I went to visit one of the professors on my doctoral committee after I passed my oral exam. According to the statistics I had read, 85% of doctoral students in the humanities, who reach the stage I had just reached, never finished their doctoral dissertations. After completing all course work and passing their exams, they become ABDs, which stands for "All But Dissertation." Knowing this statistic, I wanted to ask my professor a question.



My question was a simple one: "What do I need to know to write and finish my dissertation?" I knew he would give me practical wisdom because he was a street-smart scholar, in addition to being brilliant, an outstanding teacher, and prolific writer

This was his answer: "By the time people reach the point of writing a doctoral dissertation, they are smart enough, they know enough, and they work hard enough to finish. But everything they hear is: 'You aren't smart enough, you don't know enough, you don't work hard enough.' And so they never finish because they think they can never do enough." I will never forget these words.

As a result of this conversation, I wrote down a critical question on an index card: "What Is Enough?" I taped that yellow index card to my wall behind my desk, where I could see it every time I worked on my dissertation.

If I had to choose the single most important reason why I finished my dissertation it would be this question. "What Is Enough?" was the question that allowed me to go from ABD to Ph.D.

"What Is Enough?" allowed me to pull myself back on track when I realized that I had gotten off course, studying some interesting, but irrelevant piece of information. The question reminded me of my objective. My purpose was to finish the dissertation, so that I could defend the dissertation and finish my degree.

The enemy of completing a dissertation is the word "more." The word "more" drives scholars. There is always more to read, more to study, more to know. One more article. One more book. One more fact. The question: "What Is Enough?" cuts through this relentless drive to know and do more, to remember that the immediate task is to finish.

I have offered this question to other students in the years since I completed my dissertation, and I also offer it to you. Each time you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, confused, off-track, wondering how you will ever finish, ask yourself: "What Is Enough?" The question itself will help keep you on track to accomplish what you set out to do.

The question will help you complete your dissertation because it reminds you that you only need to write "enough" to make your case and prove your thesis. You don't need to write everything you know about a topic. And you don't need to write more than you need to make your case.