It
is very important to acknowledge and celebrate the small milestones in your
dissertation progress as well as the big ones (e.g., defenses, IRB). What are
the small ones? Having your prospectus accepted, completing sections of the
paper, having your chair approval chapters. You can even break them down
further, with reaching your goal for a week or a day.
Think of each small step as a goal that you have completed
on your journey. Celebrating them will give you an emotional boost and increase
your motivation to push on. How to celebrate them? Perhaps you can think of a
range of celebrations and rewards depending on how big the step is- a dinner
and movie out with your favorite person for completing a chapter. Maybe going
for a long walk or getting ice cream with the kids for reaching your goal for
the week. Your reward should be something that is worth working toward that
would make you happy and relaxed.
The dissertation is such a long and difficult journey; you
need frequent rest stops and rewards for each step on the way. I think it is a
great idea to include your significant other and family in your celebrations.
It will allow them to be part of your journey and to support you.
Next time we will look for some motivation. Do you have an issue or a question that you
would like me to discuss in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer?
Send me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu
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