Finish

Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done
By Jonathan Acuff
Portfolio/Penguin, 2017. 196 pgs. Nonfiction

Jonathan Acuff admits at the beginning of this book that he wrote a whole book about the wrong thing several years ago. Back then he was encouraging everyone to start. Make the effort to get started and that is the most important thing. Now he has realized that it is more important to figure out how to finish. We all seem pretty good at starting our goals. The biggest problem when trying to accomplish a goal is not laziness, it is actually perfectionism. Sometimes we won't even write down a goal because we already doubt our ability to finish it. As soon as we mess up on a goal, the majority of us will quit. Acuff claims there are some simple things we can do to overcome perfectionism and finish our goals like cut the goal in half, choose something to bomb, make it fun, and don't distract yourself with noble obstacles.

I have been reading a lot of self-help books lately and I usually find a couple things to apply to my life but this book is a game-changer for my life. One of the things that really resonated with me was when the author said that the most important day of any goal is "the day after perfect". It's what we choose to do the day after we don't get our exercise in, or eat the doughnut, or loose the receipt we needed for our budget. Will we do what the majority of people do and quit, or will we find a way to readjust and keep going. I listened to this on Libby and highly recommend it. The author narrates this book in a personable and engaging way. He also added some "bonus" material not found in the printed book.

AL