There, I said it. I detest the conventional “if you don’t finish every project YOU’RE A FAILURE” thing we say in our heads about others, and ourselves.
Hear me clearly, ok? If you don’t finish critical-to-succeed projects, it’s a problem. Starting, starting, starting, and never finishing anything is a problem.
Reality: Some projects deserve to be stopped. Some ideas don’t work out. Some experiments tell you to try something else next time.
Fact: The person who finishes every project is either themselves perfect (highly unlikely, dude!), a liar, or lacks the boldness to try risky new things.
A set of unfinished projects in your portfolio, along with those which yielded valuable results, is evidence you are trying, iterating your way through work that matters.
Bonus: Some of those unfinished projects will come around again in the future, and you can return to them when the time is right.