It had survived the hurricane but no one suspected a power flicker the following week would have been a problem. Nobody checked and it wasn’t until she got back from vacation, opened the door and the smell hit her did anyone realise my mum’s fridge/freezer had stopped working and everything inside had warmed into a nice, festering stew.

You can imagine the job; not one I intended on letting my mother face alone. I jumped to action: rubber gloves, trash bags, disinfectant in hand. Launching into the task full of vim, my partner and I cleared the contents, extracted the shelving, sopped up the pool of coagulating drippings, with barely a pause to retch.

It wasn’t until I was hosing down the hardware that my enthusiasm faltered. Looking at a pile of drawers left to wash, an unexpected wave of boredom hit. It all suddenly felt like hard work and a little voice inside nudged, “Go on, have a break. You’ve done so much of it. The rest can wait.”

I instinctively knew this was a bad idea, but the urge was great … and very familiar. This is a habit of mine, I realised: giving up with just a quarter of a job left to do. I’m usually not aware I’m quitting though, just taking a break and before I know it get sucked into something else. Unfortunately the rest then remains undone … often for as long as I can get away with.

Not a great thing to notice about oneself — that I’m a ninth-inning quitter — but really useful information! Only once we learn about ourselves do we have any chance to make necessary changes, or simply work with ourselves, as we are, to maximise our strengths and compensate for our shortcomings.

Lesson 1: Accepting who we are and working with ‘what is’.

I could spend my time wishing I was different ... but that won’t get my job done! Yes, I can trace my habit’s origins and work at changing it, which will take time and possibly therapy. Meantime, I can face that this is the way I currently operate and create my successes around it.

Fortunately my partner spotted the look, saw my resolve draining, and is probably more aware of my habit than I am (easier to see someone else’s ‘stuff’ than our own). He encouraged and chivvied at just the right moment to keep me pushing through to the end. Job finished. Fridge clean, ready to be mended. Phew!

Lesson 2: Knowing our tendencies we can create strategies to avoid them impeding us. I can pre-arrange to have that cheerleader, accountability and support as I near the end of a project for that final push I need.

Lesson 3: Knowing what we’re good at allows us to strategically position ourselves within a team to best utilise our skills and talents. I am a great ‘starter’. Launching in is my thing and I’m good at encouraging others who might be reluctant to get going. I know that partnering with great ‘finishers’ and ‘middle sloggers’ creates my ideal, successful team dynamic.

Are you a starter? Finisher? Are you an entire ‘follow-through’ genius? Which of your habits can you apply these lessons to for making the most of who you are, and how you do things?

•Julia Pitt is a trained success coach and certified NLP practitioner on the team at Benedict Associates. For further information contact Julia on 705-7488, www.juliapittcoaching.com.