Finish Quotes

“developing tolerance for imperfection is the key factor in turning chronic starters into consistent finishers.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“This is the first lie that perfectionism tells you about goals: Quit if it isn’t perfect.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“All you have to do is win more today than you did yesterday and repeat the whole thing tomorrow.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“But more than just analysis, perfectionism offers us two distinct distractions: Hiding places Noble obstacles A hiding place is an activity you focus on instead of your goal. A noble obstacle is a virtuous-sounding reason for not working toward a finish. Both are toxic to your ability to finish.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“If taking a break from social media sounds intimidating, remember, you’ve already done this for an entire year. It was called 1997.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“That's all data is. A gift from yesterday that you receive today to make tomorrow better.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“If you’re watching Netflix every time it’s time for you to do X, that’s a hiding place. You’re afraid to face the fear of imperfection that comes along with every endeavor, so you’re hiding from it by doing something that requires no skill. You might write a bad sentence on your blog, but no one’s going to critique the way you watch TV. “I”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“Cut your goal in half. Choose what you’ll bomb. Make it fun if you want it done.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“Worrying about your book’s marketing plan when you haven’t even finished writing the book is a noble obstacle. Weighing grams of carbohydrates when you haven’t exercised a single minute all month is a noble obstacle.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“Perfectionism always makes things harder and more complicated. Finishers make things easier and simpler. The next time you work on a goal, I dare you to ask the following questions during the middle of the project: Could things be easier? Could things be simpler?”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“It’s the Very Good Reason you cannot pursue your goal. Perfectionism will tell you, “If you’re going to do it, you might as well do it right.” And when we leave the idea of “right” undefined, it tends to get complicated, usually in one of two ways. In the first kind of noble obstacle, perfectionism sneakily tells you that you cannot move toward your goal until you do something else: “I can’t do X until Y.” In the second kind, perfectionism tells you that reaching your goal could actually produce bad results or make you a bad person. Would-be entrepreneurs often express fear that they’ll become workaholics”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“If you blink and find yourself working on something besides your real goal, you’ve probably retreated to the first kind of hiding place: the obvious time waster. You will never accidentally end up doing a difficult project. The work you’re trying to avoid is not something you’ll stumble upon one day unexpectedly.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“perfectionism is a desperate attempt to live up to impossible standards. Perfectionism will do anything to protect those impossible standards. It can’t let you find out how impossible they are, especially with the cold eye of data, so it terrifies you into thinking that you’ll be crushed by disappointment if you peer behind that curtain. Data would tell you that your bank account is low, but you’re spending a lot more on coffee than you think. If you started making it at home, you could easily start saving for a vacation. You might even stop comparing yourself to the impossible financial standards of your friends online. You might make some reasonable goals and completely change the way you view money. You might even have fun.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“you pursue the right goal in the wrong way, you still end up in the wrong place.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“To deal with our secret rules, we have to do three things: Identify them. Destroy them. Replace them.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“The bigger rule was “For something to count, it has to be difficult.” A lot of high performers carry that sort of secret rule along with them. If an exercise is enjoyable and you have fun doing it, it must not count.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“The tricky thing is that “until” often wears a cloak of responsibility. It pretends that it’s not about being lazy but rather about making sure everything is in order before you start. It would be foolish to come up with a great invoice system until I really know what my business is about. Once I have a core mission, the rest of the pieces will fall into place, but until then, it would be wasted effort.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“Unfortunately, perfectionism dies slowly. It’s persistent and particularly dangerous because it masquerades as excellence”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“Accomplishing a goal is a lot less like taking a train across country and a lot more like driving a bumper car.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“According to studies, 92 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“You’ve got to have fun, cut your goal in half, choose what things you’ll bomb, and a few other actions you won’t see coming at first.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“The less that people aimed for perfect, the more productive they became.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“Goals you refuse to chase don't disappear — they become ghosts that haunt you. Do you know why strangers rage at each other online and are so quick to be angry and offended these days? Because their passion has no other outlet. When you refuse to deal in joy, you don't quit being emotional; you just funnel all that fury somewhere else. Many a troll was born from the heartache of a goal he dared not finish. Maybe a troll is just someone who lost to perfectionism so many times he gave up on his own goals and decided to tear down someone else's.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“Kids are a crisis. They're a beautiful crisis, but they're a crisis nonetheless.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“Your emotions cloud your judgment. They form a perfect smoke screen for denial, making your path in life feel murky and confusing. In the fog of feelings, it’s hard to see what’s really happening. Data doesn’t lie, though. It is not swayed by emotion. It is not subject to the drunken whims of feelings. Disaster is always the final destination of denial.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“Instead of saying “until,” they say, “if . . . then.” They claim that if they pursue their goal something bad will happen. Maybe the finish will turn them into a monster. Maybe they will turn into a bad person. Either way, because they’re wise and good guys, they just can’t pursue their finish. Often, the second kind of noble obstacle shows up in finances.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“done, we will never work. There will always be one more amazing distraction. Our minds will do anything to avoid the challenge of focusing on something. The second you hear the word “until” pop into your mouth, spit it out like Brussels sprouts that have been served without bacon. You can always tell how gross a vegetable is by how much bacon has to be added to it to do all the heavy lifting.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“Until” is just perfectionism wearing a Halloween costume.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“Want to create a reward you really love? When new ideas or new goals get shiny, put them at the finish line. Don’t try to grow callous to the shiny objects; if anything, let them gleam. Let them be brighter than the noonday sun. Just make sure they point the way to the finish line. No podcast until the book is done.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

“Hiding places are tricky like that. They make you feel like you’re doing well when in reality you’re not getting anywhere on your most important projects.”
― Jon Acuff, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done