Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘hope’ Category

Found Time—Use it or lose it

Posted in choice, coaching, commitment, dissertation writing, hope, take stock, time, time management, writing schedule, tagged , , , , on March 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Recently a dissertation coaching client said she had made a choice which would give her more time.  That choice reminded me of Found Money. 

 

You know what Found Money is, right? 

 

 

Here’s an example:

 

I bought a pack of those special money envelopes that are in the card racks at Christmastime, and about 10 days before Christmas, I sent my nieces and nephews cash as their gift.

 

I had two or three envelopes left over, so I put them in a drawer.

 

Closer to Christmas, I took out those extra envelopes and, guess what, there was cash in one of them.  Yikes, could I have sent an empty envelope to one of the kids? How else would I have an envelope with money in it?  Favorite Aunt Status is at stake. 

 

After a hurried call to the mothers, I was reassured that no, all children had received cash from me.

 

I felt a little silly that somehow I had put money in an extra envelope. 

 

But the good news was that now I had Found Money.

 

 

 

As someone said to me, “Is there anything better than Found Money, especially at Christmastime?” 

 

 

 

Recently what reminded me of Found Money was that my client said she now she had more time.

 

How is the Found Time showing up in your writing schedule, I asked.  Hmm, not sure, she said. 

 

At Christmas I had spent the Found Money, even though it wasn’t a fortune, on something that I knew no one else would get me.  Something that I could remember that I had done for myself –sort of like buying my own Cupcake.  And it had come from the Found Money that I could have stuck in my billfold and frittered away on groceries. 

 And so here’s my take on Found Time and saying no: 

·        Once you say NO to something, you will immediately have more time. 

·        When you get more time, it feels like an unexpected gift that you can use any way you want to.

 

Something of value has opened up to you—how do you want to spend it?

·        Spend that Found Time where it will make a big impact.

·        Work on your dissertation during the very time that you would have been doing that old commitment.

·        Smile when you think how close you came to frittering away Found Time.

 

More time gives you hope, and hope gives you momentum and drive.  

 

Found Time or Found Money—which is of more value to you?  I’m guessing Found Time.  Use it or lose it.

 

Happy writing!

 

Nancy

Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC

Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach

http://www.dissertationbootcamp.net

http://www.smarttipsforwriters.com

nancy @ nancywhichard.com

 

Read Full Post »

To Write Your Dissertation or Book, Make a Break

Posted in balancing dissertation with work and family, creativity, finishing the dissertation, generate ideas for writing, getting started, hope, isolated, isolation, life, memories, self-care, start writing, strategies, success, write more easily, writing, writing breaks, zest, tagged , , , , , , , on March 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

A little after noon on Sunday as I was driving  to the Regional Post Office, which is open on Sundays, I turned on NPR radio and happened upon Garrison Keillor, telling one of his yarns on “Prairie Home Companion.”

Even though I enjoy Garrison Keillor’s humor, I immediately felt weepy.

On far too many Sunday afternoons a number of years ago, I would leave my home and my family and head to my office where I would work on my dissertation.  Each Sunday during that drive I listened to Garrison Keillor.  While I don’t regret putting in the hard work it took to finish the dissertation, it came at a cost.

While Keillor’s voice triggers some sad memories and brings up conflicts that I had to deal with as a parent and a wife, I’m also struck by the quickness of the unexpected, forgotten connection.  Our past can rush to meet us triggered by the briefest of sounds.  Or a new idea can occur to us at the confluence of a setting, a sound, and a memory.

That possibility of a sudden memory or an insight and, unlikely as it seems, sadness that can turn to hope through reframing reminded me of a client who is attempting to write a novel.  After having worked at it for quite a while, she feels as if she has nothing new to give to the project.  And she’s slipping into a stuck place where nothing stirs her.

To get unstuck, we may have to open ourselves to memories, to the unexpected, to the coming together of past and present.  Or we may have to break our routine and try something different.

I might have generated more ideas for  my dissertation and then have been a more lively and efficient writer had I given myself permission occasionally to stay at home on Sunday afternoons, or  if as a family, we had gone somewhere together on more of those days.

To generate ideas, consider making a break in your routine:
1. Take a walk or go for a jog.
2.   Go to the library or a coffee shop.
3.  If funds permit, take your laptop and check into a hotel.
4.  Trade houses or apartments with someone.
5.  House-sit for a week or two for a friend.
6.  Change the scenery—go to the zoo or to a park.
7.  Awaken your senses– surprise yourself with something different on the radio or buy a new kind of coffee or tea.
8.  Remind yourself of a time when you were bold or brave or when you did something difficult.

Sometimes writing and meeting deadlines need more than perseverance.

All good wishes,

Nancy

Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach

www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
www.usingyourstrengths.com
www.smarttipsforwriters.com

Read Full Post »

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 , , , , , , , , , 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,” from Strout’s collection entitled Olive Kitteridge, is told from the point of view of a young doctor, who has never recovered emotionally from a tragedy in his family.  He has returned to the town where he lived as a child. 

It’s clear that he plans to end his life.

But first he encounters a former teacher whose company and meandering conversation delays his plan and then at her urging, he’s called to do something bold.

The bold rescue of someone else also rescues him:  “he thought he would like the moment to be forever…Look how she wanted to live, look how she wanted to hold on.”

Consider the power of boldness.

You might need someone who believes in you and knows what you can do in order for you to do something bold.  You might have to be pushed.

You might even be avoiding doing something bold because you know that it could very likely lead to your feeling hopeful.  Once you let in some hope, then who knows what you might have to do! 

And what promises do you have that even with hope, you’ll reach your goal?

But it’s worth the gamble.  Once you have hope, perseverance becomes much easier.

Have you read “Incoming Tide”?

What have you read or what has occurred that inspires you to be bold?
I’d love to hear from you.

New Year’s Greetings,

Nancy

Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach

www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
www.usingyourstrengths.com

Read Full Post »

Share Some Kind Words with Your Dissertating Siblings and Friends: Support Is Critical

Posted in advisor, Blogs, coaching, dissertation advisors, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, hope, positive psychology, Smart Tips, using your strengths, tagged , , , , , , on September 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Georgetown University Professor Deborah Tannen writes about the supportive relationship she has with her two sisters.

In the Sept. 6, 2009 Washington Post, Tannen says that she sends them her manuscripts for their comments and once a book is published, she waits eagerly, yet nervously, for their response.

After reading a draft and sending Deborah Tannen some comments, one of her sisters also followed up with an email saying, “Stop reading this, and go back to writing your book.  Love, Mim.”

Professor Tannen says that she has posted that email over her writing desk, and the words continue to support her and help keep her on task.
 
I’ve always missed having a sister, but I know there are many other ways to have that same kind of support.

A client told me recently how anxious she had been about sending a draft to her advisor, but the kind, encouraging words as well as the constructive comments that accompanied the draft when the advisor sent it back buoyed my client and gave her the will to jump back into her work.

My dissertation coaching convinces me of the support writers need.  Often, in coaching I ask my clients to talk through what they are going to write when they get off of the phone with me.  Rehearsing the writing clarifies my client’s ideas and also engages my clients, reminding them of why they wanted to write about this particular idea and reassuring them that they do know what they will do next.

Frequently, clients also give me something in return.  After asking questions that helped a client become enthusiastic and self-confident about the immediate task ahead, she said, “I’m so glad I work with you.” 

I may not have a sister who sends me emails that I can post on my coaching table, but I did write down that comment and I put it where I can see it every day.

A blog post entitled “Instant mood lifter:  thank someone for a job well done”  (June 24, 2009) by the very successful Escape from Cubicle Nation blogger Pamela Slim revealed that she was moved to tears by receiving kind, thoughtful praise via a tweet.  Just goes to show you, doesn’t it? 

She said, “Kindness is not a little thing.  It is not fluffy, unicorn and rainbow coachy stuff.  Kindness heals.”

Have you told anyone recently that you appreciate their help or sent someone hard at work on a big and stressful project a supportive email?  It’s a wonderful thing to do. 

Have a great week.

All good wishes,

Nancy

P.S. I appreciate your reading my blog.  It means a great deal to me.  And I always appreciate your comments.

P.S.S.  Smart Tips for Writers, my online newsletter, goes out this week.  Register today at my website:  www.nancywhichard.com.

Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach

www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
www.smarttipsforwriters.com

Read Full Post »

Occasionally, Raise Your Eyes from Your Dissertation: Producing Insights and Breakthroughs

Posted in academic, creativity, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, happiness, hope, joy, life, planning, self-care, Smart Tips, strategies, struggling, success, trusting yourself, using your strengths, write more easily, writing breaks, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Monet set staring at his garden in Giverny, France.  A neighbor asked him when he was going to start working. Monet said that he was already working.

Later, when Monet was painting, the neighbor passed by again and said, “Oh, you’ve started working.”  To which Monet said, “No, now I’m resting.”

I don’t know if this story about Monet is true, but it suggests different points of view of how we break through to new ideas that allow us to be productive.

•    Monet may have been actively analyzing what he was seeing.  Perhaps he was planning the technique he would use once he began painting. 

•   Or perhaps he was letting go of the everyday concerns and minimizing distractions.  He may have been initially unaware of the connections his mind was making as he sat there and gazed at the light playing on the flowers.

•   But then a sudden insight could have allowed him to see the scene in a new way, allowing him to focus just on his sense of sight.  His perception of the scene piqued his curiosity and he saw a puzzle that could be solved.

Accounts from several of my clients writing dissertations and books support the fascinating, new research that has written about in newspapers and books.  This new research tells us that the unfocused mind generates striking, creative ideas and makes associations that will not come when, for example, my writing clients are at their most intent.
 
One client had been struggling for some time to get beyond merely describing her fieldwork.  Her attempts to devise an original, theoretical framework had not been successful.

To relieve her stress, she had wisely added weekly volunteer work and exercise to her schedule, as well as continuing to work on her dissertation. She came to a coaching call with me one evening excited and optimistic:  “The framework came to me as I drove home from my volunteer work today,” she said.

Making space in her day for something besides her dissertation and thus having time for her mind to be idle and to rest surely produced the insight.  And it was a sudden insight.

My client’s upbeat mood as she left her volunteer work may also have helped produce the unexpected insight.  Researchers say that a sudden insight is more likely if you are in a good mood.

Robert Lee Hotz writes in The Wall Street Journal (June 19, 2009) that Northwestern University researchers, using brain scanners and other sensors, have studied how a-ha moments take shape in our brains, even before we’re consciously aware of them.

Our brain is most active when we are the least aware of our thoughts.  At those times, connections are made from different parts of our brain, creating new frameworks and new ways of thinking.

What might this research mean for you as a writer?  How could this research help you as you’re writing your dissertation?  I’d love to hear from you.

Happy August,

Nancy

P.S.  Can write a good email? In my first newsletter of the fall, I discuss writing email and how it and other kinds of writing could be of help to the academic writer. If you haven’t signed up for my newsletter, Smart Tips for Writers, go to my website and take care of that.  My website is at www.nancywhichard.com.

Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation and Academic Career Coach

www.nancywhichard.com
www.usingyourstrengths.com

Read Full Post »

3 Success Tips to Help You Engage with Your Writing

Posted in Charlie Rose, choice, coaching, creativity, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, fears, focus, goals, hope, mental toughness, momentum, perseverance, planning, positive psychology, Smart Tips, writing, You Tube, tagged , , , , , , , on July 22, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Over the past week two different people, both of whom are approximately 32, seemed surprised that I had heard of the singing group Coldplay.

The frenetic marketing of Coldplay’s new record would make it hard not to have heard of them.  To dig up a little more on Coldplay, I turned to YouTube. I found several of their pieces that I liked,
and I also liked some of what I heard in an interview with Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

Hearing Chris Martin talk about the hours he works and his creative process also led me to think of other ways people generate ideas for their writing.

1.  Seat Time – Put the Hours in
 In an interview on the Charlie Rose show, Chris Martin was surprised to be asked where he gets his ideas for the words and music of his songs.  Martin confessed that he, like most composers and writers, doesn’t know where his ideas for music and lyrics come from.  He said, “I just sit and play and play and play.   I never know where a song comes from.  It’s time.   I just put the hours in.”

2.  Structure Fairy
Sometimes even if you put in the hours in the style of Chris Martin, you still may not feel in flow or feel that you have a good idea for your writing.

A couple of people have told me that they put in the hours– they both work and work, but all too frequently they stall.  They come to an impasse. However, after sleeping on the problem and awakening the next morning, the solution frequently comes to them.

One coach friend is a brilliant writer but nevertheless struggles to make her writing brilliant.  Since problems with structuring her ideas frequently bring her writing to a halt, she is delighted at the “arrival” of a solution.  She says that after a long work session that has not yielded her what she wants, she leaves the work until morning.  While she sleeps, oftentimes the Structure Fairy visits her.

I don’t argue with fairies or leprechauns, but I humbly suggest that our wonderful brains can give us marvelous gifts when we move away from a trying project and use a different part of our brain or if we exercise or if we just get a good night’s sleep.

3.  Behavioral Economics
What if you almost or actually hate the project you’re working on, and there are no fairies coming to your rescue?

A client told me that a friend of his once put a large sum of money on a roommate’s desk and said, “If I don’t finish this chapter of my thesis, this money is yours.”

My client also said that if you are unable to meet your goal, established websites are in business to help you threaten yourself.  You can give someone $1,000 at one of these websites, and if you don’t meet your goal, the company gets to keep the money.

I’ve heard a similar kind of pact, in which you give a significant amount of money to someone, and tell that person your announced goal—a specific, measureable goal– and when you will reach it. If you reach your goal, the money goes to the political candidate of your choice.  If you don’t reach your goal… yep, you got it… the money goes to the opposing candidate.  I first heard of this idea years ago, and the threat was that if you didn’t meet your goal, your money would to go to Jesse Helms, now deceased, but who at one time was a very conservative senator.

Every day we have a narrative, and every day we talk our selves through our day.  But sometimes talk doesn’t work, and we have to take an extreme action to jolt ourselves into action.

Fear of failure can scare most of us into action; however, if you promise yourself a reward for achieving a goal or if you make an effort to be optimistic and work to feel positive about reaching your goal, you are more likely to be successful.

Hoping you’re putting in the hours—

Nancy
Your International Dissertation Coach

www.nancywhichard.com

Read Full Post »

The Strength of Curiosity and Your Dissertation

Posted in academic, coaching, curiosity, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, gratitude, hope, joy, positive psychology, Smart Tips, success, top strengths, using your strengths, writing, zest, tagged , , , on March 31, 2008| 2 Comments »

One of the top 5 strengths that many of my dissertation clients share is curiosity.

It’s not surprising that motivated, high-achieving academic people would have curiosity as a top strength.

And as you write a dissertation and live your life, the benefits of curiosity are many. For one thing, curiosity is among those specific strengths which are most likely to make for a happy life.  Positive Psychologist Chris Peterson has found that along with gratitude, zest, hope, and capacity to love, curiosity is one of the strengths most closely related to greatest life satisfaction.  It has also been found in at least one study to be associated with a long life.

So what else can this wonderful strength do for you?

Assuaging your curiosity has its own built-in reward.  It is fulfilling.

Another way that curiosity rewards you for the effort is that the resulting learning usually produces more curiosity.  Knowing that there is more to learn or that you don’t know everything yet can induce greater curiosity.

If curiosity is one of your top strengths and you are using that strength, you know how excited and engaged you are when you are satisfying your curiosity or in a state of curiosity.  One of my clients used the word “joy” to describe the feeling when he is in this state.

What would you be willing to do to experience joy as you’re researching or writing your dissertation?

How are you feeling about your dissertation?

I’d love to hear from you.  I’d also love to send you my Smart Tips e-newsletter.  Go to my website at www.nancywhichard.com to sign up.

Until next time, unleash your curiosity!

Happy writing,

Nancy
Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach
www.smarttipsforwriters.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
www.nancywhichard.com
nancy @ nancywhichard.com

Read Full Post »

A Gratitude Attitude May Help You Move toward Your Goal

Posted in academic, brave, coaching, courage, creativity, dissertation advisors, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, getting started, goals, Happier, hope, perseverance, procrastination, top strengths, using your strengths, writing, dissertation, tagged , , , , , , , on March 28, 2008| Leave a Comment »

How would you like to make 20 percent more progress on your dissertation than you’re now making?

Bob Emmons, professor at the University of California, Davis, has found that having a grateful attitude can make that possible.

The author of Thanks!  How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier, Prof. Emmons has made amazing research findings about living gratefully, but perhaps the most intriguing has to do with goal achievement.  He sees a positive relationship between gratitude and goal achievement.

In a study with participants equally divided between a gratitude condition and a non-gratitude condition, Prof. Emmons says that participants in the gratitude condition made 20 percent more progress toward their goals than did the other group.  In addition, the participants in the gratitude condition were more motivated to continue working than were the participants in the other group.

As writers, we look for ways to make our hard job easier.  We persevere.  We call on our courage.  We apply hints and strategies to increase our creativity and our motivation.  We take note of what works for us and try to repeat the pattern in order to get that momentum rolling.

Researchers have told us that if we can generate a somewhat happy frame of mind, starting our writing and sticking with it will be easier.  It makes sense, I think, that if we want to induce a relatively happy or calm frame of mind, we can choose to be grateful to someone for something.

This week two of my dissertation clients described the struggles they individually are having with their work.  One feels that her advisor has given discouraging feedback.  The other client procrastinates and resists writing.

Yet, in contrast to the mood each had when describing the struggles, they both had a hopeful confidence in their voices as they expressed the gratitude they feel toward their spouses.  The spouses read the dissertation drafts of my clients.

I don’t know if these two clients can make 20 percent more progress in their dissertation writing than they would have had their spouses not helped them.  But I was struck by the change in mood as they spoke of their gratitude.

I’m curious to hear what you think.  Would you be interested to hear more about Prof. Emmons’s studies in gratitude?  Would you be willing to try some gratitude interventions yourself?

Until next time,

Nancy
Your International Dissertation Coach
ancy @ nancywhichard.com

Read Full Post »

4 Reasons to Keep Writing Even if You’re Not Sure You’re Going in the Right Direction

Posted in academic, demands, discipline, dissertation advisors, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, following through, goals, hope, momentum, re-start, reasons for not writing, restart writing, showing up, Smart Tips, strategies, tagged , , , , , on February 4, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Dissertation writers occasionally come to an impasse, unsure of which way to go next.  You’ve probably been in this position.  You want to move forward, but it may seem prudent to wait—wait to see what your committee chair or mentor says, wait until you have a lot more time to read or go through your notes, wait for the muse to strike.

Even if you’re not sure you’re going in the right direction, continuing to write will eventually move you forward.

Here are 4 reasons to write everyday even if you’re feeling uncertain about your writing:
 
1)  Writing generates ideas.  Writing keeps your topic and ideas alive and growing.

2)  Writing every day, even if on some days you write only 2 sentences, fixes the writing habit.  It’s easier to write today if you wrote yesterday.  It will be easier to write tomorrow if you write today.

3) With all that you have going on in your life, you need to write daily to keep your writing in front of you.  If you don’t write for two days, do you even remember where you were when last you wrote?

4)  Writing every day gives you hope.  At the end of the day, you feel more confident and happier if you wrote that day.  You can make a checkmark on your calendar for that day and you can write on your calendar “I wrote today.” 

And you’re one day closer to–

1. Defending your proposal;
2. Finishing your dissertation;
3. Getting on with your life.

How great is that?

This week, as a special gift for signing up for my Smart Tips e-newsletter and to underline the goal of getting on with your life, I will give you a 30-minute call to help you get back on track. Go to my website (www.nwcoaching.com) and sign up for my Smart Tips e-newsletter.

Here’s to moving forward!

Nancy
Your Dissertation Coach
ancy @ nancywhichard.com

Read Full Post »

Top 5 Tips to Help You Accomplish Your New Year’s Dissertation Resolution

Posted in academic, coaching, commitment, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, following through, goals, grateful, gratitude, hope, momentum, motivation, New Year's Resolution, perseverance, productivity, realistic goals, Smart Tips, strategies, structures, tagged , , , , , , on January 1, 2008| Leave a Comment »

I asked one of my dissertation coaching clients if he planned to make any resolutions for the New Year.

He said, “I make changes throughout the year.”

He has a long-term plan in place and makes changes as needed.  What great planning!

If you also have a plan in place that is working for you, congratulations!  Keep it going.

But for most of us, even if our writing plan or dissertation plan is working, some midstream adjustments might be needed.

We need all sorts of support and reminders to keep the action going.

As you consider making resolutions for 2008, consider first where change would be the most effective and then how you could put a few check points in place.

Here are 5 tips to make sure this year’s plan is solid and well supported:

1. Make a list of the areas of your dissertation where you have control.

2. Check where you could fine-tune those areas. Which are priorities?  Which can you let go of for now?

3.  What one aspect of your dissertation process have you been avoiding? Pivotal changes usually come from small steps.

4.  Buddy up with a resolute partner.  Who do you know who is determined to finish a writing project or to help you finish?  What are you waiting for?

5.  Put check points in place, such as weekly calls, a timetable for submitting work, or notes to yourself in your calendar.  Anticipate times where you think you’ll have challenges.  Every two months or every three months?  Every week?

Sometimes the work becomes a bit bogged down and without clear check points in place, we miss (or avoid) looking at what adjustments are needed.

Resolutions are terrific, but we need added measures in place to keep us honest.

We all mean well, but, heck, we’re human.  If there’s a way out or a way to slow down, we’ll probably take that route.

But not this year!

All good wishes, with hope and gratitude thrown in, too.  Let me know if I can help.  Here’s wishing you a happy and productive 2008.

Nancy
Your Dissertation Coach
nancy @ nancywhichard.com

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »