Speaker 1: 0:06

Well, greetings and welcome back, Sweet Spotters. You did it. It is Finish Strong Friday and you're here, you're right, here with me. I'm Dr Derek Sweet, I'm a board-certified psychiatrist. I'm your host of the Sweet Spot. This is Finish Strong Friday and I want to congratulate you on making it through another week.

Speaker 1: 0:27

So, look, we've been talking about time all week. We've talked about making moves with time on Monday, we talked about taking action with time on Tuesday, with decision-making. We talked about the idea of winning against the race, right against time, on Wednesday and then trusting in both ourselves and time on Thursday. So we find ourselves here on Finish Strong Friday, with luck, completing the final push, getting there. So let's dive right in, shall we?

Speaker 1: 0:58

The idea that lost time is replaceable is not true. Lost time is never found again. Okay, that's Benjamin Franklin's quote. I love it. Lost time is never found again. My friends, time is either going to be our greatest ally or our biggest enemy.

Speaker 1: 1:14

When it comes to finishing strong, you ever feel like you start strong on something but struggle to finish. I'm in a couple of projects right now, some writing projects and man, did I start strong on them and yeah, I'm in the struggle to finish. You map out the plan, you set the goal, you get fired up, but somewhere in the middle time starts working against you. Distractions creep in, fatigue sets in the urgency fades. But here's the truth Winners don't just start strong, they finish strong, and the way you manage time determines whether you're going to cross the finish line or get stuck just short of it.

Speaker 1: 2:08

Think about the strongest relationships you have in life, whether it's personal, professional or even with yourself. What makes this relationship strong? What makes it strong? From years of working with individuals, I've come up with a couple of things, and they're simple. Consistency makes relationships strong. Commitment makes relationships strong. The ability to follow through can make a relationship strong Commitment, consistency and following through. And guess what? The same applies to your relationship with time. If you treat time with respect, it will work for you, never fails, waste it and it leaves you behind. That's the thing about time. It's merciless. That way, it'll just leave you.

Speaker 1: 3:04

Time doesn't pause for perfection, it doesn't slow down for hesitation. It moves at the same speed for everyone all the time. The difference is how we use it. So why do we struggle with completion? Why haven't I completed a couple of papers? I know that I need to complete. Well, we can lose momentum, we can get distracted, we can be overbooked, we can sort of get ourselves too booked up with a thousand different things. We can underestimate the final stretch, how hard it is to bring it home.

Speaker 1: 3:52

Tony Robbins puts it like this the path to success is to take massive and determined action. Remember that one. I talked about that a couple of days ago. But determined action doesn't apply to just the beginning of something, because sometimes you can take really massive action at the beginning of something and then peter out and it's not there at the end. Massive action has to be from the beginning to the end, because starting is always exciting, right Finishing that's the hard part.

Speaker 1: 4:27

So time reveals who is truly committed. A strong start is great, but a strong finish is what counts. Time will separate the dreamers from the doers, separate the dreamers from the doers. Time will test whether you're serious about finishing or you were just interested in trying and that you were just playing games. And let's be real, finishing strong isn't about productivity all the time. It's about trust, like we talked about yesterday. The time it's about trust, like we talked about yesterday.

Speaker 1: 5:14

Trust yourself. You have to trust in yourself to complete what you start. So sometimes folks come to me and they want to work on task completion and what we end up working on is trusting. Do you trust yourself? Do you trust yourself enough to believe that you can actually do this? Because sometimes finishing it means that you are that good. But if you're having a problem with your own identity, that's an issue.

Speaker 1: 5:37

And then there's trusting in the process that consistency will bring results. Look, it's boring to practice every day. It's boring to go and do the same job the same way every time, but that is what excellence is made of. We've got to be trusting in the consistency and being consistent, because that's what brings the results. Great athletes are consistent in how they practice. Steph Curry shooting those threes I guarantee you that's consistent practice. So trust in time as well, right, trust that if you use time well, it will work for you, not against you. So those three things I want you to think through Trusting in yourself, trusting in the process and trusting in time, because all three will help you finish strong.

Speaker 1: 6:28

And sometimes you have to look and see where am I not trusting enough? Am I not trusting in me enough? Am I not trusting in what the process is? Am I not being consistent, or am I just not trusting that time will work out for me? Ancient wisdom puts it beautifully the end of a thing is better than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. The end of a thing is better than its beginning and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. You know what that means. It means that it's not about how fast you start. It's about whether you're going to endure.

Speaker 1: 7:13

Patience, discipline and follow through matter in sports a lot, and they matter because that's what it takes to win games. That's what it takes to complete a quarter or a half, to get into the end zone. Patience, discipline and follow-through matter more than excitement at the beginning. Great athletes know that you can't let the beginning make you think you can coast to the end, and patience, discipline and follow-through are the same things we need in our lives. Where do we need to be more patient? Where do I need to be more disciplined? And, in my case, where do I need to follow through to write that paper that I'm writing? Okay? So how do we stop fizzling out and start finishing strong? Here's how. There are a couple of ways we can do it. You can use deadlines as tools, not threats. Time pressure isn't the enemy, it's the fuel. Set a finish line and commit to crossing it. Let the time pressure be your fuel, not your enemy.

Speaker 1: 8:34

Number two break the last stretch into micro wins, the hardest part of any marathon. Remember I talked to you about that 18th mile, how it gets so hard. The last few miles, that's the hardest part. But instead of thinking about how much is left, what they say is you have to focus in sports psychology on one step at a time. Remember we talked about that. One step at a time. Just focus on that. That'll get you through. You can't. It feels like it's an impossible race, it's too long. Take one more step, then take another step. That's how you do it.

Speaker 1: 9:13

Micro wins, especially when you're in the last stretch of something. The third Elimin. You're in the last stretch of something. The third eliminate distractions in the final push when you are near the finish line. This is the last time you need to be getting distracted and that's a temptation. Get rid of it. Guard your focus like it's your goal.

Speaker 1: 9:31

You can't speak to athletes when it's close to game time. You can, can't even talk to them. They are in a zone the really good ones and protect your time. Cut out anything that's an unnecessary noise and lock in when you have to do something. And then the last thing I would say is, don't forget to celebrate the small wins along the way. The brain loves progress and remember you have a reward area in the brain, a dopamine circuits in the brain, and that striatal area, obviously, that loves the dopamine, and if you acknowledge each completed step, it fuels your brain to finish strong. So always reward yourself now. Don't go bananas. I mean just enough so that you can keep it going.

Speaker 1: 10:24

So today, my friends, I want you to ask yourself where in life do you need to finish strong? Is it a project? Is it a goal? Is it a commitment you made to yourself? Is it a promise that you need to keep? Whatever it is, time is moving. Remember time waits on no one. The finish line is waiting for you and remember it's not how you start, but it's how you finish. So that's your finish strong Friday message. If it spoke to you, I want you to share it with someone who needs to hear it, and I'll see you For Saturday, which is self-care Saturday, and that's where we're going to explore how caring for yourself is one of the most important ways that you can master time.

Speaker 1: 11:13

Until then, my friend, I want you to finish what you started. Until then, my friend, I want you to finish what you started. See you tomorrow. This is Dr Derek Sweet. You've been listening to the Sweet Spot. Thank you so much for your time and your energy today, and I'm looking forward to seeing you. Catch me on LinkedIn, catch me on YouTube, catch me on Instagram. I'm even on threads, thank you.