Then the goal of the project is the process and I don't feel bad about not finishing

> Better, I don't feel guilty about the stuff I don't finish. I think this is key, and demonstrates the real personal growth, which is more valuable than being able to finish things per-se. It's the old saw: "what's the hardest thing? To know oneself." There's a lot of eagerness to jump on bandwagons and do whatever the motivational speakers recommend, but you're not going to find the answers specific to you until you look inside yourself. Anyway, in short: I agree (: I'd also add: the reasons and mindset can change not just from project to project, but from day to day as well. Very context-dependent (at least in my experience).

So you’re saying in order to finish projects I just need to learn how to be honest and clear with myself? Seems like a reduction to a harder problem :) Joking aside, I came to believe that various form of procrastination are a response to pursuing wrong or unclear goals - even when I don’t state them clearly, my brain still somehow knows that I’m not aligned with what my goals should be. Good job, brain!

For me this sounds a lot like a distinction between being intrinsically motivated (“because it is fun for me”) and extrinsic motivation (“I want to achieve something in the outside world”)