Did you ever tell someone about an ambitious goal, and hear them say: “You can’t do that!”? This is a rhetorical question, of course. We have all encountered parents, teachers, and friends who discouraged us from trying out crazy ideas. Sometimes it was for the better. Trying out sky-diving in the third grade is probably not the best idea after all. Other times, a loved one might try to talk you out of a worthwhile cause. A chemist friend of mine, who is a senior scientist in a pharmaceutical company, received little support from his family when he applied for graduate school. When he told his parents he wanted to get a PhD, they shook their heads: “You’ll never make it, son.”
Have you heard about the book “Taming Your Gremlin” by Rick Carson? Gremlins are voices inside your head telling you that you cannot do something. For example, “Who am I kidding in this kick-boxing class?” or “What was I thinking applying to a PhD program?” Negative inner voices might be remnants from well-meaning advice you received as a child, or perhaps they are your own creation. The trouble is that it is much tougher to get rid of your inner critic than real people. You always carry your inner voice with you, and it talks to you all day whether you realize it or not. Carson has a myriad of techniques to deal with gremlins in your head, but for the purpose of this blog, I’ll keep it simple. The first step is to realize that this is just a voice, not reality. “Don’t believe everything you think”, in other words. Second, give it a name, such as “the gremlin” or “the witch”. This way, you distance yourself your inner critic. According to some experts, negative inner voices have evolved to protect us crazy ideas (graduate school, perhaps?). According to Carson, the next step is to play with your options. If you think you’ll never make it through graduate school, it is time to question that critic. “Well, why not?” Is it because you don’t have enough funding? Is project not giving you desired results? Is your supervisor unsupportive? Once you pinpoint the reason that you feel you will not make it, you can actually take action.
Questions, comments, or funny stories about your gremlins? We would love to hear from you! Simply click the orange “Reply” button on this blog. (You just be logged on the see the button).