|
THE ALL-BUT-DISSERTATION SURVIVAL GUIDE™ The All-But-Dissertation Survival Guide™ focuses on ways to help its readers more readily overcome the roadblocks that often seem to stand in the way of completing the dissertation. It is read throughout the world. Want to become a coach?New MentorCoach Training Programs launching. Subscribe to our other no-cost ezines: Visit Ben Dean's Live Coaching Workshops in Dallas, Austin, St Louis & Detroit. INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH A DISSERTATION
COACH? Email: ben16-76471@autocontractor.com. You will receive an email outlining the application process. Simply follow the instructions and submit the form. Your application will then be forwarded to potential coaches so that you might arrange a free initial consultation. Various fee plans are available. A FAVOR ARCHIVE |
Devoted to providing practical strategies for completing
your Doctoral Dissertation.™
Be sure to place us on the white list or approved
list for your incoming email. To subscribe, go to www.abdsurvivalguide.com.
To unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this email. Please
forward this newsletter to your friends!
INSIDE THIS ISSUE - March 29, 2007
3. Draw on Your Intuitive Power to Help You Complete Your
Dissertation
by Jeannette Samanen, Ph.D.
March 29, 2007
A Note from the Editor
Tracy Steen, Ph.D.
I do my best work in the shower. Sure, I've logged some serious hours at my desk or in the lab, but a disproportionate number of Big Ideas have come to me--seemingly out of nowhere--as I go about my mindless morning grooming routine. How can a solution materialize so easily to a problem that seemed insurmountable the evening before?
In this issue, Dr. Jeannette Samanen explores intuition--our capacity for direct knowledge or immediate insight without deliberate effort or rational thought. She explains how intuition can help us in research and in writing, and she offers suggestions for developing our intuitive abilities.
If you enjoy Dr. Samanen's article, I recommend that you read Dr. David G. Myers' book Intuition: Its Powers and Perils. Dr. Myers is a research psychologist at Hope College, and in his book he explores research supporting the existence and usefulness of intuition:
"…Recent cognitive science reveals a fascinating unconscious
mind--another mind backstage--that Freud never told us about….Studies
of automatic processing, subliminal priming, implicit memory, heuristics,
spontaneous trait interference, right-brain processing, instant emotions,
nonverbal communication, and creativity unveil our intuitive capacities. Thinking,
memory, and attitudes all operate on two levels (conscious and deliberate,
and unconscious and automatic)--dual processing, today's researchers call
it. We know more than we know we know."
--from Myers (2002), p. 4
Intrigued? Then keep reading, and I hope you enjoy this special issue of the ABDSG on intuition. I would love to hear about any intuitive triumphs you have experienced as an ABD. Please write to me at tracy@mentorcoach.com. And while you are writing, feel free to share any ideas or requests you have for future ABDSG issues. Although I certainly plan to hone my own intuitive abilities, I am not a mind reader! I look forward to hearing from you.
Inspirational Quotes
The heart has its reasons which reason does not know.
--Pascal, 1670
Draw on Your Intuitive Power To Help You Complete Your
Dissertation
by Jeannette Samanen, Ph.D.
Just imagine that you have a resource within yourself that can help boost
your creativity and break through procrastination and writer's block. Imagine
that you could turn to this resource whenever you need guidance or clarity
on any issue you face. Here is the good news: You do and you can!
All of us have within ourselves intuitive abilities that all too often go
untapped. Because of our culture's emphasis on thinking and rational activity,
most of us are unaware of the vast resources that our intuition offers. Yet
it is relatively easy to learn to access your intuitive intelligence to enhance
creativity and identify and eliminate blocks that may stand in the way of
completing your dissertation.
Intuition has been described as a way of knowing without knowing how you know. This knowledge is gained from a source that is different from rational thought. It can be experienced as a gut feeling or physical tingling, as a flash of knowledge that brings sudden insight, or as the still small voice from within that you know you can trust. Regardless of how you experience intuitive knowing, it always brings clarity, insight, and guidance.
You may already be aware of your intuitive knowing. There may have been times when intuitive insight came to you spontaneously, providing valuable guidance with a difficult decision, or revealing the solution to a challenging problem. When you followed that guidance, things went well for you, perhaps in ways beyond what you had anticipated.
You can learn to access dependably this remarkable resource and use it to guide you through the process of completing your dissertation. Here is a simple, five-step procedure that you can use to access intuitive knowing.
A Simple Five-step Procedure for Accessing Intuitive Knowing
1. Focus
It is very important to create a space and time when you know you will be
undisturbed. Turn off your cell phone. Make sure that no one will interrupt
you. The distraction of external cues can make it difficult for you to achieve
the calm necessary to focus within.
Spend a few moments concentrating on the issue that faces you. Allow yourself to gain clarity about what it is that you are seeking.
2. Relax
A sense of deep calm provides the opening through which you can access
your intuitive knowing. Make sure your body is comfortably supported and uncross
your arms and legs. Breathe deeply, imagining that you are breathing in calm
and relaxation. As you exhale, imagine yourself releasing any distracting
thoughts or negative feelings.
If you like, you can imagine relaxation flowing like a warm liquid, slowly and comfortably throughout your body, bringing calm and peace to each and every muscle. Release any tension you notice with the next exhalation.
3. Ask
Once your mind is still and you feel deeply relaxed, ask for what you seek.
You can pose a question. Broad questions work best. My favorite question is,
"As it relates to… (supply the issue you are facing, such as 'the
trouble I am having in moving ahead with my writing' or 'limiting the scope
of this project')… what do I need to know right now?"
You can also ask if there is an image or a guide that can help you with the challenge you face. Intuitive knowing sometimes presents itself most eloquently in the form of an image.
Then simply wait receptively. Initially it may feel difficult to resist jumping in and trying to come up with an answer yourself. It is important to avoid drawing on your rational faculties to try to answer the question. One of the gifts of intuitive intelligence is learning that there is a resource within that you can count on. You don't have to depend on your normal thinking process to take care of everything!
4. Receive
Remain alert to any awareness that comes to you. Intuitive knowing may come
to you as a phrase or a simple knowing. It may feel so apparent that you may
at first wonder if what you have received is coming from your intuitive mind.
Don't worry. What matters is that you find what you receive to be useful.
Sometimes an image will come to you conveying a message. Marisa saw a train running down a track which reminded her of two things. She immediately remembered The Little Engine That Could, a favorite story from childhood that provided encouragement. She also knew with certainty that if she kept on track with the plan she had devised, she would eventually succeed. Marisa posted a picture of The Little Engine near her computer to remind herself that she could do anything she set her mind to do. Looking at that picture helped her to get back on track any time she felt discouraged or overwhelmed.
Sometimes an image will come in the form of a Guide. This may be a person, an animal or even a thing, such a mountain, a tree or even just a glowing light. Ask this Guide what it wants to show you or tell you that can help you complete your dissertation.
5. Refine
You may feel that whatever comes to you provides exactly what you need and
nothing more needs to be said or done. Or you may have some questions, or
even objections. Simply express any response you have, just as you would to
a trusted advisor. Then be open to whatever your intuitive mind offers in
response. Continue this dialog until you feel satisfied.
John had some concerns about the topic he had chosen for his dissertation. When he sought guidance from his intuitive mind, a Wise Old Man appeared. His Guide told John that he should simply raise his concerns with his dissertation committee. John responded that he was afraid he might appear stupid if he did so. The Guide looked at him with the most loving look John had ever experienced and told him, "Of course you are stupid!" While this may sound like an insult, John experienced it as incredibly freeing. He was able to see that on some level all of us are stupid and have the desperate fear of appearing so. Free for the first time in his life from the fear of appearing stupid, John was able to raise his concerns with a confident attitude. His committee treated him respectfully and they worked together to more clearly define his topic.
The Power of Intuitive Knowing
These examples will give you a sense of the possibilities available through intuitive knowing to help you surface and resolve blocks and achieve your goals. The only way for you to experience the power of this process, however, is by working with it yourself.
What you receive may seem no different from what friends have told you or what a coach might say. You will find, however, that because this awareness comes from within yourself, it carries a power and sense of personal truth that make the message more impactful and persuasive. Learning that comes from within, from your own experience rather than rational analysis, leads to sustainable change and growth. Your intuitive knowing can help you complete your dissertation. Perhaps even more important, its resources can empower you throughout your life.
Jeannette Samanen, Ph.D. is a life coach with 30 years experience. She has been helping people develop their intuitive abilities for the last 23 of those years. To learn more about Intuition Coaching and read about how people have benefited from developing their intuitive powers, visit her website at www.achieveyourgoals.com.
Dr. TRACY STEEN, Editor, ABDSG
Tracy Steen, Ph.D. , is a clinical psychologist and dissertation
coach in Philadelphia, PA. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan
and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in positive psychology at the University
of Pennsylvania. Dr. Steen draws on her research background in positive psychology
in her coaching work with writers, helping them to remove internal obstacles
so they can find more engagement and flow in their work. You can contact Dr.
Steen with questions about this newsletter or about coaching in general at
tracy@mentorcoach.com. You can
also visit her website at www.tracysteen.com
YOUR OWN COACH
If you are considering whether to get your own coach to help you
reach your academic goals, send any email to the following: ben16-76471@autocontactor.com
BEN DEAN, Publisher, ABDSG
Ben holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.
He began writing the ABDSG in 1997. Over the years, the ABDSG has provided
thousands of hours of pro bono coaching and teleworkshops to ABDs all over
the world. Ben is also the founder of MentorCoach (www.MentorCoach.com),
a virtual university focused on training accomplished helping professionals
to become part-time or full-time coaches. Finally you may wish to subscribe
to the Coaching
Toward Happiness eNewsletter! It's on applying the science of Positive
Psychology to your work and life (131,000 readers). Ben lives in suburban
Maryland with his wife, Janice, their two children, and Norman, their Norwegian
dwarf bunny. They all love coaching from the beach!
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER NEWSLETTERS
Subscribe to our other two free e-mail Newsletters: Coaching Toward Happiness and The MentorCoach Newsletter
About your privacy and ABDSG ·|· This newsletter was sent to <$email$> by request on <$today$>.
Ben Dean, Ph.D. , MentorCoach®
4400 East West Hwy/ Suite 1104 · Bethesda, MD 20814 · USA
E-mail: info@mentorcoach.com · Tel:
+1-301-986-5688
Web: www.abdsurvivalguide.com
· www.mentorcoach.com
© Copyright 2007 Ben Dean, Ph.D. All rights reserved
For more information call or email
us:
The All-But-Dissertation Survival Guide ·|· c/o MentorCoach ·|·
4400 East West Highway/Suite 1104, Bethesda, Md 20814
info@mentorcoach.com (email) ·|· 301-986-5688(voice) ·|· 301-913-9447(fax)
If you no longer wish to receive communication
from us: Cancel
To update your contact information: Update