“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning…” (Ecclesiastes 7:8 [ESV])
Have you ever been cornered by someone who is uber excited about their new thing they are starting and they just have to tell you all about it? They are eager, positive, energetic, and sometimes pushy to get you to join in their excitement.
While I can’t fully explain why, I wake up every morning a very skeptical person. When someone is pushing me to join their excitement about a new or future thing, they have a bit of a mountain to climb. I’m a slow adopter of new things.
The Preacher of Ecclesiastes tells us that we do well to pay attention to the end of things- not the beginning. Take a moment to think through this reality and its effect on your life.
Ideas are endless. You likely have 10-50 great ideas every day- that new personal discipline you want to start, a business idea, a way to make the line at this restaurant move faster, a project you would like to undertake, the bathroom you plan to remodel, the car that needs fixing… We have good ideas all the time. They are endless.
Initial Friction is Real. Taking something from an idea to reality is really difficult. You may have found that telling someone else your great idea and expecting them to turn that into reality is much easier!
Have you ever pushed a car? What’s the hardest part? Getting it moving! Or getting yourself moving to decide to actually push the car!
Initial friction is difficult in everything. Starting a blog. Writing a book. Planting a church. Asking that girl out on the first date. Starting a business. Walking into the recruiter’s office. These things are really difficult.
But if it’s worth doing, especially if it is something you believe God is calling you to do, take that first step. Move the thing from idea into reality. Get after it.
“If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” (G.K. Chesterton)
This quote is especially true at the beginning of a thing. You’re not going to walk up to a piano and intuitively know how to play it. You’re not going to wake up tomorrow and have a business that you started miracle itself into reality. You’re not going to be awesome at that new personal discipline that you’re starting the first week.
It will feel awkward, clunky, and embarrassing. In fact, you just might be horrible at it. But that’s okay, because… It’s not how you start.
This mantra defines my life in so many ways. Here is just a small sampling of my initial failures in life.
I failed to meet the standard of my first official Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test.
In learning my job in the Marines, I failed the first test they placed in front of me.
In my first tour of duty as a Marine, I received 2 Non-Punitive Letters of Caution (for really bone-headed, stupid things… nothing noble I can assure you).
My first sermon could be classified as rambling and monotone. Also, someone said, “It sounded like a Marine trying to preach a sermon.” Point taken…
In my own evaluation of my marriage, I think I was a lousy husband our first 3-5 years of marriage. (The few times I’ve said that around my wife, she didn’t jump in to correct me!)
I could go on, but the point is not to depress me or to make me out to be a martyr. The reality is that God has redeemed each one of these things in my life. Some of these initial failures turned around relatively quickly, others took years, some are still very much a work in process.
I’m so thankful that it’s not how you start that matters.
So what is it? Perhaps this is late in an article to tell you the answer, but I’m thankful you’ve stuck with me. Here you go:
It’s not how you start; it’s that you start.
It’s not how you start; it’s that you keep going.
It’s not how you start; it’s that you finish well.
It’s not how you start; it’s that you learn all throughout the process- before, during, and after the worthy thing that you’re doing.
These are the things that matter. Ideas are easy. Talking about things being awesome that aren’t yet awesome is easy. Expecting someone else to carry out your “great idea” is easy.
Do the hard work that God is calling you to do.
What is God calling you to do today? Get after it!
I love you guys,
Brian O’Day
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