Why even bother?

Metaphorically speaking

Research is the type of journey that releases more of its reward by experiencing progress rather than by merely having reached a destination. This progress can come in many shapes and forms: the training, meeting the challenge, growing your experience, becoming able to tell a story, becoming able to guide others, and many, many more rewards—if you are willing to imagine and derive motivation from them.

Consequently, reconsider what makes your journey relevant to you. Certainly, there is this ubiquitous and sadly crowding-out sense of ‘regulations make me jump through a hoop for me to receive my degree’. For a moment, try to imagine your desired return from a project that you undertook on your own. What would you want a project to return to you that you undertook of your own accord? Start with a long list, prioritize your items, and attempt a few on your high-priority short list.

Part of becoming a good researcher is becoming a researcher who likes doing what they do. Another part is the creativity to imagine and drive to implement a network of motivating outcomes which help motivate you on a day when you lack motivation. If you know the answer to ‘Why even bother?’ even on a bad day — and that answer encompasses more than ‘Because I have to do it’ — it will be a less bad day.

(This is a preview section. The full chapter on this topic continues with the sections “Rough coordinates”, “Train of thought”, “In essence”, “To reflect”, “Two travellers’ tales”, “Devil’s advocate”, and “How to tackle”.)