What Works

The Nitty-Gritty: * Start Finishing author Charlie Gilkey explains the relationship between resilience and finishing the projects and plans we start* Why tensions like mastery versus growth, structure versus novelty, and serving ourselves versus serving others make it harder to reach our goals* How vulnerability and little “c” courage can help us achieve bigger, more meaningful results* What Charlie coaches his clients through when they fail to reach an important outcome We all procrastinate, avoid, and hesitate from time to time. If you’ve ever stared at an empty email trying to figure out the exact right thing to say… If you’ve ever avoided a networking event because you weren’t sure how everyone else was going to be dressed or whether you’d feel like you belonged there… If you’ve ever hesitated to share your thoughts in a comment because you didn’t know how you’d be received… Well, you and I have a lot in common. Maybe your list isn’t the same as mine. Maybe there are other variables or scenarios that send your mind swirling. Regardless, life is full of those moments when we procrastinate, avoid, and hesitate because we’re not exactly sure what will come next. Business is full of those moments, too. Today, I invited my dear friend Charlie Gilkey back on the show to talk about the subject of his new book, Start Finishing: How To Go From Idea To Done. It’s perfect for this month we’re spending on resilience. You see, Start Finishing, sounds like a book on productivity—and it is. But it’s the kind of productivity book that only a philosopher could write. And this is the kind of interview on productivity, decision-making, planning, and doing your best work that only a philosopher could give. If you don’t know Charlie already, let me give you a bit of background. Charlie is a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of Nebraska. He was a logistics officer in the Army National Guard and was deployed in Iraq. He’s now the co-founder & CEO of Productive Flourishing, which helps people build better businesses through strategic planning, system development, self-mastery, and personal effectiveness. I wanted to find out what resilience has to do with the way we do—or do not—complete the projects that we start and the goals we half-heartedly commit to. My conversation with Charlie certainly provided some answers to that question—and a whole lot more. One of my biggest takeaways from talking to Charlie was the divide between certainty and uncertainty… …and how our quest for certainty keeps us stuck. I’ve been paying much closer attention to the moments when I can make a choice where the outcome is uncertain but the upside is big. It’s helped me lean into vulnerability, find my true commitments, and achieve some pretty amazing results in a very short period of time. Charlie and I also talk about the tension between mastery and growth, why we love structure but still crave novelty, how we let conflicting patterns mess with our ability to create results, and why achieving success isn’t just a matter of intelligence or information. Now, let’s find out what works for Charlie Gilkey.