Intentional: How to Finish What You Start

by Chris Bailey

"A powerful guide to turning ambition into action—by focusing not on willpower but on what matters most."—Charles Duhigg, author of Supercommunicators and The Power of Habit

Setting goals is easy. Following through on them? A whole lot harder.

It turns out, the secret to finishing what you start isn’t sheer willpower or the latest productivity hack. It’s becoming more intentional.

With Intentional, bestselling author Chris Bailey distills a decade of deep research on productivity to deliver a profound, practical, and counterintuitive road map to getting things done. Forget extensive to-do lists and a never-ending workload. To reach your goals, you must structure your daily actions around what’s most important to you—and let go of the rest. This way, getting things done becomes second nature.

Integrating the science of desire, values, and procrastination with the wisdom of Buddhist monks, Bailey lays out step-by-step strategies for intentional accomplishment, covering how

• Structure short-term goals to increase the likelihood of completion
• Make unappealing, boring, or frustrating tasks more attractive
• Lower the chance of procrastinating on long-term goals
• Create a system for tracking progres
• Know when a goal isn’t for you—and when it’s time to let it go

What matters most to you? Intentional shows that the answer has the power to unlock not just greater productivity but a deeper and more satisfying sense of accomplishment.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Business, Productivity, Psychology

263 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 6, 2026

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know about you but I plan and have huge ideas on what I’d like to accomplish but the execution doesn’t always happen 🙈

This book laid out clear ways to create goals that align with our values, how to track goals and how to keep our goals relevant and up to date as life changes. There were gentle reminders that goals are not always linear and often bounce around steps so keep your eye on the larger picture as well as all the details.

I found I walked away with lots of suggestions and ways to follow through on my intentions! This book is perfect for the new year and creating attainable goals.

Thank you to Random House Canada for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Steve Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have selected this book as Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 1/6, as it stands heads above other recently published books on this topic.