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 ‘perseverance’ 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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Breaking the all-or-nothing mentality
Posted in academic, boundaries, coaching, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, perfectionism, perseverance, planning, realistic goals, Smart Tips, strategies, using your strengths, writing habit, writing schedule, tagged all-or-nothing distortion, all-or-nothing thinking, daily writing habit, dissertation boot camp, goal, patience and writing, Smart Tips for Writers, thesis, write consistently, Writer, Writers Resources, writers' retreat, writing on February 6, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
You’re frustrated that it is taking so much time to get to the dissertation finish line. Do you minimize your efforts and withhold any sense of accomplishment for the work you’ve done to get this far? Each week you look back and dismiss your work “Is that all? Well, really, that wasn’t good enough.” [...]
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 [...]
Recording TV shows is a hazard to your writing
Posted in academic, accountability, anxiety, choice, coaching, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, email, habit, Internet, mental toughness, momentum, perseverance, productivity, self-care, self-deception, self-discipline, self-sabotage, strategies, television, time management, time theft, write more easily, writing models, writing, dissertation, tagged digital stress, recording tv shows, tv torpor, watching tv instead of writing on November 2, 2010 | 1 Comment »
A dissertation coaching client said that she stopped watching TV and picked up her writing pace in order to meet a deadline. Now that she has met the deadline, she worries that she will be sucked into watching all of the TV shows that she recorded during her heavy-duty period of writing. Do you record TV shows? It’s [...]
