Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Finish summary
Jon Acuff
Give Yourself the Gift of Done
Listen to the first key idea
Key idea 1 of 6
4.4 (185 ratings)
14 mins
6 key ideas
Audio & text
What is Finish about?
Finish (2017) is a guidebook for anyone who loves starting new projects but always struggles to complete them. You’ll discover how the real enemy to getting things done isn’t laziness, but rather the voice of the disgruntled perfectionist we all have inside us. This valuable advice can help you reduce needless, self-imposed pressure, giving you the opportunity to finish what you’ve started and be more productive.
About the Author
Jon Acuff began his current career with a popular blog and has become a sought-after public speaker who’s inspired many to live a happier, more productive life. He is also the creator of “30 Days of Hustle,” an online challenge to help people reach their goals. His other books include the New York Times best sellers, Start, Do Over and Quitter.
Table of Contents
Key idea 1 of 6
Nothing in life is perfect, and the real work of finishing a project begins after the first sign of imperfection.
We’ve all been there: you start an exciting new project, but somewhere along the line, it stalls and remains unfinished. Our excuses are always the same, as we’ll tell ourselves or others that “life just got in the way,” or “I was never able to get back on track.”
But if we’re being truthful, a more accurate explanation is “I quit once it stopped being perfect,” because the real roadblock to finishing our projects is perfectionism.
Any plan can be ruined by perfectionism. Once, the author, Jon Acuff, began a new year with an ambitious new exercise regime. It started off perfectly, with over 70 miles run in the months of February, March and April. But then came May, and he only completed eight miles, followed by June, with only three. With his excellent streak ruined, Acuff gave up.
Acuff had the same thought a lot of us have: “If it’s not perfect, then it’s not worth doing.” But this is dangerous thinking, because nothing in life is perfect and no one should go around thinking everything will go their way. If we limit ourselves to perfect work, we’d never accomplish anything!
Instead, it’s best to expect imperfection and understand that when it arrives, the real work begins.
It’s normal for imperfection to arrive first thing on Monday morning. Before you even sit down at your desk, there may well be multiple problems that need fixing. How you deal with these imperfections, and how you proceed once they arrive, is what determines your success in meeting goals.
In fact, it’s the actions on the day after something went wrong that separate the quitters from the achievers. Did you skip the gym and sleep in instead? Did your diet go out the window after you devoured a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts one afternoon?
The day after imperfections like these are when you need to accept that life is messy, and push on with your goals. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that excellence can only be achieved through perfection when, in reality, perfectionism is the killer of excellence.
Want to see all full key ideas from Finish?
Key ideas in Finish
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
Who should read Finish
- Creative types struggling to finish projects
- Anyone who wants to build their self-esteem
- Ambitious people looking for new avenues of self-improvement
Categories with Finish
Books like Finish
What our members say
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
Start growing with Blinkist now
25 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers