Hi everyone!
I am often asked how I make sure I finish the projects I start.
This is one of the reasons I wrote How to Be Creative (and more recently Voices from the Void): so I can describe some of the techniques I rely on.
No technique matters, however, unless you understand one core principle:
You must know your target!
Years ago, the CTO stated a company objective that simply said: “Stay on target!”
As a sci fi geek, I obviously knew the reference and if you’re reading this, you probably do.
It stuck with me because it helped me realise something: I tend to do exactly that. It’s not laser focus (or even “proton torpedo focus”…!), other things can also exist. It’s knowing what “done” looks like, and then a level of commitment to do the things that you have decided you will.
Importantly, this isn’t about other people, it’s about yourself – your destination, your aspirations and your own measures. Most people lose focus right when they are closest to the finish line. They stop looking at the goal and get distracted by new ideas. You need to find that motivation in the right place… and usually that’s from inside. Extrinsic motivation will often push you in new directions before you finish.
That is why so many techniques in How to Be Creative focus on understanding what you are trying to achieve, what completed looks like, and how you will measure success: if you do not know your target, you cannot stay on target.
Before any creative endeavour, or almost any endeavour at all, take the time to define your goal clearly. Decide how you will know when you have reached it.
Only then can you determine how you are going to achieve it.
– Ed
