Why am I doing this?
I’m tired of this commitment.
Why am I doing this?
At some point in your training, you will probably question your sanity. You will gnash your teeth that you don’t want to run, complain that it is raining/snowing/too hot/too cold……You really wonder why you set this goal for yourself.
Would it really matter if you stopped?
There are good reasons to decide to stop out of marathon training.
There are good reasons to explore why you decided to run a marathon. I run/exercise for my health. I am diabetic and exercise helps control my blood sugars. It also helps manage high blood pressure (runs in the family). The first marathon I trained and accomplished was to raise funds for diabetes research. The best thing I did was exercise to manage my health. As I anticipate running a half marathon, I wonder why I do this. And then I remember I’ve reduced one of my meds, gotten rid of 2. The goal and effort is worthy, for my health, as well as my attitude and outlook on life.
Why did I continue pursuing a PhD?
What questions does one ask of themselves while on this journey?
Is this journey your’s alone?
If goals have changed, what is the ‘Why’ now?
And how did I manage the doctoral journey? As my career goals changed, I wondered why I continued on. I reflected on my goals. I listened to my colleagues who were ahead of me in the program. And I re-committed to the tasks at hand.
You, too, will question.
Questioning and reflecting are good throughout your program.
Then you will know why. It might help you explain to family and colleagues.
This entry was posted
on Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 12:13 pm and is filed under General.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 1st, 2008 at 8:59 am
I’m re-enrolling in the Adult/Postsecondary Learning PhD and I’m asking these questions of myself again. Why am I choosing to do this after one year off (family and work issues)? I am content in my job, have a relatively stable home life, so why upset the cart again?
All I can say is that my colleagues who have completed the PhD phase of their scholarly journey encourage me; they have my admiration and respect for their commitment and their knowledge. I also miss the learning, the involvement in educational groups and activities. I miss the feeling of discovery, development and understanding something new.
Know I want to know how much the year off from studies will be a hindrance? I teach in a community college and am actively reading about teaching etc. but have I lost my form? Will it come back? Should I take my 2nd Colloquia before or after the stats class this January? Any answers will ease my transition, thank you.
MGM
December 2nd, 2008 at 8:18 am
Questions are good. Keep asking them.
Your time off may actually be a benefit. You’ve had time to ponder what you learned and why you want to learn more. And why you want to re-enter this effort. You have the studying skills, everyone needs to focus and deepen these skills, no matter what point in the program they are in. And you have your colleagues to share and discuss with.
Use those questionning skills to deepen your discovery and understanding of something new, or viewing something old in a new light.
You will want to talk with your doctoral advisor about timing of attending the residency.
Thanks for pondering these things. I look forward to more of your questions and comments here and elsewhere.
Lynn