When I played soccer in high school there is one thing that the coaches would constantly remind us of during any drill: "just finish. It doesn't matter how long it takes you or how badly you do it; just finish it."

After a recent interview, I found myself repeating this to myself over and over after I had run out of time on the question. In my heart, I knew that the interview question doesn't matter, merely the process that you go through , but it was bothering me that I had left the problem in an unsolved and broken state.

I decided to finish it and send off the solution to the interviewer. I did not think it would help me out any, nor was that my intention, but it felt so much better once I knew in my heart that not only could I solve the problem, but that I had actually done it. When slogging through interviews, it's the little victories that matter the most.

While I never thought about it outside of soccer, the idea should be applied to any activity that you set out to complete. Whether you are running marathons, practicing code kata's, reading a book, or learning a new language: It doesn't matter how long it takes you or how badly you do it; just finish it.