Editor’s Note This piece is a follow up to Third Time’s a Charm, where I explored my long held plan to pursue a doctorate and questioned whether it still aligned with who I am and how I want to live and lead. What follows is the clarity that only comes after sitting with an unanswered question long enough to hear the truth beneath it. I have wrestled for a long time with whether or not to pursue my doctorate. In Third Time’s a Charm, I wrote honestly about standing at a familiar crossroads, once again asking myself whether I would go through with it. I examined the pull of a lifelong goal, the quiet expectations that follow leaders in education, and the belief that maybe this time I would finally see it through. What I did not have then was a final answer. What I have now is clarity. I have decided not to pursue my doctorate. Make no bones about it. This was always the plan. Becoming a “doctor” felt like the natural pinnacle of a career in education and leadership. The thing you...