Finish Strong Friday Mindset

SPEAKER_00 0:05

I don't know about you, but I'm sure glad it is Friday. Not just any Friday, it is Finish Strong Friday here on the Sweet Spot. We don't just say TGIF, we say Finish Strong. And the reason we're gonna finish strong, sweet spotters, is that we are sitting with one of the strongest dudes that I know. We find ourselves here on Friday, Finish Strong Friday, and we're gonna talk to Ken a little bit about what it takes to finish strong, to be a strong finisher. Now, finish strong Friday is a little bit of a cliche. We always hear finish strong. But but sweet spotters, for real, it does get tiring. And Friday is the time that we always think about maybe taking our foot off the gas a little bit. After all, you know, the weekend's coming, and uh maybe we just need to ease up. And if that's where you are, that's cool. But in many cases, we do how we complete Friday is how we're gonna start Monday. And if we leave stuff unfinished or we don't finish strong, we will be paying the price on making moves Monday. So, Kendall, I don't know how you do it because you you clearly have a big job as the district manager community 10 here in uh there in Harlem, and you you have your uh private practice and your businesses and the projects that you work on, your creative projects. How what is it what do you how do you finish strong? What's your secret? Can you share that?

Finishing Strong Means Closing Tabs

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Um I I'll try. Um it's strong strength. Um well let me recognize that you know strength is is relative, right? So finishing strong for me may be a little bit different than finishing strong for you. Um but I I think for me, finishing strong is thinking about my week as a project, right? At its core, projects simply have a clear beginning and a clear ending. So when I think about um finishing strong Fridays, I'm thinking about closing tabs. What tabs can I close this week that do not need to be carried over to the next week? Because ultimately, when you have so many open tabs, right? Kind of like on your, I don't know if you're like me, when I have um maybe my Google up, I have 20 tabs across the top, right? Things are open and stuff that I'm actively working on. But those tabs give me a little bit of anxiety because it means that I've not come to a concluding end for the use of those tabs, which in my opinion contributes to mental fatigue, decision fatigue. So when I think about finishing strong, it's about being intentional about closing tabs that do not need to follow me into next week.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Yeah, I love that because it's a visual that I can just I can just see it, like all the open tabs. Do you do you take the most difficult one first? And is there an algorithm that you use, or do you just just plod through them and just knock them out one by one?

Priorities And The 12 Week Year

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Yeah, it's it's a consistent ranking of priorities, right? Um the things that are most urgent, obviously, I need to address um quicker. Um, and then there are things that are more long-term that you know are just ongoing, but I want to make sure I'm consistently chipping away at it. So at the beginning of the week, I have a to-do list. I have things that I am setting out to accomplish over the week. And I am going to check those things off before Sunday because that's the start of the new week. So it's a matter of do I want to dedicate time on Saturday, right? Because I have committed to checking these things off. Right? And a lot of times we, there's a there's a great book. Well, I guess it's a it's a pretty good book. It's called the 12-week year. The 12-week year. Oh. The 12-week year. Right? And and what the author does is it challenges you to look at a week like a month. Right? To look at look look at a week the way that you look at a month. And I'm guilty of this. The author basically says that a lot of a lot of us waste time because we we give a deadline to something, right? And it's an arbitrary deadline. And we we basically will take all of the time that we've given ourselves to execute it, even if it does not require it. Right? So if I say I'm going to sweep my apartment by Sunday morning, it really only takes me maybe an hour at most to sweep my apartment. But I, by default, because I've given myself the deadline of Sunday morning, I will likely stretch it up to Sunday morning.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

Wow, that's so true, man. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Wow. So, you know, when I think about finishing strong on Friday, because we need rest. We need rejuvenation, right? We we need balance in our lives. Is this something that I can close off the tab on Friday and not carry into the weekend that is going to impact my rest, that is going to impact my time with family, restoration. Is this something that I can check off on Friday and be done with it? Versus carrying it over into the weekend or the next week.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

Yeah. I guess that also requires that you stay engaged with whatever it is that you have to do. Like you have to be engaged in this process.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Yeah.

Micro Breaks For Real Productivity

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Or step away, right? I think it's important to take, um, because that at some point you you reach a threshold of actually being productive, right? So if you're if you're laser focus on something, it is okay to step away for 15 minutes. It is okay to focus on something else for 15 minutes. It's okay to scroll on TikTok for a couple of minutes. Oh, thank you for saying that. For a couple of minutes, right? And come back to it with a with a fresh perspective, right? Fresh eyes, fresh thinking. It's okay to do that. But I do think it's important to, I mean, you only have a certain amount of time on this earth.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

And if you manage that time loosely, your goals will also be loose. Your success will also be loose. You want to maximize your time. So it is a benefit to you to think about your weeks in terms of projects. There's a clear start, there's a clear finish.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

That's such a great mindset to have, right? To understand that time is not infinite, that we have a finite amount of time. The pro Rumi said, the trouble is you think you have time. And I love how you put that. And the idea of finishing strong, another thing that you said that could sound a bit counterintuitive, but I love the fact that you put it that way, is that finishing strong involves often stepping away, refreshing, and then coming back. So that you can finish strong. Maybe we need a series of micro recoveries so that we can get back on the horse of perseverance, get back on the horse of commitment to get that done. I love how you framed that. Because finish strong could be a bit of a hypeline. But those of us who finish strong to your point have a deeper understanding of what it takes to disengage, to use your point, or to engage. But as

Choose A Process Over Your Mood

SPEAKER_00 9:04

you said, no matter what you do, ultimately you have to choose your standard over your mood. Yeah, you have to choose. This is intentional. Uh, that you're gonna close tabs.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

That's just intentional.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

So if you go ahead, go ahead, say that. If if you don't have a process, you will default to your habits. And my none of my habits.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Oh, brother, don't even go there.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Serve me the way that I want to be started.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

So yeah.

unknown 9:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Yeah, the pro right, have a process. Yesterday we talked about trusting that process. And for some of us, not having a system, not having a process, not having a standard, not having an intention, not having a destination to use your what you shared with us on Monday, remember? Uh that uh that could be part of the issue, and it could stop us from finishing strong. Wow. Was it Michael Jordan who said never, never, never give up? Or somebody just said, maybe it was Churchill, somebody said never, never give up. Limits are illusions. And part of it is that you have to recover. And I don't know, there's another um quote that I like where it said, uh, everything works again if you unplug it for a while, you know. Just be yourself smoking, you know. So I I think that this is a great way to wrap up a finish strong Friday, KG. I feel like we got this, we understand this, we we grasp that finishing strong, don't put the pressure on ourselves to only grind through just to have a, to say that we cross, we check that box. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So for signs and for solo for success, everyone listening, we are gonna finish strong right now for Friday so you can get to whatever it is that you have to do. If you're listening, you have a project that you have to finish, or you have something that you know that's an open tab. Follow KG's very sage and very, very clear advice. Prioritize the tabs that you can close and see what you you can sort of not take in to Monday. KG, thank you so much, brother. A pleasure. All right, buddy. I'll see you. Take care.