Why You Can’t Finish What You Start (And How to Fix It)

A week ago, I began writing a newsletter but I didn’t finish it completely. I did the ideation, I did the brainstorming and research but then I completely stopped working on it.

I started a 90 day challenge to publish articles on Medium and posts on Instagram and X consistently but after like 5 days I broke my streak.

I have decided to learn a lot of skills, but I never really stuck with any of them for a long period of time to become proficient.

For example, I started learning copywriting. I read books, studied copy, handwritten sales pages, just did every exercise people recommend in the copywriting space but I didn’t stay consistent with it.

If you’re able to relate with all these. This article is for you.

Today, I’m going to share with you the real reasons we struggle to finish what we start and the new rule that I’m going to follow from now on to avoid this.

Let’s begin.

The Real Reasons We Quit

1) Lack of Clarity

I think lack of clarity is the primary reason we struggle to finish what we start.

For example, I didn’t have a crystal clear process in my mind when I decided to write a newsletter.

I said,

• On day one I’ll ideate and brainstorm,
• On day two I’ll research and outline, and
• On day three I will write and edit.

I did ideate and brainstorm because I knew how to do them.

I also did my research. But outline, that’s were I got stuck.

I didn’t know how to go about that. I collected a lot of raw materials. My screen was filled with a bunch of ideas and I didn’t know how to arrange them properly.

It felt overwhelming.

So instead of finding out a way, I started working on a completely new newsletter (new topic). And faced the same problem there as well.

Now, I’ve decided to figure out a way no matter what before I can move to writing my next newsletter.

Because think about it, if I figure out a way once, I can use it to write all my newsletters.

So if you get stuck on a project, don’t start a new project, just sit and figure out a way to finish the project you’re already working on. It’ll help you finish your next project 2x faster.

2) The “Will it work or not?” Trap

The second reason we don’t finish what we start is questions like,

“Will it work or not?”

“Am I wasting my time doing this for nothing?”

“I’m not getting anywhere, why am I even doing this?”

Let’s say someone starts posting on Instagram and for every post they are getting millions of views. In that case, it’s easy for them to keep posting because those views motivate them. (Just hypothetical)

But if someone posts and no one cares, it only demotivates them to post every day. And that’s exactly what happens in reality.

How can we stay motivated even when we’re not seeing any progress?

We need to approach this with a different mindset.

Instead of aiming to grow an audience and get thousands or millions of views, we should aim for learning and experimenting. We should go from “I’m going to write every day because it will help me grow an audience and make money” to “I’m going to write every day to become an amazing writer. I’m going to write every day to become a better thinker. I’m going to write every day and learn how the platform works.”

How do you learn social media?

By posting every day and seeing what works and what doesn’t work and doing more of what works.

And by looking at what other people are doing and studying their content and implementing what you learned in your content.

3) When the Excitement Fades

At the start it feels exciting.

Let’s say a guy watches a video about “Learning AI skills will make you future-proof, you’ll be able to make more money, you’ll never have to work a 9–5 job again, etc. etc.”

Then he starts learning. The desires the video told him he will achieve from learning AI skills will motivate him to start. Then once he starts he realizes it’s not that easy than he thought it was.

His excitement and motivation slowly starts to fade away and he quits.

What you need understand is this: There is a phase we need to go through to learn any skill. Let’s call it the Hard Phase. That phase may last for 2 or 3 or even 6 months.

But if you get through that phase, you’ll become extremely good at the skill you were learning.

If you’ve read Atomic Habits you know the concept of “Valley of Disappointment”, it’s a period where you see zero progress and it feels like nothing is happening. And after a long period everything happens at once.

The Solution: Do 100 Before Quitting

Here’s the mental model I’m adopting: commit to 100 repetitions before you even consider quitting.

Want to start a YouTube channel? Make 100 videos. Don’t know anything about YouTube right now? That’s fine. By video 100, you’ll be a different creator. You’ll understand thumbnails, pacing, hooks, editing, what your audience responds to. The skills compound with each repetition.

Want to learn writing? Put in 100 hours. One hour a day for 100 days. By the end, you’ll write better than 90% of people on this planet.

The beauty of the 100 rule is it removes the daily decision fatigue. You’re not asking “should I quit?” after every session.

You’ve already decided: 100 times, no matter what. Your brain will absolutely try to negotiate with you around rep 15, 30, 50. It’ll serve up perfectly rational reasons to stop. Expect this. It’s part of the Hard Phase. Push through anyway.

Why This Works: Neural Pathways

Neurologically, when we start something new, our brain doesn’t have strong neural pathways for it. That’s why it feels difficult to do them.

Once we build strong neural pathways for an activity or behavior it becomes easy, in fact second nature.

To build neural pathways repetition is the key. Write every day for 100 days you’ll build strong neural pathways for writing.

Make 1 video a week for 1 year you’ll build strong neural pathways for making videos (also build a habit and learn a lot of stuff about making videos on YouTube along the way).

The path forward is clear: Get clarity on your process, shift your mindset from results to learning, commit to the 100 rule, and show up consistently at the same time and place. Your brain will fight you. Expect it. Push through anyway.

Hope it was helpful.

See you again.

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P.S. If you just take away one thing from this article. Let it be this: JUST SHOW UP EVERY DAY.