I’m notoriously bad at finishing projects. The stages of my life could probably be demarkated by these unfinished jobs. Trying to build a computer case out of wood, trying to paint my car, trying to make music, trying to make advertisments. Perhaps I just have too much enthusiasm when finding new “passions”. The romance of becoming a master at a new discipline moves me to start something new. That is untill the feeling fades and I’m left with a bunch of half used craft supplies. But I’ve come to a realization about the importance of finishing a project and how to do it.
So why should you finish? The critical junction where people give up is when things get hard. Maybe you don’t know how to make something look just right, or what to include to connect the pieces together. But by working through the difficulties, you learn a lot about that specific domain. If you get stuck in a woodworking project because you don’t know how to join pieces together. Persevering might teach you a new technique for creating joints. This new skill will not only help you in future projects but can also reshape the way you approach them. Say you give up on the project and try to build something else. You’re going to hit a dead end eventually and when you do you’ll be primed to give up. Struggling through it is all part of the learning process. Maybe this project you learn how to make different joints, on the next project you learn how to use glue or flanges or modeling software. And eventually you’ll have so many aderondak chairs you wont know what to do with them other than give them away and impress your friends and family.
Now you’ve decided you want to become a master carpenter, or programmer, or fisher(man/woman/nb). How do you make it past those critical junctions? The key is to give yourself permission to do a bad job. The expectation that each stroke of the pen will be your best is a foolish one. It get’s in the way. That’s not to say that you should do a bad job, or that you shouldn’t pride yourself on good work but that a bad job is sufficient and sometimes necessary. Especially if you’re just starting out, doing bad work is essential. But eventually, after so many missteps and errors, and with a little bit of guidance, you’ll do a decent job… maybe even a good job.