Someone once observed, "it’s not what you don’t know that can hurt you, but what you think you know that just ain’t so." One of those “just-ain’t-so’s” is: it’s not how you start, but how you finish that counts.

This is a fallacy because how you start something can greatly impact how well you finish it…whether you are talking about a day, a job, a project, or a marriage. It takes determination, being focused and being proactive, along with a good game plan, to get going. Good intentions and noble desires won’t cut it.

If your schedule looks anything like mine, you have lots of ideas, projects, and things waiting to "get started." Here are some simple and practical thoughts on starting well.

Start with you

It is tempting to want to change everything and everyone around you but yourself. By God’s grace and with the help of the Holy Spirit, where specifically do you need to make some changes in your life? How are you trusting the power of the gospel to change you from the inside out?

Be Bible-based, gospel-centered, Spirit-empowered and Jesus-honoring as you start well and aim to finish well!

Start...right now 

Don’t put off until tomorrow, next week, or next month what you can do today. Start right now. Whatever you are thinking about won’t get any easier the longer you wait. Make the phone call now. Go to the gym now. Write that letter of apology now. Begin working on that family budget now.

John Maxwell says:

“It may be a cliché to say that every journey begins with the first step, yet it is still true.  Successful people don’t wait for everything to be perfect to move forward. They don’t wait for all the problems or obstacles to disappear. They don’t wait until their fear subsides. They take initiative. They know a secret that good leaders understand: momentum is their friend. As soon as they take that first step and start moving forward, things become a little easier. If the momentum gets strong enough, many of the problems take care of themselves. But it starts only after you’ve taken those first steps.”

Start by breaking down the hard stuff first 

We talk ourselves into saving the hard tasks until later, or last, and then postpone them to the next day, the next week or the next month. Tackle, and finish, the hardest ones first and watch what happens to your motivation, joy, and sense of accomplishment.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking the task before you is not big enough. I need something really big to get me going. The big “deals” are usually accomplished through a combination of smaller tasks. Break down a large, intimidating task into small steps and begin with a first step and then another and yet another. Before you know it, you’ll be there!

Start with the end 

I read somewhere that author H. G. Wells would, at times, write the last chapter of a book first so he knew how he wanted to end and then begin the first chapter with the end in view. This is often referred to as “reverse engineering". It creates motivation and momentum to start where you want to wind up in a given area, back up from there, and begin with the end in mind.

I want to finish with the most important tip of all:

Start with Jesus

Do what you do out of love for Jesus—not to be more wealthy, more popular, more admired, more successful, or more anything else!

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Be Bible-based, gospel-centered, Spirit-empowered and Jesus-honoring as you start well and aim to finish well!

Have Dave Kraft speak at your church about Leaders Who Last.