POTUS 44 and Dissertations
August 4th marks the birthday of the 44th President of the United States. Here’s some words of wisdom from Barrack Obama that you can apply to your dissertation…
We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.
— Barrack Obama
I agree that we are better as a society when more people strive for excellence. Excellence is what pushes us forward as a people. And, the excellent are the ones doing the pushing! But, I do have a little caveat for dissertation students:
Pursuing your doctoral degree is excellence. But, for many doctoral students, the idea of pursuing excellence is such a deeply rooted trait that it’s almost a compulsion. There’s no end to the need to be better, to do your best.
And, that can be a problem when it comes to completing your dissertation. You see, sometimes you have to take a step back and realize that…
We can’t afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary.
— Barrack Obama
Here, Obama was paraphrasing Voltaire’s famous quote, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Your goal of graduating is won when you have developed a good dissertation. Not excellent. And, certainly not perfect!
When your committee members say that your proposal is “good enough,” you can apply for permission to proceed from the IRB. When the IRB says that your application is “good enough,” you can conduct your research. And, when your committee approves a draft of your dissertation as “good enough,” you graduate. And, don’t forget, that’s the whole point!
Don’t let an unnecessary pursuit of and unattainable perfection prevent you from succeeding. You’re not going to make your mark on this world with your dissertation. You’re going to make your mark on this world because you graduated…
Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way.
— Barrack Obama
Every dissertation student wants to graduate. But, not just to check a box on a bucket list. If you’re like the people who reach out to me everyday, you want to change world!
Perhaps just in your small corner. Perhaps in a greater way. But, deep down, the reason you’re pursuing your doctoral degree is to create a new platform for yourself from which your voice can be heard!
Keep that motivation squarely in focus throughout the dissertation process. There will be ups and downs. There will be failures along the way. But, if, at your core, you really want to make an impact, if you’re really called or driven to make this world a better place, then you’ll find the strength to persist when you need it most.
About the importance of persistence…
The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on.
— Barrack Obama
But, of course, you need a plan if you want to be successful…
If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.
— Barrack Obama
It’s important that you’re walking down the right path. Any path will take you somewhere. But, very few will take you where you want to go. This is a source of constant stress and frustration for dissertation students. If you haven’t been there before, how do you know which way to go?
So, ask yourself…
Are you unsure about your path?
Are you having trouble creating your plan?
Is your confidence is worn to the point that you feel hard pressed to press on?
Are you so transfixed in your pursuit of excellence that you cannot give yourself permission to succeed?
Are you looking for a better way?
