Putting off publishing my PhD thesis

Hello coaches, I defended my PhD thesis one and a half years ago. Now I have to publish it. However, I’ve been putting it off for a while now. I wrote and finished my thesis during the lockdowns and I was extremely focused. So after submitting and defending it, I just needed a break. I also immediately started a new job so I just didn’t have any headspace or energy to publish it. However, I’ve noticed that there are also some thoughts that are preventing me from publishing it:

– I won’t have anyone to celebrate with once I publish it
– I am fearful of putting it out into the world
– I’m disappointed in how my PhD program went
– another PhD program would have been better
– it wasn’t what I expected

I think the first one is quite a crucial one. My parents were never really interested in what I was doing (or didn’t get it) and I’m not in a relationship. I’m also not one for huge celebrations so occasions that „require“ big parties make me kind of uncomfortable. So I imagine receiving the final certificate in the mail one random day and that’s just it.

I created a model around this and the unintentional model would look like this:

C: my PhD thesis
T: I won’t have anyone to celebrate with once I publish it
F: depleted
F: unmotivated
F: depressed
A: putting off publishing it
A: trying not to think about it
R: I won’t complete the process / I won’t be able to mentally close this chapter

And then I turned it into an intentional model:

C: my PhD thesis
T: I can ask a small group of friends to celebrate with me or celebrate myself in any way that suits me (for example, by buying a nice present like a ring in advance that I will open once I receive the certificate)
F: focused
A: I start the process of publishing it
R: I publish it and feel proud of myself

I might come back for my other unintentional thoughts as I’m going to try to find more helpful ones for these as well (it wasn’t all bad after all). Thank you for reading this and any suggestions you might have!

Answer:

I think the most important result that you will create from your UM is that you won’t be celebrating at all, not even by yourself. In your IM, the result that you could create is the opportunity to celebrate in a way that feels good to you.

If you look carefully at your IM, the T line is actually populated with actions. When we move these to the A line, it gives us the opportunity to choose what thoughts and feelings we think will help us take the kinds of actions that will get us what we want. Remember, all action is driven by feeling. So, what would you have to feel in order to be able to ask to celebrate with a small group of friends or in a way that suits you? What thoughts would create that feeling? Let us know what you discover, and if you meet any resistance during this process. We’re here to help!