"How can you exercise, cook, run a business, mentor, write a blog, volunteer, manage a household, and yet have time to enroll in a doctoral program?" is a question I get asked very often. Believe it or not, enrolling in a doctoral program at Grenoble Ecole de Management has enabled me to do it all.
Work-life balance is a term we hear a lot, but what is usually lost in the interpretation of the term is the mindset that enables one to achieve such a state of being. Enrolling in a doctoral degree helped me develop such a mindset, and realize success can be achieved when personal and professional lives are in harmony.
Doing a doctorate is nothing like any other degree I have ever done, and I have never felt so fulfilled and joyful from the process. The first and most important skill I developed at the beginning of this journey was to become a super-efficient master in time management. After acquiring this skill, the rest of the journey became easily manageable.
We all hear one key factor for achieving success in today's world is becoming a life-long learner. This is not limited to professional success.
Achieving physical and mental well-being, developing healthy relationships, having a family, raising kids and becoming the best version of ourselves personally and professionally requires a life-long love of learning. This love can only be nourished through a vigorous cultivation of one's curiosity, the ability to entertain different ideas simultaneously, and the capacity to draw conclusions critically, which I have been able to develop through my day by day doctoral journey.
One should keep in mind doing a doctorate program is a marathon, not a sprint. One has to manage time and energy and be very mindful where attention is invested. Trying to be mindful of my time and energy has enabled me to be more present and reconsider my priorities. It has also helped me expand my network and make more rewarding friendships with people from around the world.
Last but not least, the program is so rewarding that any difficulty one endures is nothing compared to the continuous benefit one receives.
Mashiyaneh HatamAbadi, DBA student (Intake 2017)
