CHICKENS BLACK GRANT

o If you’re not totally burned out, push past that feeling. Trust the process. As one client said, don’t flip out just when you’re at the cusp of turning it from cream into butter. It seems like nothing is happening, but if you perservere, you will see that you have produced something worthwhile. · I can see that it’s not perfectly written. I’m a sham and a charlatan and I don’t deserve to be in this field.

o It doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be good enough. o You don’t have to be perfect. If you’ve gotten this far, you ARE good enough. Besides, everyone in academia feels that way every once in a while.

o Looking over already published papers will remind you that imperfect writing still gets published. And has some value!

· There’s so much more I could say about this subject. o You can use this excuse never to complete a project about the subject.

o It’s OK to keep writing about the subject. In your next paper, chapter, or presentation, that is. Finish this one – you’ve probably said enough for now.

So Give Birth To That Baby!

• The world deserves to hear what you have to say. Don’t deprive the universe of your ideas! Release them from your brain and get them out there!
• You’re almost done with the whole article. You should feel relieved. Instead you feel like you’ve written a bunch of junk.
• It’s funny, though. At other times you’ve felt that you’ve written something worthwhile.
• Now, however, you feel the urge to read several more articles, add more footnotes, edit it some more, or check your email. Anything but wrap it up and send it in.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a “revise and resubmit” article for a journal or a draft chapter to show to your dissertation advisor. There’s something anxiety-provoking about letting go of your work and putting it out there for the wider world to see.

• One very brilliant client of mine told me how she had a similar feeling when she was 9 months pregnant. The baby’s room wasn’t ready, and she had so much more to do. She tried to will herself not to give birth yet. Luckily, her body didn’t cooperate. Now she tries to do the same with journal articles.

This reluctance to release one’s work is so common in academia, that it may well be the norm. In some cases, though, it can become crippling.