Flopping and Dissertations
March 6th is Richard “Dick” Fosbury’s birthday. In 1968, Dick Fosbury set an Olympic record and won a gold medal in the high jump, even though many of his competitors jumped higher than he did. And, I want you to do the same thing with your dissertation…
Richard Fosbury wasn’t as fast and strong as his college track & field teammates. If he wanted to be competitive in the high jump, he had to approach the event differently. So he did…literally.
At a time when all other jumpers attempted to roll forward over the bar, or “straddle” over one leg at a time, Fosbury decided to try something different. He approached the event backwards…and won.
As a result, competitors the world over began to imitate the “Fosbury Flop.” The high jump event was changed forever.
You can benefit by taking a similar approach with your dissertation. Everyone else worries about picking a topic and hoping that they can figure out a way to structure an investigation later. But, you can move much faster if you first determine what you can feasibly do in terms of collecting data, then position your approach later.
This backwards approach has enabled many of our students to graduate years faster than their classmates.
There is another, equally important lesson you should learn from the Fosbury Flop…the value of being able to barely scrape your butt over the bar. Too many dissertation students hold themselves to the highest standards. They want their dissertations to be “perfect.” You have to be comfortable with the idea of your dissertation being good enough. Graduation is the goal, and you only have to scrape your butt over the bar to get there.
If you’re having trouble scraping your butt over the bar, 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.
