Dear Real Academics, One of the best series I've watched recently is The Chosen . I love everything about it, including the fact that it is different in the way it's crowd funded, streamed through The Chosen app, and created in a way that is relatable and incredibly high-quality. I also love how Jesus, one of the main characters, tells his students to "Get used to different." Are you used to different, Real Academics? I thought I was "used to different" as an academic by default. If I am honest, though, so much of what I and others around me did was really all the "same": Same problems - why do they never get solved? And, do we even want them to solve the problems (Think: If we did, then what would be a purpose for "further research")? Same arguments. Same analysis. I felt like a hamster spinning in a wheel. And what was "new" were really just "new" labels for old ideas. Novelty, I learned much too slowly, was fro...
Dear Real Academics, There's a pattern among productivity strategists: If you want results, track your progress. Whether I'm watching a video or reading about financial planning, nutritional well-being, exercise programs, writing productivity, or self management in general, all programs that WORK have some element of what I default to calling "logging". I default to this term because of my experience with logging with writing (more on that below). Logging is tracking your progress. I know, I know...it sounds dull and mundane and boring and hard to remember to do. It may even sound rigid, but here's the news: It is powerful. Why? This is a good question. For this post, I will not get into any facts or figures or empirical data to prove to you that tracking your progress is powerful when it comes to making progress. But, reflect on your own experience. When have you made real progress on any goal you had that required change/effort/difficulty? What did it look lik...
Dear Real Academics, I've been thinking a lot about conflict lately. I've been thinking about it because I don't like it. As much as I prefer harmony and unity, however, I need to be very careful about what this harmony and unity looks like. If what seem like harmony and unity comes at the expense of sacrificing freedom, then it is deceptive. Let me give you an example. In academic discourse, which includes writing and speaking, something always "smells fishy" to me when I can anticipate what someone is about to say so that it aligns with popular lingo and assumed ways of thinking. I call this group think. Furthermore, when those who question or pose a different point of view are silenced or censored and/or held in contempt, then critical thinking is being suppressed in the name of a deceptive idea of unity. I don't know about you, but when I was learning to write persuasively, the idea was to have a well formed argument supported by carefully researched i...