PhD Affirmations for the Academically Exhausted: Positive Thoughts, Honest Reality Checks & Questionable Life Choices is a funny, illustrated book for everyone who is doing a PhD, has survived one, or lives with someone who is currently in the middle of one.
It brings together 60 affirmations and 60 illustrations about the parts of academic life nobody puts in the brochure: the proposal that sounded brilliant, the thesis that turned into something else, the reviewer comments, the endless revisions, and the quiet suspicion that everyone else has it figured out.
What Is PhD Affirmations for the Academically Exhausted?
Most affirmation books ask you to repeat something hopeful and believe it. This one does that too, and then it gives you the honest reality check underneath.
Each page pairs a positive thought with what actually happens in a PhD, along with an illustration that probably looks a bit too familiar. It’s encouraging and kind, but it doesn’t pretend the journey is smooth.
A Peek Inside the Book
Here’s one of the affirmations, about the research proposal:
Today’s affirmation: My proposal is a masterpiece and my roadmap is crystal clear!
You wrote that proposal like a lion. By month six it had quietly become something else. The something else is your actual thesis.
The illustration shows a proud lion presenting a research proposal and, six months later, the same lion asleep under a pile of papers labelled “Actual Thesis”. If you’ve done a PhD, you know exactly which lion you are today.
Who This Book Is For
- PhD students who need a laugh between deadlines
- Master’s students and early-career researchers who are starting to recognise the signs
- New PhD graduates who want to look back and laugh at what they survived
- Partners, parents and friends looking for a thoughtful gift for someone in academia
- Supervisors who remember what it felt like
Why I Wrote It
I’m Dr Kinza Arshad, and I completed my PhD in Mathematics. Along the way I noticed that almost everyone around me was struggling with the same things, and almost nobody talked about it.
I wanted to turn some of that pressure into something we could laugh about together. Not because the struggle isn’t real, but because it’s easier to carry when you know someone else is carrying it too. (I wrote more about that in We’re All on the Same PhD Boat.)
Book Details
- Title: PhD Affirmations for the Academically Exhausted: Positive Thoughts, Honest Reality Checks & Questionable Life Choices
- Author: Dr Kinza Arshad
- Publisher: Thoughtfully Yours Press
- Inside: 60 affirmations and 60 illustrations
- Formats: Kindle and paperback
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a self-help book?
Not exactly. It’s a humour book with a kind heart. It won’t fix your methodology, but it might make the day you spend fixing it feel a little lighter.
Do I need to be in a specific field to enjoy it?
No. Proposals, reviewers, revisions and supervisor meetings look much the same whether you study physics, history or biology.
Is it a good gift for a PhD student or graduate?
Yes. It’s a short, illustrated book that works as a gift for the start of a PhD, a hard semester, a thesis submission, or a graduation.
Where can I buy it?
PhD Affirmations for the Academically Exhausted is available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback editions.