The Cost of What You Don’t Finish

If you've been around here for a few years, you may recall a piece I wrote on Closing Loops.

The concept is tied to how Warren Buffett approaches decisions.

He’s incredibly selective—but once something is in motion, he doesn’t leave it open.

He either moves on it… or he closes it.

No lingering.

No “I’ll get back to that.”

No quiet mental clutter.

At the time, I took that as a productivity concept.

Follow up.

Stay organized.

Finish what you start before you start something else.

What I didn’t understand then…

is that it’s not just about things being unfinished.

It’s about how easily we move on before something is complete.

There was a time in my life where this showed up in a really simple way.

I’d start making the bed.

Before I even walked to the other side to finish it,

something else would pop into my head.

So I’d go do that.

Which led to something else.

And something else.

Before I knew it, I had 8 or 10 things started…

and an hour later, the bed still wasn’t made.

Nothing felt urgent.

Nothing felt wrong.

But nothing was actually finished.

And that pattern doesn’t stay at home.

It becomes your default mode of operation.

You move quickly.

You shift fast.

You respond to what’s in front of you.

Which, on the surface, feels productive.

But underneath it…

you’re leaving a trail.

Conversations that were started—but not advanced.

Opportunities that were touched—but not fully developed.

Relationships that were engaged—but not deepened.

Nothing feels dropped.

But nothing is fully built.

This is where the Zeigarnik Effect comes into play.

Because your brain doesn’t just track what’s unfinished—

it tracks everything you’ve left behind.

So instead of clean progress…

you’re carrying it.

All of it.

Every incomplete follow-up.

Every conversation you didn’t circle back to.

Every task you started… and walked away from.

Individually, they don’t feel like much.

Together?

They’re heavy.

This is where things start to break down.

Not in obvious ways.

In subtle ones.

Your focus gets split.

Your energy gets diluted.

Your momentum feels inconsistent because too much is still open.

In a relationship-driven business…

this matters more than most people realize.

The difference isn’t in what you start.

It’s in what actually gets completed.

Most people try to create momentum by adding more.

But the shift is simpler than that.

Finish what’s already in motion.

What’s already in motion that needs to be finished?

Start there.