EVERY DAY, RACE, PROJECT AND YEAR presents you with an identical question…are you going to finish strong or not?

It’s your call to make. Every day. Every race. Every project. Every year.

How many times have you gotten to the end, however that end is defined, and wished you’d pushed yourself harder?

How many times have you coasted…mailed it in…telling yourself that you were going as fast and as hard as you can?

Yet, in the back of your mind, you knew you didn’t give it your all…and that you still had plenty of reserves left in the tank.

End on empty is a motto, a mantra as well as a call to action to leave nothing behind… to dig deep…push your limits…and to finish strong.

The ultimate reason for finishing strong and ending on empty is to challenge you to step up your game, to strengthen your will and to fortify your character as that is the only way to unleash your greatness and tap the very peak of your potential.

By doing so, you’ll understand that who you become, as well as the character traits and skill sets you develop in finishing strong are so much more important than the nature of the challenge itself.

The Top Five Rewards for Finishing Strong

1. Finishing Strong Develops Mental Toughness

It’s simple…you either finish strong or you do not. And because victory begins in the mind, every attempt at ending on empty is initially won or lost between your ears.

The very nature of finishing every day, race, project and year strong sets an appropriate stage for practicing mental toughness…which means a psychological edge that enables one to remain focused and confident during high-pressure situations to perform at one’s full potential.

The ultimate measure of mental toughness is consistency. Your ability to rise to every challenge, to bulldoze your way through any resistance force, and to consistently finish strong is the true litmus test.

2. Finishing Strong Inspires Heroic Acts

Courage, conviction and confidence are heroic acts which enable you to stand down fear, overcome resistance and finish strong.

It’s only when you become your own hero, when you challenge yourself to dig deep and leave absolutely nothing behind is when you know what you’re really made of.

That’s why finishing strong demands determination, persistence, resilience, discipline, focus, accountability and suffering, as well as an indomitable spirit that goes all in from beginning to end.

3. Finishing Strong Reveals Character

It’s imperative that you accept this reality: when you fully commit to finishing every day, race, project and year strong, you will never be the same again. You either cope or crumble. You become better or bitter. You emerge stronger or weaker.

It has to be this way, as finishing strong is both an attitude you bring to everything you do…as well as a project by project, day by day test that reveals character and strength or exposes weakness and bad judgement.

Therefore, you must look at each and every situation as a test which you either pass or fail and an opportunity to separate yourself from the crowded field of mediocrity by demonstrating great character.

You’ll never know the full measure of your potential until you are tested. You can never be sure whether you’ll step up or falter in any given situation. Passing the tests by choosing to finish strong proves that you are tougher, more resilient, and far more capable than your competition.

4. Finishing Strong Demands Superior Execution

It’s one thing to talk about finishing strong…it’s an entirely different thing to do it.

Any day, race, project or year where you do not finish strong is a wasted opportunity, and expecting to get superior results from a weak or soft finish is just flat out delusional.

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.” — Erma Bombeck

Great athletes, great salespeople, great musicians and great performers of all kinds display great character as well as extraordinary execution skills. They know that the better they execute and the stronger they finish…the bigger the challenges they can take on.

5. Finishing Strong Fills You With Pride

You can never really be happy, nor be considered a success if you do not take pride in what you do, if you do not consistently demonstrate excellence, and if you do not consciously and consistently elevate your performance by finishing strong.

Every excuse you accept for a weak or soft finish, as well as every departure from principle, integrity, excellence and pride causes a loss of self-respect, contaminates your character and undermines your results.

That’s why you must live your life by this motto…“If you’re not proud, you’re not done”. Whatever it is…find the strength, conviction and character to finish strong and do what needs to be done until it fills you with pride.

Live a life that makes you proud of yourself…completely and totally proud.

Why? If you don’t put your heart into your activities, if you hand in incomplete work as finished, if you don’t do your best every time you start something, then you’re doing yourself a tremendous disservice. If you’re not proud, you’re not done.

IT’S TIME TO GET SERIOUS

Few things in life are capable of radically altering your perspective, but developing the capacity to finish every day, race, project and year strong not only impacts the size of your results, it transforms your mind and expands your worldview.

It changes everything. The way you walk, talk, and communicate all exude a level of self-confidence and self-assuredness that’s impossible not to notice.

I’ll be the first to admit that finishing strong and ending on empty is not for the faint of heart. It’s a serious strategy for serious people who want and expect serious results.

It involves psychological trauma that induces fear, self-doubt, and insecurity, while simultaneously dislodging you from your comfort zone, ultimately bringing about a superior performance.

By challenging yourself to finish strong, you are pushing yourself beyond any previously imagined comfort zone and performance standard.

You will be expected to pass tests which tempt you to quit. And you will be required to pay the high price that success demands while entering new psychological waters.

Trust me on this one…you really do want your competitors to see you get dirty, sweaty and stinky…

Go right ahead and let them see you struggle with adversity, show them that you are prepared, willing and able to out-work, out-hustle and out-suffer them because in the end…finishing strong is fueled by a heart-pounding, ego-bashing, soul searching test of your limits.

NOW OR NEVER

You have an important decision to make…right now.

As you approach the fourth and final quarter of the year…you must decide if you’re going to finish the year strong or not?

There’s no point in pretending that finishing the year strong does not have the capacity to transform your results and turn a good year into a great one, and perhaps even to save you from have a bad year altogether.

And while there are plenty of excuses for not finishing strong, there’s no good reason for you to procrastinate, to say you’re not ready or that the timing isn’t right.

Please don’t allow yourself to get to the end of the year and wonder “what if.”

What if I had given a little bit more this year? What if I had really pushed myself, would things be different? What if, what if, what if.

The good news is that there’s still time on the clock to stage a comeback, to redeem yourself and close any performance gaps.

That’s why I created the 100 Day Challenge, a hardcore goal achievement program that was designed with one purpose in mind…to show you how to fast track your goals and finish the year strong.

Most people are going to look back on this year and wish they’d done more. But a winner — a true competitor — leaves their all out there every time they compete. And for you — that means giving your all and finishing strong.

The 100 Day Challenge is a rapid execution system used by more than 675,000 high-achievers to achieve life-changing results in 100 days. Don’t do it unless you want spectacular results.

The strategies you’ll learn in the 100 Day Challenge have elected a president, grown non-profit causes, won gold medals and fueled movements. Now it’s your turn to win bigger faster!