Keep Going In Difficult Circumstances
How did you do it?
An assumption: however enjoyable, rewarding, satisfying and interesting a PhD journey can be, there are always difficult circumstances that are part of the process.
So given that assumption, how did you do it? How did you manage to keep going in those difficult circumstances?
Or, to simplify, how did you survive?
I’m not suggesting that any difficult circumstances are fair, right, justified or should be shrugged away. Difficult covers a wide range of things and some situations can’t be excused.
Whatever they were, you made it this far.
You managed to keep going. Part of that is knowledge, capability and work. You applied yourself. Effort lead to results in one form or other.
Part of it is simply determination: if you made it through it’s because you kept going.
Whatever the situations and however you did it you have found yourself on a path to success. You submitted your thesis. You’re doing the work to get ready for a successful viva.
It’s easy sometimes to think of these things like knowledge, capability, work and determination as somehow separate.
We can put them at arm’s length, other things, when in fact it’s you.
How did you survive? How did you manage to keep going in difficult circumstances?
Every answer may be unique but at the core there is always a simple truth.
You did it – and that shouldn’t be forgotten.