3 common mistakes I made as a PhD student in the early years of my program that held me back from reaching my potential

I am sharing my experience of making the three common mistakes in a PhD program so that you don’t have to.

In my second year, my brain was buzzing with multiple research ideas. Since I was an early scholar, I relied on recommended trusted advice — writing research proposals and getting feedback from professors. Many of my ideas got shot down by my advisor. Years later, I saw that someone else had written papers on the same ideas validating my thinking process. However, I was furious at myself for abandoning the ideas.

After going through a similar experience couple more times, here is what I learned:

Trust yourself in your idea and follow through efficiently.

Underconfidence is a PhD student’s worst enemy.

Relying entirely on a professor’s feedback makes one think that you are not an independent researcher. My underconfidence, combined with continuous rejection, made me feel like an impostor. You can avoid wasting precious time and become a confident researcher by not making the same mistakes as me.

Here are the three common ways I was holding myself back and what you can do to avoid them:

#1. Waiting for permission

Don’t rely entirely on the professor’s feedback. Since proposals are early drafts, this particular version may have failed to convince. Don’t yet give up on the idea. Work on refining the proposal and take it back for feedback.

#2. Not pursuing after data/research idea

One way to make research proposals strong is to indicate early results with data. Where words can’t do the job, sometimes numbers can.

#3. Spending too much perfecting the idea

While refining the proposal, don’t forget that research is as much about spending time on the right idea as it is about cutting down the time spent on non-promising avenues. Perfectionism is an enemy that aids in wasting time.

Stop waiting for permission to take action.

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