Marcus Aurelius on what unfinished projects cost
Every business owner has a project they’ve been putting off. You tell yourself you’ll get to it when you have time. Weeks pass. Months pass. Years pass. It’s still sitting there, unfinished.
Maybe it’s launching a new offer. Maybe it’s overhauling your website. Maybe it’s a course you’ve been meaning to finish. I know that one firsthand.
Marcus Aurelius warned against this exact problem:
“Stop drifting… Sprint for the finish. Life is short. That’s all there is to say. Get what you can from the present — thoughtfully, justly.”
Most unfinished projects don’t stay unfinished because they’re too hard. They stay unfinished because there’s no urgency. No finish line to push toward. Without that, they get buried under the little tasks and distractions that feel more urgent but don’t actually move you forward.
The kind of sprinting I’m talking about isn’t rushing around trying to do everything at once. It’s moving with purpose toward a clear goal. Doing the most important things that will give you the biggest strategic advantage.
Open-ended goals go nowhere
When there’s no deadline, a project may or may not happen. What’s almost guaranteed is that it won’t happen at the right time, or in the best way.
Deadlines force decisions. Without them, projects sit in limbo waiting for the “perfect” moment that never comes.
Sprint toward what actually matters. A lot of owners stay busy but aren’t really moving forward. Sprinting means focusing on what will have the biggest impact, not just checking off random tasks.
The CPA who drifted
A friend of mine, a CPA, had an idea for a financial planning business on the side. He wanted to partner with real estate developers and investors to offer specialized financial services.
Great idea. He didn’t set a timeline.
At first he told himself he’d work on it “when things slowed down” at his firm. Then he decided to wait until after tax season. Then summer hit and he was too busy with personal obligations.
Eventually the real estate developers he was hoping to work with moved on. The investors stopped asking. What could have been a profitable second business never happened. Not because he lacked the ability. Because he never set a finish line.
If he had committed to launching within 90 days, things could have played out differently. The investors would have had a clear deadline to commit. The developers wouldn’t have looked elsewhere. Instead of an idea that faded, he could have had a thriving second income stream.
Drifting didn’t just delay his business. It cost him the opportunity altogether. Now the thought of trying it again feels too painful.
Sprinting vs. rushing
A lot of people hear “sprint” and think it means working nonstop, grinding all day, every day. That isn’t sprinting. That’s flailing around hoping something sticks.
Think of it like training for a marathon.
Bad rushing is like preparing without a plan. You lift some weights. You do a little swimming. You run a few miles here and there. You stretch when you remember. You throw in some Pilates because, hey, flexibility is good, right? The effort is there. It’s scattered. You’re doing a lot. None of it builds toward crossing the finish line.
Good sprinting is like following a structured marathon training plan. You increase your mileage systematically. You build in rest days. You run with a training group. Maybe you hire a coach. Everything is intentional. The effort isn’t just energy spent. It’s energy focused where it matters most.
That’s the difference between running yourself into exhaustion and actually moving toward something.
When an ambitious deadline becomes procrastination
I’ve been working on a course on and off for over a year. At first I set a tight deadline. Probably too ambitious, in hindsight. I wanted to launch fast. At the time, I thought pushing myself hard would be the best way to make it happen.
What I didn’t account for was everything I didn’t know yet. I got bogged down in aspects of course creation I hadn’t even considered. Technical details. Content organization. The actual process of launching. Then I had a couple of months of travel coming up.
At first I thought, no big deal, I’ll just work on it while I’m traveling. That didn’t really happen. I gave myself some leeway. Then a little more. Before I knew it, months had passed and the course was still sitting there, unfinished.
I didn’t stop because I didn’t want to do it. I stopped because there was no new deadline pushing me forward. Without that, it was easy to keep putting it off.
That’s what happens when there’s no finish line. You drift.
Recently I decided to stop drifting and set a real deadline. March 31, 2025. Not a “when I get around to it” timeline. An actual launch date. Just setting it shifted how I’m approaching the project. It feels like a priority again. It is a priority. That feeling was what was missing, and why I kept putting it off.
Sprint, rest, repeat
Sprint doesn’t mean grind nonstop. If you do that, you’ll burn out before you hit the finish line. The best sprinters push hard and know when to rest.
How to structure sprints:
Pick one high-impact project to focus on.
Set a short, specific deadline. Thirty, sixty, or ninety days.
Go all in on that one thing. No distractions. No side projects.
When you finish, pause, evaluate, and reset for the next sprint.
Set your finish line
Take one major business goal and set a real deadline. Not “when I get around to it.”
Ask yourself: if I had to finish this in thirty days, how would I approach it differently?
Be clear about what sprinting means for you. It isn’t about speed. It’s about focused execution on what matters most.
Stop drifting, start finishing
Right now, think of the one project you’ve been putting off. The one that, if finished, would actually move the needle.
Got it? Set a deadline. Not someday. Not “when things slow down.” Pick a real date. Thirty, sixty, or ninety days. Write it down. Then start sprinting.
Drifting won’t get it done. Decisive action will.
About the Author
Ron Tester is a physical therapist with thirty years in the field. He built, grew, and operated a multidisciplinary home health company employing PTs, OTs, and SLPs through a successful exit. He now coaches outpatient PT, OT, and SLP clinic owners on operating at the owner level. Certified Executive Coach and Book Yourself® Solid Coach. Learn more at https://rontestercoaching.com/about.