Finish Lines & Rainbows

Get ready to examine one of the most deeply seated beliefs in Western culture: I call this the Finish Line Fallacy.

The Finish Line Fallacy is the belief that happiness, fulfillment, peace and a sense of completion will come at a future date, once you have accomplished or acquired something - once you’ve crossed a specific finish line.

There are many variations of this fallacy and most of us have been conditioned to think in this way. “Once I get this degree, get this job, get this promotion, make this amount of money, meet my dream partner, get married, have kids, have my own home, leave my job, lose this amount of weight, get my dad to tell me he’s proud of me…”

We’re always rushing towards some finish line on the horizon and we can never quite seem to get there.

The Finish Line Fallacy creates a lot of discontent, so lets see if we can uproot it a little bit.

Exercise

• List out all of the Finish Line Fallacy beliefs that are floating around in your psyche, brain dump style.
• Next, make a list of things you already have / have accomplished. What are milestones you’ve crossed? Things you’ve achieved? Significant things you have in your life?
• Now, describe those things you already have in the Finish Line Fallacy, future projection style.
  • E.g. “I bought my own home” becomes “once I own my own home, I’ll feel at peace”. And “I traveled to many different countries” becomes “If only I could travel and see the world, I’d feel more free”.
  • Try to get into the mindset of before you achieved these things and describe them from that perspective.
• See how this perspective change affects you. Ask yourself: is there anything stopping you from enjoying what you already have as much as you think you’ll enjoy things you don’t have yet?