anymore.
It doesn’t even matter what my final “results” are. It doesn’t matter what the scale says or if I did everything perfectly. What matters is that I finished. And in finishing I have proven to myself that I am not what I once was. That I am better than I’ve always thought I was.
I have what it takes to be a finisher.
And So Do You
This isn’t just for me. It’s true for you too.
You might be believing a lie about yourself today. You may have labels on you (whether from yourself or others) that you have bought into and you’ve made your identity. There’s probably something in your life that you hate about yourself but you have no idea how to change it.
I hated being the person that never finished a workout program. I feel like it became a joke any time I would try to start one because we all knew (myself included) that it wouldn’t be long before I wasn’t doing it anymore.
This is your moment. You can change whatever that thing is that you hate. You no longer have to be defined by lies and labels that hold you down. You can rise above.
Don’t kid yourself though. This will not be an overnight transformation. It will take time. It will probably involve some pain (and not just the physical kind). It will be hard. But hard things are worth doing.
This is a fight. Stay in it until the end.
I promise you it’s worth it.