When you’re pursuing a difficult goal, working on a hard project, or putting your body through the pain of a grueling work out, it can be easy to cut corners and slack off just a bit at the end. That is because your Inner Rival is whispering in your ear “You’ve done enough, it’s good enough, you don’t want to push yourself any further outside of your comfort zone!” The harder you work and the closer you get to the finish, that whisper can turn into a roar.
In his book Finish Strong, former 3- time NFL Super Bowl Champion and US Rugby Olympian Nate Ebner talks about how his father helped to guide and build his life philosophy of “Finish Strong”. That means in everything that he does from athletics to academics, always finish your work. Never give up early. Do your best. Finish strong.
When you are working on something difficult, your Inner Rival will do what it can to distract you from what's important. It will give you reasons to not put in the work, especially when it gets difficult. The closer you get to the finish line of something difficult, the harder it becomes. When that happens, your Inner Rival gets louder.
Your job is to silence that Inner Rival by always finishing strong. Commit to yourself even before you start, that no matter how difficult the task ahead is, that you won’t quit until it’s done. No matter what! When you have made this commitment to yourself, Inner Rival won’t have as much power, no matter how loud it gets.
You will begin to instill the ability to silence the Inner Rival for all difficult tasks you face. It will become a habit to finish strong. The more you do it, the easier it will become, even though the voice doesn’t get any quieter. It will feel easier because you know that voice doesn’t control how hard or how long you work. Your ability to finish strong will dictate that.
Make sure that you are committing to yourself that you will Finish Strong, even before you begin.
Silence your Inner Rival