Mind Talk.
It tends to be negative which doesn’t do you any good.
A couple years ago, I entered a half marathon with a time limit. As I struggled through the heat, at the pace I was moving (slow), I had mind talk going about not being able to finish this event. Why did I run, anyway? I knew I wasn’t prepared for this event, why did enter?
I knew the mile points and the time I needed to keep going. Sure enough, someone at 6 miles (the half way point) indicated I needed to hurry, to stay in the event. Over the next 3 miles, mind talk really kicked in. I started looking forward to getting on the big yellow bus.
The next year, I trained better, and accomplished that same half marathon by a minute per mile less than their requirement.
Going through the dissertation process, I had lots of mind talk:
I wanted it to be perfect.
I wanted to solve the big problem.
I wasn’t always sure what I needed to do to proceed to the next piece I needed to do.
I used those mind talk pieces to procrastinate.
Then, I reminded myself I wasn’t a perfectionist. OK, I will work hard and do the best I possibly can. After all, I have mentors and committee members to comment on my work and flag any concerns. They won’t let my work be mediocre.
And a colleague reminded me this wasn’t an exercise in ’solving the world’s problems.’ That reminder really put the dissertation into perspective. Just get it done. THEN continue the research and make an impact.
What to do next? I just decided that I needed to keep plugging away and not continuously pepper my mentor with questions. I read and wrote and then shared with my mentor who encouraged and challenged my thinking. Guided and redirected my efforts. I knew I was doing a methodology outside of my comfort zone, so that meant I needed to be self directed and persistent…knowing I had guidance and direction
from people who wanted to see me succeed.
Pay attention to your mind talk. What is it saying? Is it helpful? Is it hindering?
What is the focus of your mind talk and what are you doing about it?
This entry was posted
on Monday, July 20th, 2009 at 1:44 pm and is filed under Becoming Doctoral, Dissertation.
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August 11th, 2009 at 7:20 am
A book that may be helpful in managing mind talk is “Taming Your Gremlin” by Richard Carson. Give it a try!
August 12th, 2009 at 5:46 am
Thanks, Nona, for the suggestion!!