After Completion & Before Completion Hexagrams: One Done, One Step Short — The Day You Finish Is When Mishaps Strike Most

The Hexagrams After Completion and Before Completion are the final two hexagrams of the I Ching (Book of Changes), ranking as the 63rd and 64th hexagrams.

One speaks of things having succeeded; the other speaks of things not yet having come to fruition.

Of the 64 Hexagrams in the I Ching, the sequence concludes with Before Completion rather than After Completion. In my view, this arrangement is the most brilliant stroke of the entire text.

Let us start with After Completion.

After Completion is 水火既濟 (After Completion). The upper trigram is Kan / The Abysmal, and the lower trigram is Li / The Clinging — water rests above fire.

Water above fire forms the pattern of cooking food: fire burns below, and water sits above, perfectly positioned.

All six lines of this hexagram are properly placed: Yang Lines occupy yang positions, and Yin Lines occupy yin positions, each line exactly where it belongs.

Among all 64 Hexagrams, this is the only one where every line is in its proper position.

Thus, the meaning of After Completion is: it is done.

The Xiang Commentary (Images) states: "Water above fire; After Completion. The Junzi (Superior Person) thinks of misfortune and guards against it in advance."

Thinking of misfortune and guarding against it in advance. After success, the first thing to do is to consider potential dangers.

Yet the very first line of the Hexagram Judgment pours cold water on that sense of triumph: "Penetrating in small matters. It furthers to be correct. Good fortune at the beginning, disorder in the end."

Good fortune at the beginning, disorder in the end. It starts well, but falls into chaos at the end.

Why? Because once people have succeeded, they let their guard down.

I once knew a boss who ran an engineering business. After twenty years in the industry, he sold his company at the age of fifty and cashed out a substantial sum.

After the sale, he told everyone he was retired.

In the first year of retirement, he traveled everywhere. In the second year, he started to feel a bit idle. In the third year, someone talked him into investing in two projects: a restaurant introduced by a friend, and a new energy venture he was optimistic about himself.

In the fourth year, both projects lost money. When he came out of retirement to take on work again, he found that a whole new generation of people had entered the industry. His connections were still there, but he could no longer keep up with the pace.

He told me those three years were his biggest mistake.

I told him those three years were not retirement — they were After Completion.

When a goal is achieved, the position is empty, but the person is still there. As long as the person is there, they need something to do. With nothing to occupy them, they will start looking for trouble at random.

This is what "good fortune at the beginning, disorder in the end" means.

It is not that something goes wrong on the outside — it is that one’s inner guard has slipped.

There is one line in the After Completion Hexagram that I find particularly sharp. Six in the Fourth Place: "繻有衣袽，終日戒" (Rags are kept for mending leaks; one is on guard all day long).

Ru (繻) refers to rags; yiru (衣袽) refers to materials used to plug leaks in a boat.

Keeping rags on board a boat means staying prepared for leaks every single day.

The meaning of this line is: when the boat is already in the middle of the river, the most important thing to do is to check for leaks every day.

After success, the most important thing to do is not to celebrate, but to check for gaps.

What should you check? Look for the things that have been covered up by your achievements.

Are your clients still there? Is your team still capable? How long will your funds last? Is the very thing that made you successful still valid?

Now let us turn to Before Completion.

Before Completion is 火水未濟 (Before Completion). The upper trigram is Li / The Clinging, and the lower trigram is Kan / The Abysmal — fire rests above water.

Fire rises upward, and water flows downward; the two elements never meet.

All six lines of this hexagram are out of position: Yang Lines occupy yin positions, and Yin Lines occupy yang positions.

Thus, the meaning of Before Completion is: it is not yet done.

The Xiang Commentary (Images) states: "Fire above water; Before Completion. The Junzi (Superior Person) carefully distinguishes the nature of things and places each in its proper position."

Carefully distinguishing the nature of things and placing each in its proper position. These six words sum up the entire method of the Before Completion Hexagram.

When things do not work out, it is usually not because of a lack of ability — it is because things are not in the right position.

People are put in the wrong roles, tasks are arranged in the wrong order, and money is allocated to the wrong places.

The Hexagram Judgment also says: "A young fox is almost across the river, but its tail gets wet. Nothing furthers."

The little fox is almost across the river, but its tail gets wet.

It is almost there, but the final step goes wrong.

This image is in the same vein as "the jar breaks" from the Well Hexagram. Both are cases of coming so close, yet falling short.

Coming so close is more painful than falling far short, because it makes you feel like you could have made it.

Thus, the reminder of the Before Completion Hexagram is: the closer you get to the end, the more carefully you must distinguish things.

Distinguish what? Distinguish which step is the one that truly remains unfinished.

Many people try to do five things at once in the final stage because they are in a hurry. As a result, all five things end up falling just short.

The method of Before Completion is subtraction: find that one remaining step, see it through, and set everything else aside for now.

After Completion and Before Completion are a pair.

After Completion is the danger that comes after success; Before Completion is the matter of positioning before success is achieved.

Taken together, these two hexagrams form a cycle presented by the I Ching: when you succeed, chaos will follow; when chaos arises, you find your position again; once you find your position, you move forward again.

There is no final destination.

That is why the final hexagram of the I Ching is Before Completion, not After Completion.

It is saying: the end point you think you have reached is merely the starting point of the next stage.

I often tell people one thing: do not treat success as a state — treat it as a moment.

Once that moment passes, you return to Before Completion.

Questions like whether you are in the right position now, and what your next step should be, are questions you must always ask yourself.

Let us go back to that engineering boss.

Later, he started a new company, only one-third the size of his old one, and only took on the type of projects he knew best.

He set a rule for himself: every year, he would set aside two months to take on no new work, and only do reviews and check-ups.

He told me he was not retiring this time.

I told him this time, he was staying in After Completion, but keeping rags on hand every day.

He laughed and said that description was pretty accurate.

Finally, here is a way to judge for yourself.

Is the thing you are working on right now in the state of After Completion, or Before Completion?

The standard is very simple: if you feel you have almost made it and can finally breathe a sigh of relief, then you are most likely in After Completion — and it is time to check for gaps.

If you feel you are just one final step away and need to push a little harder, then you are most likely in Before Completion — and it is time to clarify your positioning.

The most dangerous state is being in After Completion but thinking you are in Before Completion, and piling on more effort recklessly.

The most regrettable state is being in Before Completion but thinking you are in After Completion, and celebrating too early.