Book SummaryFinish What You Start, by Peter Hollins

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Finish What You Start

Do you constantly start ambitious projects only to run out of steam halfway through? You’re not alone. Although it’s easy to be enthusiastic about your goals while setting them, many people find that this motivation fades quickly. But it doesn’t have to—in Finish What You Start, Peter Hollins explains how to develop mindsets and habits that will empower you to follow through on your life goals.

Hollins is an author and researcher specializing in psychology. He has written over 50 books on the topics of self-discipline and accelerated learning,...

Finish What You Start Summary How to Develop a Finisher’s Mindset

According to Hollins, if you want to commit to finishing your life goals, you need to develop the right mindset. He defines “mindset” as the mental habits you use to make sense of your life experiences. Your mindset determines your attitude toward the problems in your life. Thus, without the right mindset, you’ll never work up the motivation to solve your problems and achieve your goals.

(Shortform note: In Mindset, Carol Dweck agrees that to be successful, you need the right mindset about the problems in your life. In particular, she argues that the direction of your life primarily depends on whether you have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. People with a growth mindset believe that their abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. In contrast, people with a fixed mindset believe that qualities like intelligence and talent are inborn traits that can’t be changed much. They want to avoid looking incompetent or deficient, so they tend to avoid challenges—missing out on the...

Finish What You Start Summary How to Prepare for Productive Action

Once you’ve started developing a productive mindset, you’ll be somewhat motivated to put in the work required to achieve your life goals. But Hollins argues that there’s no need to rely solely on your mindset for motivation: If you prepare properly before you start working, you can plant the seeds for future motivation and make your tasks much easier to overcome.

Here are five actions you can take to prepare for progress toward your life goals.

Action #1: Set Up Sources of Extrinsic Motivation

Hollins advises setting up ongoing sources of extrinsic motivation. Although internal motivators are generally more effective in the long run, supplementing them with short-term extrinsic motivators can boost your productivity.

One effective source of extrinsic motivation is social pressure. Ask someone in your life to regularly do motivational check-ins with you. They should know when you need to take productive action, get in touch to make sure you do, and express their disappointment if you fail to act. The threat of letting this person down will motivate you to get things done.

(Shortform note: Unfortunately, social pressure can also be a negative and demotivating force...

Finish What You Start Summary How to Properly Work Toward Your Goals

Now that we’ve discussed how to develop a motivated mindset and prepare for your best work, let’s examine some of Hollins’s tips for being as productive as possible while working.

Tip #1: Work on One Task at a Time

Although multitasking can make it feel like you’re being unusually productive, Hollins asserts that it’s ineffective. Whenever you switch between tasks, you continue having thoughts about the previous task for some time. These thoughts distract you from the task at hand, resulting in decreased productivity and performance. Instead, you’ll get much more done if you focus solely on one task for an extended stretch of time.

With this in mind, Hollins recommends grouping tasks that require the same kind of thinking and completing them in a single session. This way, you’re essentially combining them into one task, allowing you to avoid the splintered attention that comes from repeatedly switching between tasks. For example, block out two hours every month to handle all your financial management tasks at once—pay your credit card and electricity bills, create a budget for next month, and review your investment portfolio.

**Train Yourself to Resist Constant...

Shortform Exercise: Apply the Finisher's Mindset to Your Life

Hollins recommends developing specific attitudes and mental habits to make it easier to sustain your motivation and follow through on your goals. See how adopting this mindset feels by applying it to your life.

What are your most important life goals? Identify the sources of your intrinsic motivation: What do you think you’ll gain by accomplishing these goals?