Three steps to success

Hello darlings -

How the hell is everyone? I hope everyone is just straight dominating their summer right now. I am writing from Oxford where the sun is shining and the roses are blooming and I’m getting shit done on a project, so I’m fan-freaking-tastic, thanks for asking!

Big changes are afoot! I, uh, am changing jobs! I have taken a job at the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs. My time there starts in August. I am very excited about the opportunity — even if I am scared about new things! Also, this means that MHAWS will come to you from a new email address (which, uh, I haven’t completely figured out yet, but stayed tuned). Sorry for the radio silence, but I’ve been trying to actually do my regular ol’ job — writing papers, going to conferences, talking shit, etc etc, while also planning a major life change. If you are located in Houston, I’d love to hang out! Stay tuned for some kind of happy hour maybe?

I’ve been having a lot of interesting conversations with friends about success and how we get there. Here are some thoughts on my patented (ha!) three steps that guarantee (HA!) success: Start, continue, finish.

(Like every single bit of my advice, I would be so much better off if I just fucking did what I am telling you to do so don’t think this isn’t hard or that I just prance around in a magical space where I start, continue, and finish things no problem).  

Start:

Like, seriously. Start writing. Start cleaning data. Make the calls (shudder) to set up the meeting to get the money. Just fucking start it.

Don’t wait for the perfect time. Don’t wait until you have read every article on the topic. Don’t be fucking precious and wait until you’ve had precisely 2.3 cups of the perfect coffee. Just sit down and create the fucking document. Write some garbage on it so get away from blank page syndrome (I love using voice-to-text to start out a project). Start working. Today. (Seriously! Mirya says: close your email and start working!)

Continue:

Work on your projects. All the time. Every day. Bite by bite. Or every week. Keep them alive. Water them with your words. Don’t let them shrivel and die because you never open them. I hate to tell you this, but you don’t just have to create the document, but you also have to write in it all the time.

Create a routine that works FOR YOU and do that shit every single day that you are working. Learn what makes you happy while you write and what makes you miserable. And then let the routine soothe you as you have to occasionally do things that make you miserable. Put the routine on your calendar first. And protect that routine and time so you can continue to write. This will help you put off unimportant tasks that suck up all your time and instead focus on the work that best serves your goals. Know that routines take time to develop so give yourself a month or two to evaluate how the routine is going.

Finish:

Ooooffff this is the hardest one for me: just fucking finish shit. (fun fact: I have 47(!) MHAWS drafted that I’ve never sent because I don’t fucking finish shit). This means: submit your articles. Share your dissertation chapter with your advisor. Send in the grant report. It can also mean: making a decision about the coding process. Picking a frame for your next paper and sticking with it (hi, it’s me, I’m the problem).

Will it be perfect? Absolutely not. Will it be good? Maybe? I generally aim for interesting, important, and true as the standard to meet for finishing. But I’ve not always the best judge of whether my work is done, so I often rely on my friends and colleagues to tell me if they think it is close to being finished. Sometimes I promise myself wildly outrageous rewards for finishing hard things. Whatever you need to get your shit DONE, do it.

Start—Continue—Finish—Succeed. (just like that).

XOXOXO

Mirya