Last week, I wrote about the power of finishing projects at 70%. The idea that progress often beats perfection, especially as the year winds down. This week, I want to go one layer deeper. With just about ten weeks left in 2025, it’s time to think less about finishing everything and more about ending well. Because how we close this year will shape not just how we remember it — but how we begin the next one.

Tip of the Week: We don’t remember the middle. We remember the end. Make your final stretch worth remembering.

Side Note: Ending well isn’t just about tying up projects, it’s about clearing space for what comes next. If you’re entering Q4 buried in Slack pings, meetings, and thousands of unread emails in your inbox… it’s not a motivation problem, it’s a systems problem.

That’s exactly what I built the Effective Workload Management Systems course to solve. It helps you reset how you manage your time, say no with clarity, and finish the year with fewer open loops and more control. It’s been battle-tested by over 70,000 Amazonians, and the latest version is the strongest yet. Check it out:

The Theory Behind

We remember endings more than experiences. Daniel Kahneman’s Peak-End Rule shows that our memories aren’t fair record-keepers. We judge entire experiences by two things: the emotional peak, and how they end. In one of his most famous studies, participants submerged their hands in painfully cold water twice. In the first trial, the water stayed cold for 60 seconds and ended abruptly. In the second, it stayed cold for 60 seconds, then warmed slightly for 30 more. The second trial was longer and technically included more pain, yet participants rated it as the better experience. Why? Because it ended better. That’s how our brains process time. We don’t average experiences; we edit them. Which means these final ten weeks can dramatically alter how we remember all of 2025.

Celebration rewires memory. Psychologist Teresa Amabile calls this the progress principle: when we acknowledge and celebrate small wins, our brains release dopamine, reinforcing motivation and a sense of meaning. It’s not only about feeling good, but also about creating better recall. The moments we celebrate become “highlight reel” memories, while the rest fades. So instead of focusing on unfinished goals, identify what has gone right this year. Name it, celebrate it, and let that sense of completion stick.

Momentum builds near the finish line. Behavioral research on the goal-gradient effect shows that motivation spikes as we approach an endpoint. We naturally move faster as the finish line nears. That’s why the final mile of a marathon feels different. But this energy fades fast if we end abruptly or without closure. To sustain it, we need intentional completion. Something symbolic that tells the brain, “I did it.” One thoughtful ending can fuel the next beginning far more effectively than a hundred half-finished tasks.

What I’ve Learned

Even brilliant minds can struggle with endings. Daniel Kahneman passed away a year and a half ago. However, a few months ago, I was deeply struck when I learned how. Here was one of the brightest thinkers of our time, a man who reshaped how we understand decisions, happiness, and memory... and yet, near the end of his life, he made a deliberate choice to bring his own story to a close. I don’t pretend to understand it, but it stayed with me. Kahneman spent decades explaining how we remember experiences by their endings. Perhaps, in a difficult and human way, he followed that insight to its conclusion. It reminded me that finishing well also means choosing what to close, what to celebrate, and what story we want to carry forward (or not).

Make It Happen

7 Steps to End the Year Well:

1. REFLECT - Revisit the Story of Your Year

• Look back with narrative, not judgment. Instead of reviewing what went wrong, tell the story of your year - what was hard, what was surprising, what you learned.

• Spot your highlights. Identify three moments that made 2025 meaningful (big or small). These become the anchor points of your “highlight reel.”

2. COMPLETE - Close the Right Loops

• Choose one meaningful project to finish. Not five, one. Something that, if completed, would make the year feel satisfying.

• Set a 70% goal. Borrow last week’s rule: define what “done enough” looks like and aim for that.

• Create a visible finish line. A date, a milestone, or a public handoff. Anything that gives your brain the satisfaction of closure.

3. CELEBRATE - Create Memory Markers

• Mark your progress. Write a short reflection, take a photo, or share a note with your team. Recognition cements memory.

• End with a ritual. Schedule one simple act to close the year: a quiet walk, a dinner, or even just a short journal entry titled “What I’m proud of.” Research shows that rituals give our experiences emotional punctuation, and that’s what endings need most.

Let’s make the last page of this year worth rereading.

Close to the end,

Jorge Luis Pando

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