Finish

(Portfolio)

 

You can start but can you finish?

 

Author: Jon Acuff

Genre: Motivational

Reader Appeal: Teens and Adults

 

I won’t lie to you (whoever you are) but I’m a starter. I start books, crafts, diets, exercise programs, journals and the list goes on. I would say I’m a self-starter. I’m a terrible finisher. I’m crossing my fingers in hopes that I finish this review. If only there were a book that would motivate me to Finish….

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Ah, here it is: FInish by Jon Acuff.

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Acuff is on point in his latest book. He’s written other books called Start, Quitter and Do Over. I’ve done all those things and now Jon is going to motivate me to finish. Whether it’s a book you’re writing, or a diet you can’t seem to master, or an exercise program that sits on your shelf collecting dust (P90X anyone) You have what it takes to finish, you only need to learn some key things about yourself and your goal.

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I am a list master. Not just grocery and to do lists, I have lists of books I want to read, places I want to see, goals I want to accomplish before the end of the month, the year and before my next birthday. My problem is I change these lists to make up for my lack of finishing skills. Which may not be a bad thing, but it’s not necessarily a good thing. Almost every chapter of Finish ends with actions to help you along the way to finishing your goals. I appreciate this because, to reiterate, I am a list maker and Jon gave me lists. It’s like he knows me.

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There are some things here that were not new; like rewarding yourself when you finish a goal. My reward is always gummy bears. There were also some things that I never really thought about.  For instance, choose what to bomb and succeed at a goal that matters. I like it. I’ll try it.

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Now here is where I tell you how I found out about Jon Acuff. He has a goal to read 100 books a year. As an avid reader myself, I was more than a little intrigued. I want to read 100 books a year, I might even settle for half, (which is also an action he mentions, cutting your goal in half). I began to follow him on every platform of social media, and he’s easy to find, this man is all over Facebook, Instagram and all the others. How does he read 100 books a year? He makes it fun and rewarding (did I mention my affinity for gummy bears)? Most importantly he makes the rules.

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This book has challenged me to finish some things I’ve started. I’ve got a closet full of crafts, books in my bookcase with bookmarks in them, and as for P90X, well I’ll just choose to bomb that.

 

Let's Talk About It

Use these questions to spark discussion among family members who are interested in this book:

 

• What do you feel like you need to finish? Explain.

• How are you motivated? By rewards, by fear or by gummy bears?

• When was the last time you set an important goal. What are you going to do about it? Make a list.

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--JH

 

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