Finishing Tasks

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

Brian Tracy a productivity guru says that all success in life comes from finishing tasks.  If you choose that one important thing that you need to complete for that day and work on it until it gets done, and do this habit on a regular basis, your success in life is guaranteed according to Mr. Tracy.  It sounds too simple but I agree with him because it makes us results-oriented.

If you are a student who consistently does his homework or school project and submits them on time you are becoming a results-oriented pupil.  The same thing with being an office worker. If you work on the things you are assigned to do and work through the assigned task until it gets done whether you are aware of it or not, you are acquiring that results-oriented habit.

The good thing with this habit is that it infects all other things in your life.  You will develop that feeling of guilt and uneasiness if you don’t complete things that you’ve started.  If you have enrolled for a swimming lesson for example, and is tempted to quit because it’s tough on your schedule and you’re making little progress, because of your results-oriented habit, you will complete the swimming course.

The key ingredient in being results-oriented is the virtue of self-discipline.  Brian Tracy defines self-discipline as the ability to make yourself do, what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.  He says, “Anybody can do anything that is easy or hard when they feel like doing it, but the real test is when you don’t feel like doing it, but do it anyway.  That’s an indicator that you have self-discipline.”  Self-discipline is all about overcoming our negative feelings to get things done.

But what if your project is a failure?  Let’s say you have built a website for your products but no one seems to go there and is not having any sales at all.

We’ll at least you have learned the skills of putting up a website. It could be a stepping stone in becoming an expert in website development.

Peter Hollins, the author of the book “Finish What You Start” says “You only learn certain things if you see them through to the end. If you don’t follow through, then you don’t learn all that you have to do and you don’t learn anything about yourself except that you are lazy or afraid or a failure.”

Even if the finish product seems to be a failure your results-oriented mindset still has not failed because there are other things you have acquired such as the opportunity to evaluate your work, adjust, and develop a better method.

Peter Hollins calls this a “learning mindset in finishing a task” that even if your tasks or project did not get the result that you expected you still have obtained some learning knowledge or skill along the way.  Thus, nothing is wasted.