(posted on behalf of @Asif Kanan)
One of the very worst uses of time is to do something very well that need not be done at all. ~ Brian Tracy
Have you ever felt like a phoenix rising from the ashes, only to be consumed by flames again? That's the Ph.D. experience in a nutshell. A Ph.D. is a journey of profound
discovery and crushing self-doubt, of exhilarating breakthroughs and mind-numbing setbacks. It's where you're simultaneously the most knowledgeable person in your niche and the most clueless student in the room.
But how do we remain motivated in times of academic crisis?
Personally, I give myself reminders. I read, highlight and re-read some of my favorite quotes time and again. Today, I am sharing seven of my favorite reminders I have accumulated over the years (most of them from Stephen Covey). Here comes the list:
1. Entrepreneurship (and so Ph.D.) is living a few years of your life like most people won’t; so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.
2. The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.
3. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
4. Do something today that your future self will thank you for.
5. We can say that each of us has a higher and lower self, and that these two selves are in a constant battle with each other. The can versus the should. What we can get away with, and what’s best. The side that can focus, and the side that is easily distracted. The side that strives and reaches, the side that stoops and compromises. The side that seeks balance, the side that loves chaos and excess.
6. No one has a harder time than the lazy. No one experiences more pain than the glutton. No success is shorter lived than the reckless or endlessly ambitious. Failing
to realize your full potential is a terrible punishment. Greed moves the goalspost, preventing one from ever enjoying what one has.
7. Before you begin scrambling up the ladder of success, make sure that it is leaning against the right building.
As you read these reminders, I would love to know what keeps you going when the going gets tough. Please share your thoughts, and favorite reminders to help your Ph.D. fellows move forward and rise again.
Please also feel free to reach out with your thoughts and suggestions at kanan_asif@uml.edu, or via linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kananasif/.