venture (noun) – a risky or daring journey or undertaking

What was your last venture? Was it one you thought of or maybe even started, but walked away from? Or maybe it was a venture into which you had put hours of work, but just didn’t finish?

Ventures can be small or large, simple or complex. Everything from reading a book cover to cover to starting a new business. Building a shed or training for a marathon.

Ventures are important. They are what grow us and ultimately define us. They make us smarter, more confident, and more equipped, as well as make the world better for the contribution they bring.

For me, and I suspect you also, they can also be difficult. Difficult to start. Difficult to stick with. And difficult to finish. For this post, I want to break down a venture into its three main parts and give some thoughts on how to successfully complete each one.

THREE PARTS OF A VENTURE

The Start

We have amazing ideas floating around in our head. Ideas for new inventions or businesses. Dreams of running in marathons or completing triathlons. Yet, often times, these ideas just keep floating, and floating, and floating, and we never take the first step to make them realities…starting.

The best way to start, is to simply start. Don’t wait for all the details to be worked out. Don’t wait for the research on how to do something to be completed. You won’t be an expert in your chosen venture before you get started, so stop trying.

If you are going to become a runner, start running. Then worry about the right shoes, proper technique, and training program. If you are going to start a new business, take a step in actually starting the business. Get the certification you need, build the web page, or rent the store front.

The best thing to do to start a venture is start!

The Work (i.e. consistency)

Once you get started, the next step in the process of any venture is consistently doing the work. Typically, this gets difficult after the initial excitement and motivation for the venture begins to fade. You are too far from the start to still be excited and not close enough to the finish to see the light. I’ve never trained for a marathon, but I would imagine this would be somewhere around your 10-12 mile running day when you are wondering how you could ever run 26!

But consistent work is a vital part of any venture. It is where sticktoitiveness comes into play. Sticktoitiveness is defined by dictionary.com as “dogged perseverance; resolute tenacity.” I can think of no better words to describe what it takes to compete a venture. Especially the big, world changing, legacy building ones.

So, when you start having trouble consistently doing the work, continually remind yourself of the reason you set out on this venture to begin with and envision what finishing it is going to look and feel like.

The Completion

You thought up an incredible idea. You started it. And you’ve done the work. Now, you must complete it. If you don’t, all was for not. You and the world will not see or benefit from your venture unless you complete it.

If you’ve started a new business, it’s time to turn on the OPEN sign and launch the website. If you’ve trained for a marathon, it’s time to get on the starting line and race. If you’ve built an addition to your home, it’s time to put on the last coat of paint, sweep the floors, and move in the furniture.

Ironically, so many ventures get to this point and stop. You are so close! Why are ventures sometimes so hard to actually complete? Is it because of fear that you and others may be unhappy with the finished product? Is it because once it’s completed, you don’t know what will be next for you? Or perhaps the end of the venture will mean a new beginning?

Sometimes, it’s hard for us to complete because we don’t know what completion means. We can’t see what it looks like on the other side of completion, so we tend to want to stay where we are.

If this is the case, my advice is to stay in the moment. Resolve to stay in the moment of completion and enjoy it.

Lift your arms and scream as you cross the finish line of the marathon.
Roll around on your new hardwood floors.
Set off balloons and sirens as your first customer walks through the door.
Kiss her, hug her, and don’t let go when you see your adopted child for the first time.

Ventures are a must in life. We all have them stirring inside of us. The desire to become something, make something, or contribute something. Take that desire and start…today! Commit to a spirit of sticktoitiveness that will compel you to keep working at it. And then, complete the venture. You’ll be happy you did. And, I suspect you will be all the more ready to to do it again!

Because ventures are the building blocks of your legacy. And your legacy matters!