Why finishing can be harder than starting

It’s been a year since I recorded the audiobook for my book, Designing Success: Lessons from 20 Years as a Female Tech Entrepreneur, and what stands out most isn’t the writing. It’s what came after.

I assumed recording would be straightforward. I already wrote the book after all. I just had to read it out loud.

That assumption didn’t last long.

Recording an audiobook requires a different kind of focus. You’re not just reading. You’re performing. You’re managing your voice, pacing, and energy while also paying attention to your environment. Every background noise matters. Every technical detail matters, and you have to listen to yourself repeatedly, which takes some getting used to.

But the most lasting lesson wasn’t about recording. It was about finishing.

Much of modern work is iterative. We test, adjust, and improve continuously. Even large decisions often have built-in flexibility. If something doesn’t work, we can revisit it.

The audiobook didn’t allow for that.

There were deadlines and limits on the number of revisions that could be made. At a certain point, the work had to be final.

Even after multiple rounds of editing and review, I could still find things I wanted to change. That never really goes away. But not every change improves the outcome. Sometimes it’s just the instinct to keep refining because you can.

Having constraints forced me to prioritize what actually mattered.

A year later, that perspective has stayed with me. We often treat decisions as more permanent than they are, which can slow us down. In reality, most work allows for adjustment. However, in the rare cases where it doesn’t, the challenge becomes knowing when to stop.

Finishing is a skill.

And sometimes, it’s the most important one.