When I coach people who are beginning a new endeavor, new job, or new project I start with this quote from Lao Tzu on starting strong, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” I add to that thought a thought that we must persevere and finish strong.

“You’ll never get there if you don’t start; you’ll also never get there if you don’t finish.”– Denis McLaughlin

Starting something new is difficult and we may need encouragement to step out.  Equally important though is the determination to persevere to a successful end. Zig Ziglar put it this way, “Where you start is not as important as where you finish.”

Starting and ending are the important bookends to all of life’s journeys.  In between, comes many twists, turns, delays and detours. These events are not the end; they are steps on your way to success.  As baseball great Babe Ruth once said, “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.”

The key is not to become too focused on these interruptions but to expect them, deal with them and move onto the next one and persevere until you reach the end. As Walter Elliot said, “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.”

Sometimes these distractions cause us to doubt our abilities.  Don’t let that thought derail your journey.  Albert Einstein had his share of setbacks and dealt with them with perseverance saying,  “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

Persevere to the end and finish strong.  You don’t know if success is just around the next corner. Thomas Edison said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”