Finish… EVERYTHING
“It ain’t over, till it’s over.”
- Yogi Berra
When I was in coaching you would hear two major coaching cues during a drill. “MOVE” and “FINISH”. These were the anchors that my program was tied to. The alpha and the omega.
What seems like two simple words make for very deep concepts. I spoke about “MOVE” in my fourth blog on my website (Football Players & Fighter Jets — Chris Carlisle (thecoachcarlisle.com)) so I will focus on the idea of “FINISH” during this blog.
The Importance of Finishing
If you have watched any competition in life we understand one thing, “It ain’t over, till it’s over.” (Yogi Berra)
Whether it is a sporting event, and election, a movie, a song, or your life. Nothing is truly over until the last second has ticked off the clock, the last vote is counted (or not counted – dependent on how you fall on that issue), the last scene, the last note or your last breath. There can always be a dramatic turn around and someone can snatch a loss from the jaws of victory.
This is being written during March Madness. This tournament has had it’s share of buzzer beaters and underdogs turning a sure loss into an amazing victory.
Sports are where we see the need to FINISH the clearest. With the clock ticking you know when the game will end, unless you’re into soccer, and then some guy running up and down the field will determine when the game is over after it went into extended play. We see the beginning of the game and we can anticipate the end of the game.
But FINISHING isn’t just in sports, FINISHING is something that we should be thinking about in our everyday lives.
The key to success is who will FINISH the strongest. Who will refuse to give up. Who believes more. Who cares more. Who has more passion. Who prepared at the highest level.
Look at the upsets in college basketball. If the people who set up the seeding were really experts, then there is no way a 16th Seed team could ever beat a #1 Seeded team – no way – no how. But it happens. So if the people who seed the tournament were correct in their analysis, then how can that lower seeded team win?
FINISH!!!!
The underdogs play harder than those who were supposed to win and they FINISH the game with more points. Was it the athletes on the favorite who don’t compete and just expect to win or were they not mentally prepared for the contest by the coaching staff? I guess that depends on who you are talking to.
You might argue that the lower seeded team just played harder. Well then, we go back to the questioning the validity of those who seeded the teams. Because they assumed that each team would go out and play hard. They looked at the pool of athletes the favorite had, their coaching staff, the location of the game, their season record and who they had beat and who they had lost to in order to make their decision. So, if both teams played hard the favorite would win.
But you said the underdog “outplayed” the higher ranked team. Then was it the athletes or the coaching staff who did not prepare to FINISH with more points.
FINISH – EVERYTHING
So, what about you? Do you FINISH your tasks during the day? Do you have your “To Do” list and do you FINISH everything on the list? Do you have your checkpoints for the day? The things you plan to do. Do you FINISH EVERYTHING on that list?
The answer is more times than not is, “No.”
Then I need to follow up with the question, “Why? Why don’t you FINISH everything on your list?” Your answer most likely is that, “I ran out of time.”
So, did you overload your schedule and only hoped to FINISH everything? Did your “To Do” list get a bunch of other items dumped on it?
More likely than not, you threw yourself off your schedule by losing focus on what you NEEDED to do, because you allowed your time to slide away. And then your clock said, “Time’s Up!” And you conceded. Closed up your office and went home.
When this happens do you then load the things that needed to be FINISHED today to tomorrow’s list? Is this list already full? How do you prioritize your “To Do” list? Do you do the things you didn’t do yesterday first, or do you put them farther down the list?
This is what happened to those higher ranked teams in March Madness. They had “FINISH the game” on the top of their list. And under that they had “play hard” – “play great defense” – “run the offense” – “Make your free throws” – etc. on their list. Which one did they “run out of time” on? What was the reason they did not get to the “FINISH the game” part of their list?
Don’t fall into this trap. The trap of allowing yourself to get behind on your list so that you end up either half-assing your work or not FINISHING it at all. In the end your time will run out and you will have a list of things that you didn’t get to.
FINISH is a Way of Life
“JFK: An Unfinished Life”. I read this title and was saddened. Not because of President John F. Kennedy’s potential that was cut short on a street in Dallas. No, I was saddened to think about dying and not FINISHING my dreams. Not completing my life’s task.
Think about all the things you want to get done before you go into the great beyond. These are the things that will make your life “significant”. The things that will change everyone’s life that depends on you. The things that moves your professions needle forward. The things that will never allow for your name to be spoken one last time, because someone will always use your name to validate their point.
FINISHING is not hard. It’s all about holding yourself accountable to complete each step of the task at hand. Those who don’t FINISH are simply being lazy in their lives. They will negotiate with themselves and will always be chasing to get things done. These are the people who are always running late.
When I was coaching, I had two rules: 1) Be Early 2) Communicate. The first rule was, BE EARLY because it was the most important. We couldn’t do the second without doing the first. Being early was all about FINISHING the things that they were doing so that they could arrive for their workout before the group started. Being early was about respect. So, FINISHING is about respect … respecting yourself.
It’s Not Rocket Science
FINISHING is really simple. Here are a few ideas that might help you start to FINISH things:
· Make Long Range Plans: When you are setting your calendar for the upcoming week – month – or whatever planning period you work in – know what it will take to do accomplish these endpoints. When your long-term plans are scheduled, you then can make your daily list.
· Make a List: Every day before you leave work you should set up your things that MUST get done (GOT TO). Make a secondary list of things that are farther out on your time line (GET TO) that you can start when you have FINISHED your GOT TO list. When you have a list, you can schedule your day.
· Schedule Your Day: When you have finished your list then schedule your day around that day. If you have a full list you might want to start working before everyone else gets into the office. If some of the things that you have scheduled took longer, you must extend your day. Staying on schedule is so important that you no longer are on a time clock. You made the list now FINISH it.
· Do YOUR Work: Don’t let others stack their crap on your plate. Tell them, “I have this to do, your items will be done when I complete my items.” Don’t let them inability to plan their life change how your life is being run.
· FINISH EVERYTHING: In all that you do whether it is a book or workout … FINISH it. When you start to get those positive feelings of completing a project you will work harder to FINISH in all aspects of your life. This life skill takes time. Start small and work to bigger parts of your life.
Start with these and see how much of a difference that FINISHING makes in your life.
Have an amazing day!
