I find the dissertation process very similar to training to run a marathon. The comparison seems obvious on the surface. Both take hard work, much
training, and dedication, but, for someone who's in the midst of
doing both the comparison runs deeper. For starters, I find, you need to be a bit of a masochist. To do either requires one to willingly subject himself to experiences that may possibly violate the Geneva convention. I know when I describe what I'm doing to friends and family they get this horrified look on their face and you can see them scanning the room to make sure the children are out of ear shot.
You also need to be persistent to the point of being obstinate. Both tasks consume your life and everything else must fit around them. In our program we have what we call the nine month rule: Are you willing to live with this research topic for the next nine months of your life ? (Nine if you're lucky, that is) I've sent my wife away on many impromptu visits to family, barely giving her enough time to pack a bag, just to commandeer huge blocks of time over the weekend so I can do nothing but train and write.
I also find perseverance to be a more valuable trait than either brains or athletic prowess. I am not blessed with the speed of a jaguar nor the brains of our brightest primate cousins (I remember my old man saying to my mother when he thought I wasn't around, "The boy ain't right.") but when I latch onto something...look out. Yes, I can be obsessive. And I'm definitely an overachiever. But, I find these to common traits both among my fellow runners and doctoral students. I'd be willing to be that more of us 'average' students complete higher degrees than our brainiac counterparts just because we're not smart enough to realize our limitations!
You also need to be persistent to the point of being obstinate. Both tasks consume your life and everything else must fit around them. In our program we have what we call the nine month rule: Are you willing to live with this research topic for the next nine months of your life ? (Nine if you're lucky, that is) I've sent my wife away on many impromptu visits to family, barely giving her enough time to pack a bag, just to commandeer huge blocks of time over the weekend so I can do nothing but train and write.
I also find perseverance to be a more valuable trait than either brains or athletic prowess. I am not blessed with the speed of a jaguar nor the brains of our brightest primate cousins (I remember my old man saying to my mother when he thought I wasn't around, "The boy ain't right.") but when I latch onto something...look out. Yes, I can be obsessive. And I'm definitely an overachiever. But, I find these to common traits both among my fellow runners and doctoral students. I'd be willing to be that more of us 'average' students complete higher degrees than our brainiac counterparts just because we're not smart enough to realize our limitations!