Finishing Strong

Last week ended well, a new client, a second verbal, a third project awarded but delayed, entry into the finals of a major PR contract, lots of exciting actual work to do that will take a good part of the summer, and plenty of networking. A weekend of rest has somewhat refreshed me, though I am pretty tired (weddings & Bar Mitzvahs are time intensive).

Then there’s this Fourth of July thing looming. Ah yes, a four day weekend, the slow dog days of summer around the corner. With all of this progress, it would be very easy to rest on my laurels, coast on fulfillment, and let everything glide into a nice long four day weekend…

I don’t think so.

Don’t get me wrong, most corporate employees don’t have the incentive that I do, and that’s understood. If it wasn’t my company and I was less of a self starter, it’d be coast time. But it’s not, and I’m in this thing for the long haul. That means finishing this week strong into Friday.

Already I am hitting the keyboard hard on a strategic marketing engagement, even though it’s Sunday. And an email to Good Morning America in the works, ready to be sent tomorrow afternoon.

Why be so driven? It’s about winning, and success. Winners finish strong, and don’t peter out. They see things through until they are done, don’t go on vacation early, instead opting to fight until the end. How fitting to take this attitude going into Independence Day Weekend. After all, I am finishing strong to cement my own independence.

Here are this week’s quotes for you:

“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
- Vincent Lombardi

“All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil. The fight to the finish spirit is the one... characteristic we must posses if we are to face the future as finishers.”
- Henry David Thoreau