Sometimes you just have to have faith that you’ll end up where you need to.
We’re an anxious lot, and we tend to want to know how the future will look.
But we don’t have a crystal ball and it isn’t always possible to plan for the future or know what’s going to happen one, six or twelve months down the line.
We can do our best to go in the direction we want to head, but sometimes we need to do so not knowing the destination.
Terrifying? It needn’t be – if you have faith that, by quietly plodding away and putting in the hours in, you will get you where you need to go, wherever that may be.
It’s a big ask though. When you’re in the thick of your PhD and it’s doing its best to destroy you, it takes steely effort to be able to fight through the discomfort and have faith that it’ll all be alright in the end. It’s often so difficult to fight the stress, anxiety and uncertainty and turn up not knowing where you’re headed, or when you’ll get there.
All you can do is try your hardest, put the hours in and believe in yourself. Do that for long enough, and you’ll have growing confidence in the direction your headed.
Oh, and don’t forget to enjoy the ride.
No sections available in this post.
Every chapter of your thesis, mapped onto a single page.
I asked 250 PhD examiners how they'd structure a thesis if they were starting again. Their answers fit on a single page. Download it free — and stop staring at a blank document wondering where to begin.
You keep coming back. There's a reason for that.
Come write with us live. Join the next Monday Focus Session — 9am UK time this Monday.
What kind of PhD researcher are you?
Learn what’s actually making your PhD hard — and what to do about it.
This free assessment takes four minutes and involves twelve questions. Here's what you'll get:
- Your doctoral profile — personalised to your answers
- A personalised PDF report with a clear explanation of what's making your PhD hard
- Specific recommendations based on where you actually are
Share
Related Blog Posts
What’s the hardest thing about doing a PhD?
PhDs are hard. That's just common sense.In fact, it feels odd to even be saying it. Of course they're hard. They're just about the hardest thing you could ever set...
Welcome to Shit Valley
At some stage every PhD student ends up in Shit Valley. You normally find yourself here around half way through the PhD journey. You'll know you've arrived when everything you...
You’ll have to borrow and steal
'I can't find a theory that's relevant'I hear this all the time. A common misconception amongst PhD students is that there always exists a magical, off the shelf theory or...
Search The PhD Knowledge Base
0 Comments