If your goal is to finish your dissertation during this new year of 2010, be bold, be optimistic, and persevere.
Positive psychologists for several years have said that the strengths most important for happiness are curiosity, optimism, gratitude, zest, and loving and being loved.
My experience as a dissertation and writing coach tells me that perseverance is a predictor of successful writing. Even if interest in a topic wanes or times get hard, perseverance, mental toughness, or grit keeps the writer writing.
Frequently ABD’s resist a self-assessment that suggests they have perseverance as a strength. But there are ways to build perseverance.
Leveraging the strengths of boldness and optimism can help ABD’s acknowledge or access their strength of perseverance.
If ABD’s or other writers recognize situations where they have been bold in the past and identify current opportunities for boldness, they can also generate optimism. With boldness and optimism, ABD’s can refute the self-sabotaging belief that they lack the necessary perseverance to finish the dissertation process.
Adding boldness and optimism to perseverance is a wining combination. These strengths hold the answer to the question: What do I need in order to be a successful writer?
Where can you be audacious and bold?
• Start with your writing goals – both long-term for 2010 and short-term for this week and this month. Commit to a reasonable goal for the next two weeks.
• Draw boundaries to protect your writing time.
• Revitalize your relationship with your advisor.
• Invest in a dissertation coach.
Where will you move out of your comfort zone for the sake of your writing?
All good wishes for a very productive and happy 2010,
Nancy
Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach
www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
www.usingyourstrengths.com