The Last Few Years
Three to seven years is a long time in anyone’s life. It may be that while you’ve been working on your PhD that you’ve had big changes in your personal life, not all of them good.
The last five years have been really hard at times in the wider world. We’ve seen daily life change and change again. We’ve seen disruptive alterations to the way the world seems to work. It’s not always clear what these changes will mean – or what changes are still to come.
And all of this is besides the nature of doing a PhD: learning how to research, potentially learning through failure and finding your way while working at a really high level.
If you’re feeling bruised by your PhD journey and your viva is coming then you can still make a choice.
If the last few years have been a lot, acknowledge that it’s been hard and acknowledge that you would wish for things to be different. Do that but remember that despite everything the world has sent your way you are still here.
You kept going.
It didn’t happen any other way. The world, your life, your research, whatever tried to hold you back – you said no and kept going. It doesn’t make all of the hard times go away. It might not make them hurt or matter less. But you kept going.
Keep going now. Success is not far away.
PS: something else that’s not far away is Viva Survivor, my upcoming live webinar on Wednesday 25th June – only four days from now! I’m regularly invited to deliver this session with PhD candidates all around the UK, but this is only the third time I’ve opened up registration. Viva Survivor is a 3-hour live webinar all about the viva, viva prep and getting ready and participants receive access to a catch-up recording and follow-up materials. Do take a look and see if this could help you keep going. Thanks for reading!