Many early-career researchers focus excessively on future goals or comparisons with peers, leading to stress and diminished motivation. Isabelle shares how her personal journey taught her the value of looking backwards rather than forwards or sideways. She applies these insights to academia, encouraging PhD students and postdocs to acknowledge their progress and small wins.

When working towards big goals, we can focus in three different directions: looking forwards, sideways, or backwards. In academia, the pressure to publish, secure funding, and build a competitive CV often pushes early-career researchers to fixate on what lies ahead – the next experiment, the next paper, the thesis – or to constantly compare themselves with peers. While some forward-thinking and awareness of the field are necessary, an excessive focus in these directions can be detrimental to both progress and wellbeing.