My last post nearly ended with the words [my supervisor] will look at it over the weekend and provide feedback on Monday. I actually received the feedback on Sunday: there were two specific issues which have to be addressed, and the feedback ended with these words: apart from [those issues], let's submit and get another pair of eyes on the document. So my supervisor thinks that I've finished!
I added more material to the final section, which I wrote about here, just over a week ago.
In the final days of writing this thesis, I came across the book "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance" (Duckworth, 2016), which defines 'grit' as passion and perseverance for especially long-term goals. There is no doubt in my mind that one has to be exceptionally 'gritty' in order to complete a doctorate: one has to begin with a passion for knowledge and then persevere over years in order to achieve the goal of completing the doctorate. This statement can be presented as the following 'equations':
I have learnt how to perform a literature search, how to download the suitable papers (not always a simple task), how to read them and how to extract their importance. I have learnt how to weave together a tapestry of arguments from the knowledge extracted from those papers. I have learnt how to write (and rewrite) a long document which is patched together over the years and how to work with an editor (i.e. supervisor). Most importantly, I have learnt to persevere: almost all of the tasks which I perform both at work and at home are short-term, varying in duration from fifteen minutes to a few weeks. Aside from parenthood, this doctorate has been the longest ever project in my life and at times has been managed as a project, sometimes requiring me to allocate blocks of time in order to keep moving forward whilst simultaneously achieving other shorter term goals.
It was the OP who showed me the book 'Grit' in its Hebrew translation during our weekly meeting on Friday; I found a copy in English and read it over the weekend. The book is divided into three parts, and the first was enough for me. I found that the second and third parts were repetitive, repeating the message for those who hadn't cottoned on yet.
I wrote many years ago about how school used to be very easy for me until about the age of 14, and how it wasn't until 1977 that I felt confident and more importantly, prepared for the second year university exams. Reading 'Grit' put things into perspective: until about 1970, my memory and ability to understand things quickly enabled me to glide through school. Other students weren't so well endowed and had to put effort into learning; I didn't. It was only a few years later that I developed enough grit (perseverance) to finish university with a good enough grade.
Duckworth writes that one develops more grit as one grows older and I can definitely attest to that! I started the doctoral programme in 2012 so it's been seven years and I still haven't finished (although I'm very close). I doubt that I would have had sufficient grit in earlier years to last the distance.
Angela Duckworth is a respected psychologist; it turns out that she was a graduate student studying under Martin Seligman, about whom I have written in the (distant) past.
talent x effort = skill
skill x effort = achievement
I have learnt how to perform a literature search, how to download the suitable papers (not always a simple task), how to read them and how to extract their importance. I have learnt how to weave together a tapestry of arguments from the knowledge extracted from those papers. I have learnt how to write (and rewrite) a long document which is patched together over the years and how to work with an editor (i.e. supervisor). Most importantly, I have learnt to persevere: almost all of the tasks which I perform both at work and at home are short-term, varying in duration from fifteen minutes to a few weeks. Aside from parenthood, this doctorate has been the longest ever project in my life and at times has been managed as a project, sometimes requiring me to allocate blocks of time in order to keep moving forward whilst simultaneously achieving other shorter term goals.
I wrote many years ago about how school used to be very easy for me until about the age of 14, and how it wasn't until 1977 that I felt confident and more importantly, prepared for the second year university exams. Reading 'Grit' put things into perspective: until about 1970, my memory and ability to understand things quickly enabled me to glide through school. Other students weren't so well endowed and had to put effort into learning; I didn't. It was only a few years later that I developed enough grit (perseverance) to finish university with a good enough grade.
Duckworth writes that one develops more grit as one grows older and I can definitely attest to that! I started the doctoral programme in 2012 so it's been seven years and I still haven't finished (although I'm very close). I doubt that I would have had sufficient grit in earlier years to last the distance.
Angela Duckworth is a respected psychologist; it turns out that she was a graduate student studying under Martin Seligman, about whom I have written in the (distant) past.
No comments:
Post a Comment