Strong Finishes

My observation the other day about finishing strong stands true.

What occurs to me though is a reason that may stand out beyond all other reasons to finish strong. I got this insight while weight training with my friend and stress management advisor Juju Poogie (http://www.jujupoogie.com/) and his brother and another long time friend of mine, John.

We were in the process of finishing our last few sets. We began to discuss a workout we did about a week ago doing lunges on a football field near our homes in Atlanta. We lunged the field and immediately lunged back and then did it once more. . .It wore me out. What I recall however, was how actually going harder at the end made it easier to finish. Juju said, push harder when he sensed me feeling fatigued.

Interestingly, I also recently heard a triathlon coach talk about the phenomena of "hitting the wall" in a race. He actually said rather than slowing down--SPEED UP! He instructed his athletes to do this and stated that 95% of them that in earnest speed up vs. slow down experience a greater ability to get past or over the wall better than when they slow down.

So today we are closing in on our second to last set with the weights and I determined that I would actually push harder on the second to last and last set than I had throughout the workout. (Don't get me wrong, I was working hard the whole time, I just stepped it up a little ;-))

In putting that idea into my mind, the weight that I was pushing seemed easier and I was left with a great sense of accomplishment and fulfillment with the workout. I always get something from a workout, but not necessarily fulfillment in the sense that I could transfer the energy of that commitment into other things that I am up to.

How strong are we finishing? If we understand that the whole idea of finishing is a temporary phenomena and while the concept of starting and finishing exists, we are always in perpetual motion. If we can understand the concept at its core we recognize this is all about momentum.

Within the dynamics of start to finish to start again an energy of commitment exists. President-elect Obama knows it. Finish strong: win the popular vote, win states democrats rarely win, dominate in the electoral college=move into the White House powerfully. Simple:

Strong finishes create strong starts.

When we finish strongly and do so consistently we can create an unstoppable energy of commitment that is so highly concentrated, that upon completion of one thing we are doing, it propels us powerfully into the next thing, regardless of what it is. You finishing strongly will start your next endeavor off in a way that gives you the the energy of success regardless of the outcome.

FINISHING STRONG=POWERFUL STARTS in whatever you are up to whether it is job seeking or studying for your boards, vying for a promotion, or running for public office. If you want an awesome career and an incredible life, finish strong without excuse every time!