Starting is exciting.
Finishing is transformational.
Most people have good intentions.
Few people cross the finish line.
I wanted to complete my college degree just to see what everyone was talking about having a degree and what a big deal it is. There is truth there
After all the classes, assignments, deadlines, exams, projects, and paperwork, I was reminded of something very simple:
Having a diploma is not a big deal.
What you do with it is what counts.
A degree is really a license to perform.
It demonstrates that you acquired a certain amount of knowledge, stayed with the process, and completed the requirements. It says that you were willing to show up, do the work, overcome obstacles, and finish what you started.
One person told me something years ago that I never forgot.
They said:
“A college degree tells employers that you finished something.”
That stuck with me.
Whether it is a two-year degree, a four-year degree, or beyond, it proves that you stayed the course long enough to reach the finish line.
You did not quit.
You did not walk away.
You finished.
In the world of recruiters, human resource professionals, and employers, that matters.
It often means the difference between the discard pile and the follow-up pile.
Before I ever attended college, I had already enjoyed success in business.
I had built companies.
Created opportunities.
Managed people.
Solved problems.
Life had already taught me many lessons.
Still, some organizations require a minimum educational standard.
Disney, for example, has long required certain degrees for management positions.
The diploma becomes the ticket to enter the room.
What happens after that is up to you.
Along the way, I also took several self-awareness courses.
Their purpose was simple:
To help you see yourself.
What you do.
What you don’t do.
What you say.
What you avoid saying.
How you interact.
How you respond.
How you create results.
One lesson from those courses changed my life.
I discovered something uncomfortable.
I started many things…
But I did not always finish them.
Some projects reached 50%.
Some reached 75%.
Some reached 90%.
But they remained incomplete.
At first, I did not clearly see the pattern.
Once I saw it, however, I could not unsee it.
That awareness changed everything.
Because when you fail to finish things, you never really know what the outcome would have been.
You never get accurate feedback.
You never get a complete result.
You never give yourself a fair opportunity to succeed.
Instead, you carry around unfinished business in different areas of your life.
Projects.
Dreams.
Goals.
Relationships.
Plans.
Promises.
All partially completed.
All consuming energy.
All demanding attention.
I began asking myself a simple question:
Why start something if I have no intention of finishing it?
The answer wasn’t always comfortable.
Sometimes it was fear.
Sometimes distraction.
Sometimes self-doubt.
Sometimes simply a lack of discipline.
But once I identified the pattern, I could address it.
Today, I aim for completion.
Not perfection.
Completion.
Because only when something is finished can it be properly evaluated.
Only then can it be improved.
Only then can it teach you what it was meant to teach.
As I wrote in Pearls for the Soul:
“The finish line reveals what the starting line never could.”
— Richie Naggar, Pearls for the Soul
There is something deeply satisfying about finishing what you start.
It builds confidence.
It creates momentum.
It develops character.
It teaches perseverance.
It gives you proof that you can trust yourself.
And trust in yourself is a powerful thing.
Look around your life.
Is there something unfinished?
A project?
A goal?
A conversation?
A commitment?
A dream?
Maybe it is time to finish it.
Not because someone else wants you to.
Because you do.
Because completion has a reward all its own.
Boasting rights.
Satisfaction.
Peace of mind.
A sense of accomplishment.
And perhaps most importantly…
The knowledge that you went the distance.
Finish what you start.
Whatever it is.
The reward is waiting at the finish line.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you