The goal isn’t to finish, the goal is to begin
What’s stopping you from starting that new project or habit? Are you setting your sights too far ahead, worrying about the finish line instead of taking your first step? In this episode, I explore how progress is built one action at a time, and why focusing on getting started unlocks personal and business growth. What would happen if you let go of perfection, and allowed yourself to be a beginner more often?
Listen to this new 8-minute episode for motivation, practical examples, and a challenge to take one small step toward your next big goal—today.
If you have any questions about anything in this, or any of my podcasts, or have a suggestion for a topic or guest, please reach out directly to me at [email protected] or visit my website Podcast.AlanBerg.com
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View the full transcript on Alan’s site: https://alanberg.com/blog/
The goal isn’t to finish. The goal is to begin. Listen to this episode. See where I’m going. Hey, it’s Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast.
I just finished listening to a book called The Overthinker’s Guide to Making Decisions by Joseph Wynn. It was a really short audiobook, and this was one of the quotes inside the book.
The goal isn’t to finish. The goal is to begin.
There are so many different ways this has been expressed throughout the ages by me, in books and in presentations and things. Those of you that have read my book You, Attitude for Success—if you’re watching the video, it’s the red cover book over my shoulder—I have a story in there called “Don’t Paint the House.” And “Don’t Paint the House” is the same thing.
It’s a story of a friend of mine who kept complaining that she didn’t have time to paint the house that she bought. One day I told her, “Don’t paint the house.”
She said, “But I need to paint the house.”
I said, “Yeah, I know you do, but you don’t have the time.”
She said, “Exactly.”
I said, “Right, so why don’t you just paint one wall?”
She said, “What do you mean?”
I said, “Well, you can’t paint a whole house today. Why don’t you just try to paint one wall today?”
If she had painted one wall a week since she moved into the house, the whole house would have been painted—and then some.
But she didn’t have a ladder. She didn’t have brushes. She didn’t have paint. She didn’t have those little chips with the colors on them. She didn’t have drop cloths.
She didn’t have any of that stuff, because each of those is a step.
That’s where this same thought reminded me that the goal isn’t to finish—the goal is to start. Because you can’t finish anything if you haven’t started it.
So what are you looking to accomplish, and what can you do to get started?
Getting started doesn’t mean something big. Like with my friend, going to whatever store she wanted—Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ace Hardware, the paint store—and getting some of those little paint chips with the colors. That’s getting started.
Then getting drop cloths, rollers, trays, brushes, and the things you need to do this. In her case, she had some high ceilings. I said, “Okay, there’s a pole you can put the roller on so you don’t have to get on a ladder to reach all the way up there.”
You don’t have to borrow a ladder, rent a ladder, buy a ladder.
A ladder is a great thing to have. I have one. I can’t even count how many ladders I have of different sizes in the house because you always need them.
I actually gifted a ladder to my son recently that I bought—well, I shouldn’t say how long ago—that he’ll give to his son, who will give it to his son or daughter, and so on and so forth. It’s such a good-quality ladder. But I digress.
This is about getting started.
So what is it that you want to do?
Some of you have seen me posting my milestones on Duolingo with my French lessons. I say every time, this isn’t to brag—it’s to give you incentive.
I didn’t get to 1,800-plus days doing at least one French lesson a day in a row without starting the first day, and then the next day, and the next, and every morning.
Even if it’s just one lesson. Even if it’s just something quick—matching some words or something—I do at least one lesson a day. That’s how I’m at 1,800 and change, whatever it is these days.
But I had to get started.
There are other things I’ve gotten started. I started learning ASL—American Sign Language. I didn’t continue. I did get started. I didn’t finish. I do want to get back to it.
Every time I see a video of someone communicating that way, it reminds me. I just saw a great one with a football player on the sidelines signing with a deaf kid who was a big fan. It was wonderful.
I can’t communicate that way, and it’s something I’d like to do.
I’ll get started again someday. But it’s about continuing. I did get a little bit. I know a few things. I know how to say hi. I know how to say thank you. I remember some of the letters. I don’t know if I remember how to spell my name.
When it becomes my priority, I’ll do that.
So the question for you is: what’s your priority?
What is it that would be important for you to be able to do, to be able to finish—or to be able to get started so you’re further along?
I don’t think I’m ever going to finish learning a language. I believe I’m still learning English words. Words come up every once in a while that I don’t know. I might ask Siri, or look it up.
We watch Jeopardy. You’re watching a movie, reading an article, and there’s a word.
We’re still learning.
I know I’m still learning Spanish. Even though I can present in Spanish and have conversations, I’m still learning. I’m not trying to finish.
That reminds me of my days doing taekwondo. There was no end. I got a black belt. That wasn’t the end. I got a second-degree black belt. That wasn’t the end.
The end for me was when I hurt my back and had to stop training. That was the end. But I intended to keep going.
I have friends who’ve gone way past that—fifth-, sixth-, seventh-degree black belts. It’s a lifelong thing.
Lifelong learning is really what this is about.
So the goal isn’t to finish. The goal is to begin.
I didn’t used to read books. I didn’t make the time. I love reading, but I didn’t do it.
It’s funny—when I was a kid, I didn’t love reading. I was a math guy. I loved math and science.
Says a guy who’s written 13 books and is working on number 14 now.
Now I love audiobooks because I can consume so many I’d never have time to read.
When I’m driving, I listen. On a treadmill, walking through an airport, going out for a walk—I listen.
Audible said I listened to 60-something books this year and 70-something last year. I didn’t finish them all.
Sometimes you start a book and think, “Eh, not really feeling it.”
I realized recently that I don’t like some fiction. I have a hard time with old English language. Some people love it—it’s just not my thing.
I started a book and couldn’t finish it because I couldn’t get into it.
Other books—1984, Don Quixote—those were interesting. But this one had a lot of older English language, and I just couldn’t continue.
So anyway, I got started.
I didn’t finish.
How would I have known that if I hadn’t gotten started?
It’s still early in the year. Not that you need the beginning of a year to get started. I don’t believe in resolutions.
Any time is a good day to get started. Any day that ends in the letter Y is a good day to get started.
So what do you want to get started with today?
Whatever it is, take one step toward that. Don’t think about finishing. Think about getting started.
Think about taking the next step, and the next step—just like when a baby learns to walk.
One step. Next step. Next step.
That’s the challenge for you: get yourself started.
Then one day, maybe you’ll finish. Or maybe it’s just another lifelong journey of learning, like me.
Thanks for listening.
I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is [email protected] or you can text, use the short form on this page, or call +1.732.422.6362, international 001 732 422 6362. I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.
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