3 Questions to Ask Yourself in Your Academic Journey


I'd think that most of you want to succeed.

I know I do. 

I mean, I was the "I'd rather die than fail"-type before life taught me a few lessons...read more about that here if interested.

I'm not saying you should not want to succeed. You should. 

And I'm not saying you cannot succeed. You can.

What I want to say is that if you want to succeed, get ready for a journey with moments of success and moments of failure. 

Think about books and films that become "classics".
What do they have in common?  

Usually, a hero character on a journey with a beginning, middle, and end. 
You read/see where the hero is in the beginning. 
The hero encounters a difficulty in the middle. 
The hero perseveres and comes out transformed in the end, wherein lies the success
(be it a tragedy or comedy).

The key to the successful transformation? 
The hero keeps moving forward.
But, forward is not always in a straight line. 
Maybe the hero is going one way and life detours or...worst yet, nukes the current path all together. In that case, does the hero have the courage to get up, start over, and keep going?

What about you, Real Academic? 
Where are you today? 
What stage of the journey are you on? 

You may be on a "high" of having successfully defended a dissertation, 
having started a new job, 
or having gotten a manuscript published. 

Or, you may be on a "low" where you did not pass a dissertation proposal on the first try,
are job hunting, 
or are needing to do major revisions on a rejected manuscript.

As you continue your journey, ask yourself:

(1) Who do I have or who should I find to walk alongside me in this journey? 
We all need others to cry or celebrate with us.

(2) What resources have I pulled from in the past to help me or what new resources should I seek out? 
Whether in a "high" or "low" moment - how can you stretch yourself to be better?

(3) What's next? Will I/should I continue the path I am on?
Or should I detour, create a new path (by choice or not!), or take a rest? 
The rest part makes me think of the scene in Lord of the Rings when Bilbo Baggins and his crew go to see the Elves in a place of beauty, light, and water to be REFRESHED.

In summary: Where are you today in your journey and what will you do to keep going?

Until next time, happy writing, productivity, and truth-seeking, 

Maggie
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