Marking your accomplishments
by Constance Davis | October 24, 2008
Everyone measures his or her progress in a different way. Dr. Riskedal has written about the importance of training and pacing when you are planning to run a marathon. Johnna Williams earlier this week encouraged learners (and she is one of them) to think about how much they have accomplished.
Capella uses milestones to help its doctoral learners move through the dissertation process. You can certainly measure your progress toward your degree by crossing off each of the 16 milestones in turn
But I also found it was helpful to use another visual to help keep me motivated on those days when I wondered if I would ever reach my goal: the successful completion of a dissertation. Yes, I had checklists and to-do lists from my school and the graduate college. Yes, I had important deadlines noted in my online calendar and circled in red on the big wall calendar next to my computer desk. But what helped me see my progress was my mountain.
In the mid-90s, my mother and I had taken a trip to Alaska and we were lucky enough to see Mt. McKinley on several beautiful days in a row. I took many photographs of the mountain, and as I began the dissertation process I dug into my box of Alaska pictures, found just the right shot, and enlarged it into a poster. I stuck it on the wall next to my computer and fashioned a little arrow out of sticky note paper.
Each time I got over the hump of another major piece of the dissertation, I moved my little arrow up the mountain. And, I could give myself a little reward. Completed and successfully test drove the instrument for the data collection? Moved the arrow up. Finished data collection? Moved the arrow up. Had a chocolate ice cream cone. Plugged all the data into SPSS? Moved the arrow up. Had a piece of chocolate pie. Each of the chapters in pretty good shape? Moved the arrow up. Had a hot fudge sundae. Approval from the committee? Moved the arrow up. Had a chocolate shake. Final check of formatting and official approval by the graduate college? Moved the arrow to the peak! Had that molten chocolate cake!
As you complete each of the tasks remaining on your way to earning your degree, how do you note them? Do you celebrate little victories? Give yourself a gold star? Go out for an ice cream cone? Let out a primal scream or a rebel yell (a great time to do that is when you are sailing down the highway – preferably with windows closed)? Indulge (in moderation, of course) in some chocolate? How do you celebrate those accomplishments?