The Power of Unfinished

Your story is still being written

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"Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they are finished."
- Daniel Gilbert

How often have you looked back at your life and thought, "Wow, I was so different then." I have. Yet somehow, in this present moment, we often feel like we've finally "arrived" – like we've reached the pinnacle of our understanding, growth, and wisdom — like there’s nothing new to learn. Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert calls this the "end of history illusion" – our tendency to believe that while we've changed significantly in the past, we won't change much in the future.

I flipped through an old journal recently from July of 2017. Here are just a few of the things I was concerned about at the time:

-Getting a house rented
-Preparing for a weekly staff meeting
-Getting promoted
-Running out of money

Reading that entry was like meeting a stranger who shared my handwriting. My goals, the definition of success I clung to, and even how I measured my self-worth all feel so foreign now. I remember how certain I was then that I knew my path was the "right" one. Sound familiar? We're so quick to believe that our current perspective is the final version, the complete picture. But is it? All those things got resolved one way or another. My perspective on that early July morning in 2017 didn’t last.

Breaking Free From Limiting Beliefs

The truth is that seeing ourselves as "finished" is perhaps our worst limiting belief. It closes us off to new possibilities, growth, and transformation. When we believe we're done, we stop looking for opportunities to expand our perspective. We stop questioning the rules we've been following and whether they truly serve us. I've learned that growth isn't comfortable—it requires us to challenge our assumptions, question our self-imposed limitations, and embrace uncertainty.

Think about it this way:

• What beliefs do you hold that you've never questioned? ("I'm too old to start something new," "Success is only measured by how far I climb the corporate ladder," "Security matters more than fulfillment")

• What rules are you following that someone else wrote? (Society's definition of success, your family's expectations, or your industry's standard path)

• What version of yourself are you preventing from emerging? (The creative, the risk-taker, the voice of change)

Embracing Your Evolving Story

The beauty of being unfinished is that it permits us to write new chapters. It's liberating to realize that you don't have to be bound by who you were yesterday. I remember the day I finally understood that my corporate title wasn't my identity, that the path I had followed so diligently wasn't the only option. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once – like standing at the edge of a cliff and realizing you can fly.

What would change if you embraced being unfinished? Perhaps you'd finally take that course you've been eyeing, learn to play the guitar, or explore that passion project you've pushed down because you were more worried about what others would think. Maybe you'd define success differently – not by your title or paycheck but by how aligned you feel with who you are at your core, your impact on others, and how present you are in your own life.

The journey from where you are to where you want to be isn't about reaching a final destination. It's about embracing the continuous unfolding of who you are and, more importantly, who you could be. I still think I've arrived, only to discover new possibilities. I’m still navigating the tension between who I've been and who I'm becoming. There is freedom in being unfinished — the sense that I am made for more than what I currently do.

If you’re reading this, your life isn’t done, and it’s not too late.

I will say that one more time. It is not too late.

Today is the day to start. Get up 30 minutes earlier. Create the space to think about your life and who you want to become. You don’t have to figure it all out today. But do start. When you make this choice, you will look back in a few years and not recognize the person you used to be.

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