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Commence. CHECK!

Continue. CHECK!

Complete?

Each stage of development, whether natural or spiritual, has inherent dangers.

Unfortunately, the Complete stage can be a falling-off point.

I’m guilty of this. Speaking with a friend this week, I confessed a recurring creativity sin. I throw myself all in making and creating, then fail to follow through once it’s completed.

I shape something to serve, then fail to sell.

I don’t think I’m the only one.

Take your creations seriously. Respect your readers, listeners, and audience enough to keep the engine running long past the finish line.

Once made, make sure you make ways for people to benefit from your genius.

I’m not talking about being salesy or sleazy, but for sure don’t be ashamed.

What you’ve made deserves the same attention once it’s complete as it enjoyed on the road to completion.

Maybe we should change commence-continue-complete to…

Start

Sustain

Succeed

and the fourth important factor…

SHIP!

Let’s face it. Shipping is scary. That’s why many people get the finish line writing their book or creating their course, only to let it languish on a harddrive.

This is where you go public and your ideas are tested in the real world.

The reality is, that some work, some don’t. But without shipping you’ll never know.

Make certain you ship your work!

Ask the Holy Ghost for strategies to go to market. Don’t be afraid to stand in the streets and marketplaces together with Wisdom and share your value.

“Listen! Wisdom is calling out in the streets and market places, calling loudly at the city gates and wherever people come together…” (Proverbs 1:20 GNBUK)

So many starters, so few finishers.

It’s easy to begin but hard to complete.

Why is this?

This entry into a new venture is often exciting, filled with unknowns that make you salivate.

Then reality hits and the unknowns become knowns. You know that this is harder than you first thought!

Passion wanes and impatience runs to seek a new adventure…

and so the cycle continues.

Intensity vs Consistency

In Christian and creative circles there’s much talk about passion.

Follow your passion, we’re told.

The problem is, passion, as important as it is, is insufficient to take you over.

Intensity or zeal will carry you so far, but often not over the hump. As resistant pressure rises and gravity comes into play passion must be backed by persistence. Both work together to push you uphill, over the top and rolling with the ease of mastery down the other side.

The best way to put persistence to work is consistency.

Consistency will take you a lot further than intensity. So many people make the mistake of pushing like a crazy person for a few weeks, then burning out their reserves of willpower and rolling right back to where they started, wondering why things didn’t work.

Intensity is needed. Starting from stationary requires that the engines fire.

But the effortless power behind motion is momentum. Where the weight of yesterday’s actions propel you through the following day.

To FINISH and complete what you begin requires this commitment to consistency.

That’s one reason I like “daily” as a rhythm for creation.

Daily leaves little wiggle room for excuses.

Small daily steps add up.

Creativity compounds.

and step

by

daily step

you’ll reach

THE FINISH LINE!

Finishing what you start is a non-negotiable skill.

Every victory, however small, builds belief.

Believe in yourself.

Give yourself the gift of done!

How?

Carve projects into smaller, manageable slices.

A series of finish lines to calmly conquer til you hold the winner’s cup – usually a cup of something warm with a biscuit at the end of a day well spent. 🏆☕

Go for it!

Give yourself a small slice of “done” today.

Three victorious verses to start the week…

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2 KJV)

“Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” (Ecclesiastes 7:8 KJV)

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Philippians 1:6 NLT-SE)

You too are a finisher. The patient one with a better end. A person who continues until the work is finished.

It’s in your nature, child of God.

Silence any lie that tells you otherwise!

Climbing over a thorny fence sometimes gets you snagged.

Your clothes get caught on a barb and you can’t continue until you free yourself.

Every creative endeavour has its own unique fences and barbs to navigate. Sometimes technical, sometimes emotional, sometimes spiritual.

That’s why some folks get partway and stop halfway. They get snagged!

Caught in a thought? Stopped in your tracks by attacks? Pressured to procrastinate?

It’s time to get unsnagged and continue in your resolve to reach your destination.

Why resistance builds as a project progresses:

1. More detail is required as a project grows and develops – it takes energy and attention to organise and we fall into paralysis by analysis.

2. Doubt creeps in and we question why we’re even doing this in the first place. The devil prowls around seeking to gobble up your faith and smother your initial resolve to stomp on his gnarly head.

3. The valley of ignorance opens up before us and we don’t know what to do next (this often presents itself as a technical chasm outside our skill set).

What do you do in such situations?

1. Don’t get lost in the details. Do your best, but don’t overthink. You can course-correct a moving vehicle, but it’s almost impossible to steer a stationary one. Keep your projects moving, even if execution is imperfect for now.

2. Keep your faith boots firmly on and trample your way through satan’s lies. Surround yourself with a like-minded faithful community of creative believers.

3. Do due diligence and learn some new skills. Sometimes it’s also good to ask not how but who. It’s easy to get caught saying “I don’t know how” instead of asking “Who will help me overcome this impasse?”

Are you an anointed author?

This is one reason I created the Anointed Authors program.

I know how difficult it can be to begin a book, and to continue all the way to completion and publication. There are so many snaggardy fences that stand between that first fleeting idea and pressing publish.

Most people give up long before their precious thoughts and stories are shared.

It’s also why having a cohort community of fellow travellers is often the key to breaking through. Our authors have found this aspect the most rewarding of all.

Who do you know who has been where you want to go? Reach out to them and get unsnagged.

Have you connected with other Christians on the creative road? Look for opportunities to do so and do all you can to encourage on another.

Like a car that’s come to a grinding halt sometimes you need some extra pairs of hands to get your wheels moving again.

Doors are now open for my September intake – we’ve got just 19 places (one has already gone) for first-time Christian authors to take their book ideas to the finish line.

Check out the Anointed Author’s page today and see what other writers and authors have been saying about their recent experience as they followed the pathway to published.

Always believing for your best,

David