Episode 12 - My Mini Motivators
What are my Mini Motivators or incentives that have aided me with pushing through those tough times of my program? On this episode, I share my five Mini Motivators or those things that have aided me, fueled me, and helped with me with pushing through during my doctoral program!
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Here is a transcription of Episode 12:
0:17: Hello and welcome to the Broke PhD Podcast! I'm your host Dr. G!
0:24: On this episode of Broke PhD Podcast I share about some of those Mini Motivators that acted as incentives that kept me going throughout my doctoral program.
0:33: In earlier episodes, I've shared about my why that motivated me to wanting to go through a doctoral program, and I've shared about some factors that have aided me with maintaining my mental health while going through my doctoral program. On this episode, I wanted to share some of those little incentives that I have given myself as rewards for big and for small accomplishments that have really aided me through pushing through those tough times and going through all the ups and downs and trials and tribulations of a doctoral program. For me, I find that having little rewards or little incentives to kind of work towards or to help with celebrating those big and small moments is a factor that has aided me with being able to accomplish different things, including being able to get through my doctoral program. I like to call them: Mini Motivators, and I wanted to share a few of those with you all.
1:29: So the first Mini Motivator that helped me get through my doctoral program was boba. I am a boba lover. I love the drink. And if you don't know what boba is, it is a milk tea drink that is originated from Taiwan and it typically will have tapioca pearls in it. It comes in all different flavors, but my favorite is taro milk tea. And so whenever I had a paper to write or whenever I had a project that needed to be completed, I would say “when I'm done I'm going to go get myself boba” or while I'm working on it, I can drink boba while I'm completing the task. And having that little extra something that for me was special allowed me to really push through those tough times.
2:15: My second Mini Motivator was tennis. I shared in earlier episodes that I started playing tennis in the second year of my program and I have fallen in love with the game and so it acts as an incentive for me to want to finish something. If I know I have a practice or a tennis match coming up, I'm more apt to complete a project within a certain time frame so that I can make sure I can focus my full attention on my tennis match instead of worrying about all of the work I have to complete when I'm done. Also, as I shared in earlier episodes, tennis was a great way of maintaining my mental health throughout my doctoral program. And so just knowing that I'd be able to relieve some stress and to hit a ball with a racket and to just let go of a lot of those anxious feelings by exercising and building some of those endorphins became a motivator for me. It became something that I looked forward to doing after I completed the given task or the given paper that I needed to get done. So tennis was definitely a mini motivator that worked for me throughout my doctoral program.
3:23: My third Mini Motivator was concerts. For me, since concerts are a little bit more expensive, I would use them to celebrate those big moments and those big accomplishments. For example, after my dissertation and after I graduated, I went to two different concerts to celebrate those moments. And it was something that I was able to look forward to, and it became the reward at the end that pushed me through those tough times. In addition to concerts, I would also just use listening to music and having a break listening to music be an incentive that would aid me as I was working on a homework assignment or working on completing a paper. So I would work for a certain amount of time and then I would tell myself, “OK, I'm going to take a break for about 20 minutes,” and would just have a singing dance party in my room as a way just to relax and to pause from being immersed in the task or the paper that I was focused on.
4:20: My fourth Mini Motivator was arts & crafts. I would use working on an art project or working on a crafting project of sorts as a reward for completing a homework assignment or for completing another task that I needed to do on a larger project. Again, being able to take a break and step away from that paper or step away from that project and to be able to engage in art and to focus on creating art and being immersed in my creativity allowed me, even for a brief moment, to just take a break from the world of academia.
4:57: And the last Mini Motivator that I used was food. I am such a foodie and I love food so much. So in those moments that I was celebrating whether it be completing my orals or my written comprehensive examinations, or defending my dissertation, or completing all of my coursework, I made sure to treat myself. And luckily I have those around me, especially my loving partner, and he would always get me cupcakes or some sweet to kind of celebrate with me. And so food became something that I could use as a Mini Motivator to aid me with getting through those tough times. That allowed me to have something to look forward to and something to work towards.
5:46: And while you might be listening to this and thinking that, Mini Motivators are silly, and not everybody needs incentives, I personally do, and it helps me with getting through those tough times. If I had something that I was able to look forward to, whether it was a food option or a boba drink or a concert, it motivated me to want to complete the task faster so I could get to that reward and get to that incentive much quicker. So I highly recommend that if you are somebody who also needs incentives, try to find those Mini Motivators that might work for you and that might keep you going and keep you fueled and keep you motivated on completing the given task or the given paper that you need to finish. I will say this again, that this may not work for you and that's OK. But having Mini Motivators was definitely something that aided me with getting through my doctoral program.
6:38: So in summary, my five Mini Motivators were Boba, Tennis, Music, Arts & Crafts, and Food. In my last episode I shared that I started my own online shop and it is now open! I'm so excited to share my artwork and my stickers and my creativity with you all. And actually all of the collections in my shop are inspired by my Mini Motivators. They are inspired by these things that have aided me, have fueled me, and have kept me pushing through those tough times in my doctoral program. So I asked you all to please, please, please go check out my shop with the website being – brokephdpodcast.shop – and to also share it with anyone and everyone you know. I am excited to share my art and to share my creativity with the world and I hope it brings you all as much joy as it brought me in creating it.
7:35: Well, that concludes this episode, but I'm so excited to have you on this journey with me! So please click that like or that subscribe button and please check out the website – brokephdpodcast.com – to continue to follow along. I'm your host Dr. G and I hope you have a wonderful day!