What Do the Words “Lack of Follow Through” Actually Mean?

No, I’m really asking

FRED DUST
4 min readJun 7, 2021
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

“You don’t follow through!”

My husband said this about me during family therapy yesterday. Then, today, it came up again in a team meeting. You’d think I’d be used to it by now as people have been saying this about me my entire life.

It’s an easy allegation.

It’s also super triggering.

I know cause I just came home and cried.

Let’s give a bit of a picture of where I’m sitting right now. I’m writing this on a green Velvet sofa in our house on an island off the coast of Maine. I’m the author of a successful book, a former Managing Partner at one of the world’s most famous design firms where I started multiple successful businesses. And in my early fifties, I don’t have to work again if I don’t want to (sorta).

So let’s check the tape: I wrote a fairly successful book, I made all of my money by working for it. (See also: My parents were not wealthy.) I ran an extremely successful set of businesses. Aside from the fact I am proud of all of this, I think objectively speaking it’s safe to say that does not paint a picture that suggests Lack of Follow Through.

So where’s that coming from?

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FRED DUST

Founder of Dust&Co, senior design advisor for Rockefeller Foundation & former global managing partner of IDEO — fan of words and good conversation.