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 ‘fears’ Category
What’s mental toughness got to do with it?
Posted in basketball, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, fears, mental toughness, motivation, perseverance, self-discipline, Steve Nash, take charge, zest, tagged dissertation, motivation, National Basketball Association, self-control, writing on July 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Many readers of Successful Writing Tips are looking for help with motivation. And they also are interested in what mental toughness has to do with motivation. As a dissertation writer, you may often find yourself in chaos, frustrated, with no easy way out. You’re not alone. Many other writers find themselves in a similar predicament. A [...]
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 [...]
The Writer’s Downfall: Time-Sucks and Lack of Courage
Posted in children, decluttering, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, family, fears, finishing the dissertation, getting started, housecleaning, planning, reasons for not writing, relationships, self-care, self-deception, self-discipline, self-sabotage, time theft, Uncategorized, writing schedule, tagged ask for help, carve out time for writing, get motivated, make time for writing, mindless activities, moms writing dissertations, negotiating, restart writing, time-sucks, writer’s downfall, writing on September 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Many times writers hire me to coach them because they’re stuck. They haven’t made substantial progress on their dissertation for months. What stuck often means is that the writers are having trouble claiming a chunk of time for the writing because of time-sucks. Time-sucks come in all sizes and shapes. Facebook and email will be your [...]
Boldness and Hope Will Rescue Your Dissertation
Posted in academic, brave, coaching, courage, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, fears, finishing the dissertation, hope, mental toughness, perseverance, reflection, resilience, resources, support, take charge, top strengths, urgency, using your strengths, tagged boldness, character strengths, Elizabeth Strout, Finishing your dissertation, hire a dissertation coach, hope, perseverance, support, the reading life, using your strengths on January 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Writing a dissertation is full of black holes that can swallow you up. Boldness allows you to embrace hope and can make the impossible seem possible. In the short story “Incoming Tide,” Pulitzer Prize winning writer Elizabeth Strout captures the essence of what might result from the interplay of boldness, hope, and perseverance. “Incoming Tide,” [...]
Writing the Dissertation: Learning how to do something you didn’t know how to do, Part 1
Posted in academic, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, fears, higher education, memories, practice writing, teaching writing, underprepared students, using your strengths, write more easily, writing, tagged composition class, dissertation coaching, Learning how to do something you didn’t know how to do, learning to write a dissertation, learning to write an argument, rhetorical conventions, teaching yourself to write, writing instruction on September 23, 2009 | 1 Comment »
When and how do we acquire the skills, voice, critical perspectives, and confidence needed for successful writing? Specifically to write successfully a dissertation and, for that matter, the book that follows the dissertation? Years ago as a first-year college student, I tested out of composition class, but all students at my university were required to [...]
To Make Progress on Your Dissertation, Stop Hiding Out
Posted in academic, accountability, advisor, dissertation advisors, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, fears, getting started, isolated, isolation, re-group, re-start, restart writing, self-sabotage, Smart Tips, write more easily, tagged connect with others, dissertation coach, hire dissertation coach, invest in your future, isolation while writing dissertation, Smart Tips for Writing, stop hiding out, writing coach on August 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Nearly every day I receive email from people who are making no or next to no progress on their dissertations. They are scared of the future and ashamed of having let so much time go by. They complain about feeling isolated–working far from their universities, having little contact with their advisors, and having no colleagues [...]
Smart Tips for the Dissertation AWOL
Posted in academic, accountability, coaching, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, fears, getting started, procrastination, re-start, reasons for not writing, resilience, writing, tagged dissertation AWOL, Smart Tips for Writers, stop hiding out on May 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Have you gone absent from your dissertation? As far as your advisor is concerned, have you just disappeared? When did you last contact your advisor? Is hiding out weighing heavily on you? We all have reasons for putting off doing something as big and seemingly endless as writing a dissertation, but usually the reasons seem less important when [...]
Just about Anything Feels Better than Writing Your Dissertation
Posted in anxiety, distractions, fears, Lizard Brain, reasons for not writing, self-deception, self-sabotage, time theft, You Tube, tagged anxiety, behaviors that protect you, distractions, fear on March 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
How was your Sunday? Productive? Or another day with only good intentions? If you don’t have much to show for the day, would you say that anxiety did you in? You know the signs of anxiety. You know when you’re getting high-jacked by a fear of one kind or another commonly associated with writing. [...]
