The Power of Getting Things Finished: Turning Intentions Into Results

Starting is easy—finishing is rare. Getting things finished means carrying your projects, promises, and goals all the way to the end. It’s where discipline meets focus and commitment meets follow-through. In a world full of half-finished ideas and abandoned plans, finishing what you start is a powerful, defining habit. It transforms effort into achievement and dreams into realities. Here are five insightful quotes about finishing, along with a true story that shows how persistence to the final step can change the course of history.

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A True Story: Florence Nightingale and the Hospital She Refused to Leave Unfinished

During the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale revolutionized battlefield medicine. She didn’t just start the work of improving hospitals—she finished it, no matter how long it took. After the war ended, most people moved on. Nightingale didn’t.

She spent years compiling medical data, writing reports, and pressuring Parliament. She didn’t stop when the press lost interest. She didn’t stop when she got sick. She finished what she started: permanent reforms in hospitals, nursing, and public health.

Her story shows that starting can inspire—but only finishing creates lasting change.

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Three Quotes from Books About Finishing What You Start

In Finish (2017), Jon Acuff explores why completing things matters more than perfection:

You don’t need more goals—you need more endings. Done is better than perfect, and finished is better than started.

~ Jon Acuff

In The War of Art (2002), Steven Pressfield reflects on resistance and follow-through:

Resistance will try to stop you just before the finish line. That’s how you know the work is close to mattering.

~ Steven Pressfield

In Grit (2016), Angela Duckworth links finishing to perseverance and passion:

Many people start. Far fewer stick with things. But grit means staying committed to long-term goals, especially when it’s hard.

~ Angela Duckworth

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Five More Quotes About the Power of Finishing

In 1775, Samuel Johnson reflected on the dignity of completion.

Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance. What is begun in labor is crowned in rest.

~ Samuel Johnson

In 1860, Charles Spurgeon urged consistency through to the end.

By perseverance, the snail reached the ark. It’s not about pace—it’s about finishing the journey.

~ Charles Spurgeon

In 1932, Amelia Earhart wrote about finishing as part of integrity.

The most difficult thing is the decision to act—the rest is merely tenacity.

~ Amelia Earhart

In 1990, Zig Ziglar reminded readers that success is a process, not a flash.

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great—and finish to be remembered.

~ Zig Ziglar

In 2015, James Clear explained how finishing defines identity.

Every finished task is proof: you are someone who follows through. That belief shapes everything you do next.

~ James Clear

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Life Lesson:

Starting gets attention. Finishing gets results. Without completion, effort is wasted. With it, ideas become legacies. Florence Nightingale’s story reminds us that real impact doesn’t come from quick wins—it comes from finishing long, hard work that others abandon. So whatever you’ve started—see it through. Keep going. Push past the final wall. Because nothing earns respect like the person who finishes what they said they would do.