Hi friends!
It’s been a while since I last wrote on Learn + Grow. I’m back to my 5am routine and working on my book again, which means more writing and more posts coming your way.
At least, that’s the plan. No promises! 😄
Most of us don’t have a starting problem. We have a finishing problem.
Yes, I know. We usually blame ourselves for not starting. Stay with me for a minute.
Chores like taking out the garbage, folding laundry, or unloading the dishwasher are still some of my favorite “productive breaks.” I put on an audiobook or podcast and get them done.
I had taken out the garbage a million times. All the bags from around the house, into the big bin outside. Every time.
A few weeks ago, I realized I didn’t put a fresh garbage bag back in the bins until I had Aiden’s poopy diaper to throw. Then I thought back, and I saw I had skipped that step pretty much every time. (In my defense, the empty bin looked perfectly happy. It didn’t complain once.)
And it wasn’t just the garbage.
After dinner, I’d load the dishwasher, wipe the table, put the leftovers away, and clean the counters. Then I’d walk away and leave one thing behind. A pan that needed washing by hand. A cutting board by the sink. A spice jar that never made it back to the cabinet.
It happened so often that, whenever it was my turn to clean the kitchen, Colleen would jokingly ask:
“Is this going to be 100% clean?”
At first, I felt offended. To save face, I’d tell her something like, well, “80% done by someone else is 100% better than doing it yourself.” (It’s a real inside joke of ours about delegating.) But deep down, I was ashamed.
Maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal. But underneath, it was a real question: can I count on you to finish?
So why do I stop at 90%?
I’ve thought about this a lot, and honestly, I’m still not 100% sure.
Maybe it’s my ADHD brain, which constantly wants to move on to the next thing. Maybe I lose the excitement at the last step.
And honestly, it’s different for everyone. Some people find it hard to start, but once they get going, they finish strong. Some do their best work in the middle. For me, the hard part is the last 10%. That’s just how my brain is wired.
So it’s worth figuring out for yourself. Which part excites you the most? And which part needs a little motivation, or maybe just a reminder?
It’s not that the last step is hard. Putting a bag in a bin is nothing. Neither is one more dish.
I suppose the problem is that the last step feels optional. The big work is done. My brain says, “Good enough. You’ve earned a break.”
Does it really matter if it’s just the dishes?
Well, here is the thing. I don’t think it’s really about the dishes.
If I stop at 90% in the kitchen, when nobody is grading me, I have to ask myself an honest question. Where else am I doing this? In my work? With my team? With my friends?
I didn’t love the answer. (Not great. Be better, Anil.)
Take work, for example. With a new project, I’m great at planning the project. I build a solid plan with clear instructions, and I share it with everyone involved.
But once I delegate to someone on my team, it feels like the job is done, and I move on to the next thing. When I did an honest audit of some of my recent goals in my business, I found the same pattern: dropping the ball in the last 10%.
Looking back, I should have made sure my team had everything they needed, scheduled milestone check-ins, and made sure it stayed on track.
I’m excited about the first 90%, and I lose steam in the last 10%.
There’s a story I keep coming back to here. I first read it in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, and it stuck with me because it’s so simple.
It’s about Steve Jobs’s father, Paul. Isaacson writes:
“It was important, his father said, to craft the backs of cabinets and fences properly, even though they were hidden.”
And then this line about Paul:
“And Steve remembered his dad this way: He loved doing things right. He even cared about the look of the parts you couldn’t see.”
The point is, nobody checks the back of the cabinet.That’s exactly why it tells you who built it.
That’s my fresh garbage bag. Nobody sees it. Nobody thanks you for it. But it’s the part that says, “I finished this.”
James Clear wrote about this in his 3-2-1 newsletter. Sometimes, he says, the first move matters most. But other times, it’s the last one:
“The last brick. Now the building is built.”
In other words, the last step isn’t a small extra. It’s the step that turns almost done into done.
What does finishing look like on a normal day?
Honestly, nothing dramatic. It’s usually tiny. Most days, it’s a few extra seconds or a few extra minutes. That’s it.
At home, maybe it’s the last dish, the fresh bag, the spice jar. Then the job is actually done, and nobody has to clean up after you.
As a parent, maybe it’s getting the kids ready for bed. The 100% is making sure they’re wearing socks and taking them to the bathroom one last time.
With your partner, maybe it’s not just booking the trip, but sending the itinerary too, so they never have to ask what time the flight is.
At work, maybe it’s the recap after the meeting. The introduction you promised. The handoff notes nobody asked for, but everybody needs.
None of these are big. Nobody will clap for them, and nobody will put them on your performance review. That’s the point. The last 10% is almost always small, and that’s exactly why it’s so easy to skip.
Am I perfect at this now?
Not even close.
Just the other day, when I finished watering our plants, I just stuffed the hose back in its spot. My father-in-law, Tim, was watching, and very kindly, he showed me the right way (the 100% way) to do the job:
Make sure the tap is fully closed.
Make sure the hose is completely empty and any leftover water in the pipe is fully drained.
Roll the hose up the right way, so it’s not all tangled and next time you need it, it’s easy.
I still catch myself walking away from the sink with one thing left. The difference is, now I notice it. And most of the time, I turn around.
Now, every time I take out the trash, I put a fresh bag in every bin. It sounds silly, but it’s become a tiny reminder of the kind of person I want to be. Someone people can count on.
And I like to think Colleen asks her question a little less often these days. (I’ll let her be the judge of that.)
Because in my opinion, trust isn’t built in the big moments. Not in the big speech. Not in the big launch.
It’s built in the quiet ones, when you could stop at 90% and nobody would notice, and you go all the way to 100%, even 110%, anyway.
So, as your friend, here’s my humble suggestion.
This week, pick ONE thing you usually leave at 90%. Just one. And take it all the way to 100%.
Then ask yourself: What’s the last 10% I keep skipping?
You might be surprised how much finishing the small things changes the way you show up for the big ones.
👋 Until next time, Anil / CEO and Co-Founder of Multidots, Multicollab, and Dotstore.
May the Peaceful Growth be with you! 🪴
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