Throw Backs and Dissertations

February 27th is National Retro Day. If you’ve been working on your dissertation for any length of time, then it time to take your study retro!…

Do you get those Throwback-Thursday pix on Facebook? Isn’t it awesome to get to see how your kids looked years ago, or how you looked years ago?

Well, today, I want to give the same treatment to your dissertation.

Grab a draft from three or four months ago and skim through. I bet that you’ll be amazed at how much progress you’ve made over that period of time.

My students tell me they feel embarrassed sometimes when they go through this exercise. They can’t believe that they actually defended some of their earlier work, or took offense at the feedback they received.

Such is the nature of the transformation required by the dissertation process. After all, you don’t enter a doctoral program as a doctor. You don’t start your dissertation as a doctor. But, you do graduate as a doctor!

Something has to happen in the interim to move you from doctoral student to doctor. It’s not just a change in nomenclature; the difference is real.

So, set aside some time to observe and appreciate the transformation as it’s happening. Review older drafts of your dissertation every few months. Although progress may seem slow from day to day, over longer stretches, it should be apparent.

Recognizing just how far you’ve come can be just the fuel you need to keep going!

When you look back at your dissertation drafts from a few months ago, does it look a lot like your dissertation today? If so, click here to schedule a quick, 15-minute chat with me to see if you’re a good fit for our Fast Track Your Dissertation Coaching Program. If you are, then I’ll invite you to join the fastest group of dissertation students out there and help you to reach graduation a good year or two faster than you would on your own.