How does beginner’s mind relate to the discipline needed to complete a long term project or period of study?

I’m assuming that in order to complete a long term project there has to be an intention that gets set once and then it’s stable going forward. Meaning that if I make a decision tonight I’ll expect the decision to still be made tomorrow morning. This is not what happens. Tomorrow morning will be a fresh start and what is important now will not be important then.

From the Zen point of view this freshness is a good thing, it means I’m more likely to know reality as it is instead of carrying along outdated stories of what it should be. It means I’m more likely to know the truth instead of a fabrication.

But my expectation is that I will be consistent and linear and progressive and very much not a beginner.

Reality refuses to conform to this expectation.

How do I accept this?
How do I work with it?
How do I see the strength of it?

If I am my intentions, then I’m always dying and being born. If my intentions arise and fall away independently of me, then I do not die with them.