Dear Real Academics,
Feel free to skip around the newsletter and revisit it during the week. Paid-subscribers, don’t forget to check out the Member Space towards the end of the post.
Happy writing, productivity, and truth-seeking! — Maggie and the Team
Pic of the Week
Lovely throwback picture of Dr. Garza visiting the vast and aweing Death Valley, California (not in the summer).
Tip of the Week
How do you do what you don’t want to do?
A little of over two decades ago, Dr. Barbara Warren and her identical twin sister, Angelika Drake self published a book titled, Do What You Don’t Want to Do: Achieving Excellence as a Procrastinator (2003).
Barbara and Angelika were featured in a fascinating documentary called Running on the Sun (if you click on the Amazon link, Angelika is on the cover) which traces runners who choose to embark on a 135 mile-long across Death Valley in the summer called the Badwater 135.
Why would anyone do this?
Well, you’ll have to watch the documentary to find out. At the time I am writing this post, you can view the documentary for free on YouTube.
I share all this because I want to ask you a few questions:
Why do you choose to do challenging things?
What is the purpose of your academic writing and career?
If you choose to do challenging things, how do you motivate yourself to “do what you don’t want to do”?
Even though you may like or even love the work you are doing, I bet this doesn’t mean it’s always pleasant or fun or easy to get started and keep going, right?
One of the things I’ve tried to do for myself, and now for you, is to find ways to make the difficult things more pleasant and meaningful.
For example, I have learned that the writing journey is always more pleasant in community and the accomplishments are always more sweet when jointly celebrated.
May you be able to keep writing with meaning and perseverance this month.
Take Home Points
Doing challenging things, like academic writing, is not always pleasant.
It is worth considering why we do what we do AND how we can make the journey more pleasant and the goals more satisfying.
Get Writing Done This Month
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