A caller asked if I had ever coached someone who had become stalled on a house renovation project. My answer was no, but what came to mind was how similar all big projects are. How difficult it can be to keep going. How crushing the project can become. But it doesn’t have to be this [...]
Archive for the ‘determination’ Category
Mom’s in Maine – Marking Boundaries for Space to Write
Posted in boundaries, children, choice, commitment, determination, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, family, perseverance, planning, reasons for not writing, strategies, time management, writing, writing schedule, tagged assuming control, dissertation writing, juggling writing and children, Maine, making space for writing, producing text, productivity, setting boundaries, summer writing, work identity on July 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Are your children home on vacation from school? And you’re trying to keep an eye on your children, as well as make headway on your writing project? How’s that working for you? During the school year, most academics teach and try to write. Both teaching and writing are critical for an academic’s success and are [...]
Hard Choices: What finishing the dissertation requires of you and what it can give you
Posted in academic, accountability, advisor, choice, determination, dissertation advisors, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, family, finishing the dissertation, mental toughness, motivation, perseverance, resilience, self-discipline, setbacks, writing, tagged dissertation, dissertation advisor, dissertation coach, grit, hard choices, juggling dissertation with work and family, Memorial Day, mental toughness, writing on May 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I have coached many people who write dissertations while juggling the demands of family life. It’s difficult to juggle the daily demands, but to give up a holiday with one’s family is a particularly hard choice to make. As the Memorial Day holiday approaches here in the U.S., I am thinking back to a Memorial Day weekend [...]
Full time job? And trying to write a dissertation, too?
Posted in academic, boundaries, commitment, determination, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, family, mental toughness, motivation, planning, restart writing, self-sabotage, time management, writing, writing schedule, tagged dissertation, dissertation coach, full-time jobs, juggling dissertation with work and family, scheduling dissertation time, writing on May 21, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
A few months ago a person who had finished her course work for her Ph.D., but had not done much toward her dissertation, wrote to say that as someone who worked full-time away from home, she couldn’t fathom how she could add writing her dissertation to the mix of not only working full-time, but also being [...]
Manage your fears and write
Posted in academic, anxiety, basketball, beliefs, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, fears, getting started, goals, gremlin, mental toughness, perseverance, self-discipline, student athletes, tagged Butler University, dissertation coach, Doctorate, high-stakes writing, manage your fears, manage your goals, performance, recurring nightmare, writing on April 6, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Most people I know speak of a recurring nightmare: –Having to take a test you haven’t studied for –Having to give a talk, but being unprepared –Not being able to get to the location where your talk or test is to be given –Feeling under great tension and wearing yourself out trying to accomplish something [...]
Writers Taking it to the Rim
Posted in academic, basketball, determination, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, mental toughness, perseverance, student athletes, tagged basketball, dissertation coaching, NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, writing on March 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This is the season when many Americans go crazy over their favorite college’s standing in the national basketball tournament, and my family is no exception. As of this afternoon, we’re represented variously by the teams from three schools. Our schools have made it to the Sweet 16. Or at least the teams did. I watch [...]
The Linchpin and location, location, location
Posted in commitment, courage, determination, discipline, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, finishing the dissertation, following through, mental toughness, momentum, re-group, writing, tagged discipline, Holding it all together, Linchpin, location, structure, thesis, writing on February 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Do you feel that you’re like that woman in online advertisements who seems to be turning in one direction, but then all of a sudden, even while you are looking at her, has turned and is now going in an opposite direction? Do you need something holding you and your intentions together? You need a [...]
Typing with two fingers takes true grit
Posted in academic, acting as if, beliefs, brave, courage, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, Lizard Brain, mental toughness, perseverance, resilience, self-discipline, self-sabotage, using your strengths, writing, writing, dissertation, tagged Catastrophize, grit, internal obstacles to writing, Lizard Brain, mental toughness, persevere, thesis, writing, Writing and Editing, writing is scary on February 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Writing is not for the weak of heart. Writing is often a dangerous act, requiring all of the mental toughness and grit you can muster. And no one knows that more than my clients—those writing dissertations and those who are now pushing on with writing their books or writing grant applications or articles. Some of [...]
Yes, Virginia, you do have time to write this week–and then, enjoy your holiday!
Posted in demands, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, family, goals, grading, mental toughness, planning, self-discipline, teaching, time management, write more easily, writing schedule, tagged finish grading, write during Christmas week, write early before you're frazzled on December 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
For Christmas celebrants, we’re down to the final week. What are your goals for the week? 1. If you’re teaching, have you turned in your grades? Don’t belabor the choices. This isn’t the time to give lengthy comments on a writing project. Wind it up. 2. If you’re trying to get in a few more days of writing and [...]
