To do things halfway means to leave the job or task unfinished, to fail to do much that was necessary or expected, to take half measures.
Normally, we wouldn’t drive to the middle of nowhere, turn around and come back. Likewise, we wouldn’t just climb up the stairs or walk into a room, then turn around and climb back down again or walk back from where we started (unless of course we forgot what we were going there for!).
It’s said that we need to “Be all in or get all out. There is no halfway.” And this is true isn’t it, halfway measures don’t get the job done and leaves things unfinished and incomplete.
It could be said as John Updike said, “Halfway isn’t all the way, but it’s better than no way”. Whilst this might be true, in that it’s better to get started than do nothing, but we don’t achieve anything if we never finish what we started.
When we set goals, we need to set them believing we can finish them. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
Are you one of these people who start jobs or tasks and never finish them?
Are you someone who is a finisher, a completer, someone who always gets the job done no matter what?
It’s interesting that whichever one you are, there are similarities, in that the reason some of us don’t finish tasks is that we are a perfectionist and the job’s not done until it’s perfect. Whilst the completer or finisher may still be a perfectionist but likes a ‘tidy desk’ or job sheet and just wants to finish the job before going home no matter what.
To enable us not to be a halfway Harry or Harriet, we need to look at why we only get halfway and stop.
To help us do this, we can plan our tasks or goals in more detail by considering what obstacles there may be that might hinder us and work out other options or a ‘Plan B’ as well as focusing on the feeling we will have when the job is complete.
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