Enjoy The Peace That Comes From Embracing Completion

My journey with my word for the year this year has been interesting. Honestly, normally I choose a word…and then I forget about it mostly – occasionally noticing that I’m experiencing less joy or more abundance or deepening creativity, but largely not taking much notice of what the word is unravelling in my life. This year is different though. Not only is peace not a word I would have chosen myself…but the different aspects of peace have been unveiling themselves to me.

It began with the word completion – which came to me a few times in the first few days of the year. It’s no surprise – over the last few years, I have got better at finishing things…mostly. For example, I finished my book, edited it, released it…but the page for it is still a bit slap-dash, and when I look at my list of things undone, there’s quite a lot on there.

Another example: I “finished” the workshop at Christmas, but in January I was still finishing off some bonus material, the sales page, and I only just got the cover image done. The trouble with incompletion is that the unfinished business nags at you, bloats your to-do list, and has you saying (for months and years) “oh shit, I still need to do my Goodreads profile/send the book to review sites/polish the sales page so it doesn’t look like it was cobbled together in 2 minutes flat”. Ahem.

All that stuff weighs on your mind, even if you’ve forgotten about it, it’s still there lurking in your ‘incomplete’ box and taking energy to ignore/remember/forget. Energy that you could use to complete the new project you’re working on now. If you’re anything like me (and several of my clients), you are brilliant at dreaming up fabulous new ideas and starting them…but not necessarily finishing them or completing the project.

Because life is busy – there are new and shiny things to run after; so many ideas to chase and to choose…and completion is a drag! It’s pernickity and precise and bitty and bloody endless! But it’s also the final touches, the sparkle, the silver bow on the present, the icing on the cake. It’s also kind of the best bit. Because you’ve done all the hard work – you’re 90% of the way there. There’s just a little bit of presentation to do, and then you can move on.

But instead of moving on with a load of unfinished tasks hanging over your head, stressing you out and disturbing your peace, you’re moving on having completed. Having totally done everything you needed to do (for now…with many things there will be continued maintenance), you can move on to the next thing with a clear mind, a sense of a job well done, and peace in your heart.

And that’s been the driving force for me to embrace completion. To have peace, I need completion. Because otherwise every time I look at the projects I ‘finished’, I will remember that there’s more to do. I will know that the sales page is messy. I will know that I haven’t done everything I could, that I was hasty, sloppy and negligent. Bah. This is not a route to peace, zen and joy.

I know, I’ve been living it for a while – I get to 80-90% done and I think ‘that’ll do; I’ll do the rest later’ and move on to something more interesting…and then come back a year later and think ‘oh dear God, what is that chaotic jumble I’ve left there?’ Cue another addition to the to do list. So I’m imagining completing these projects. Properly. Fully. Getting the help when I need it. Doing all I can, then move on. And it feels great – the idea that I can go into the next project knowing I’ve done a good job. Yes!

By the way, I am not talking about being perfectionistic here – that is the last thing I want to do myself or for you to do. I am talking about getting a project to a point that I can let it go, without thinking ‘oh, I still need to do x, y, z and b’, without 48 things still on the ‘to do’ list. I will never stop marketing and selling my book or workshop, but there will come a point where marketing both will merge into my main business marketing – when the bulk of the work is complete.

Completion means peace. It means relaxation. It means not having a fried brain. Yes, it means taking longer than I might like to get to the next super-shiny project (and it’s a good one, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for YEARS!). Yes, it means not putting off those jobs I really don’t want to do. Yes, it means confronting the fears I have of sending my book to review sites. But those things are good – it means I’m growing and stretching myself…and also doing my best by the work I’ve created…not being half-assed and leaving them languishing in incompletion.

And it means that when I do move on, I’ll be able to give my full attention to the next project, instead of working on that while trying to finish the last bits of this and worrying about not having done 30 things I meant to do on the other. And I know I am not alone in having incompletions hanging about, draining my energy and distracting my focus. Maybe you do too? If so, join me in enjoying the peace that comes from embracing completion.