Intentional: How to Finish What You Start

by Chris Bailey

From the bestselling author of Hyperfocus, productivity expert Chris Bailey, a new approach to finishing what you start.

‘The most productive man you’d ever hope to meet’ – TED

‘A powerful guide to turning ambition into action’ – Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit and Supercommunicators

Most of us have no problem setting goals. We know what we want, and we have a pretty good sense of what it takes to get it. But consistently making progress until we’ve reached that goal is the hard part.

In Intentional, Chris Bailey presents a new and better way to accomplish your goals. It turns out, the secret to finishing what you start isn’t willpower or the latest productivity hack – it’s intentionality. Your deepest intentions are your greatest motivating force. By structuring your goals around the things that matter most to you, whether that’s feeling secure in your job, having autonomy over your decisions or being in a community, getting things done becomes second nature.

Drawing from the latest productivity research and packed full of practical strategies, Intentional will show you how

Structure goals to increase the likelihood of completionMake unappealing, boring or frustrating tasks more attractive to doLower the chance of procrastinating on long-term goalsCreate a system for tracking progressKnow when a goal isn’t for you – and when it’s time to let it go.
Finishing what you start is more possible than you think.

‘An important new contribution to the genre!’ – Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of Slow Productivity and Deep Work

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

265 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 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.