I'm Christian Rubin and this is a little happier.

In my study of how to make or break habits when I was writing my book better than before,

one thing that took me a long time to realize was the danger of finish lines.

Setting a finish line does indeed help people aim toward and reach a goal, but although

it's widely assumed to help with habit formation, finish lines can actually undermine habits.

A finish line marks a stopping point.

And once we stop, we must start over.

And starting over is harder than starting.

And the more dramatic the goal, the more decisive the end and the more effort required

to start over.

So by providing a specific goal, a temporary motivation, and requiring a new start once

reached, hitting a finish line may interfere with habit formation.

And once we've decided we've achieved a success, we tend to stop moving forward.

Even an intermediate finish line can interfere with good habits.

In a letter to his son Mark, renowned novelist Kurt Vonnegut advised,

I have seen a lot of writers stop writing or at least slow down after getting an advance.

They have a feeling of completion after making a deal.

That's bad news creatively.

I advise you to carry on without an advance, without that false feeling of completion.

Have you ever found that hitting a finish line meant that you stopped doing something,

even though you've been doing it successfully up to that point?

That you thought you'd been forging a habit, but it turned out not to be?

...