246Japanese idiom 四字熟語
竜頭蛇尾
りゅうとうだびRyūtō dabi
“Dragon's head, snake's tail.”
The meaning
Starting with fanfare and ending in a trickle: the most common flaw of projects. A grand beginning only counts if the ending resembles it.
At the origin
A four-character idiom about momentum that runs out.
The characters
In practice
Save as much energy for your projects' endings as for their launches.