R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness

Startup life and PhD life are quite similar, as both involve pursuing uncertain activities with insatiable demands and requiring resources beyond your capacity. In order to manage this, it's essential to understand how much you can realistically achieve in a single day and accept that as your daily accomplishment.

To cope with this challenging environment, you need to develop psychological mechanisms that allow you to be at peace with who you are, even if you haven't achieved everything you set out to do. As your career progresses, continue to practice and strengthen these mental strategies to help you thrive in the face of uncertainty.

ChatGPT is like a research assistant or intern that kind of understands what’s going on, but not really. It has a superficial understanding, and you have to constantly check to make sure that it is correct.

My job has now become a manager of artificial intelligence robots.

The most important thing that matters is the power of hope. Hope is the only reason many of us get up and get going. Hope is the only reason that many of us decide to survive.

Nothing matters more to human endeavors than the squishy and nonrational thing called hope.

I hope is the reason why people work towards difficult things, or try to fight against oppression.

I hope never seems like it shouldn’t matter, and there’s no mathematical formula for it, but it does.

When you feel like you're falling behind, remember that you're only at the beginning. Nothing truly great in this world happened in just a few weeks. Significant achievements often take decades to accomplish.

Simply put on your blinders and continue moving forward.

I explain that is important to reflect where you came from, to investigate the path that you’re going to take going forward.

How do you overcome feeling stupid in your PhD? What should you do?

I discuss the importance of technology and community in creating a platform.

I make the comparison between car, sales and PhD life, and talk about how they’re similar. I make the comparison between thinking of long-term versus short-term growth, and what that actually might look like in both arenas.

Academia involves continuous hard work. Think back to high school and recall the students who studied constantly. These students typically enter academia and continue their habits as they age.

The key to progressing in academia is consistent effort. It's not uncommon to face moments where your work goes unnoticed, but success is often achieved through even more work.

Although this may sound discouraging, it's simply a reflection of what's required in academia: dedication and effort. While some may try to advance by playing politics, others focus on hard work.

Put in the work. Disregard the rest.

I too, like many of us, have experienced getting picked last. I remember being picked last in sports as a kid — I am now 43 and I remember this clear as day from when I was 7.

But if I had let that moment define me, I would have missed out on so much in life.

Instead, I turned getting picked last into my strength. Doing some thing where I am last or the worst doesn’t scare me.

The irony is that many of those people who once picked me last are now just spectators while my life is full of athleticism.

Those folks are often scared to grow because they will be picked last.

Don't let one moment in time control your life.

Being picked last doesn't determine your future.

Just keep taking steps forward and you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish.