𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝟭-𝟮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗜 Something that might sound crazy: when I finished my postdoc, I didn't have a job lined up. No position, no safety net. As the academic job market is brutal, taking time off before securing my next position felt like career suicide. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. I took six months to focus entirely on my job search. After many interviews, the LMU position at the Institute of Stroke and Dementia was perfect for me to start. It had ideal infrastructure and people I knew who could help. 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁, 𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺. Like every starting lab, we had many great project ideas. It was critical, though, to identify the one we could implement quickly and create impact by solving a major problem. We identified two high-gain projects and abandoned one ("making living mice transparent") as it would take years to work, if ever. Our entire team—2 PhDs, a postdoc, a technician, a computer scientist, and I—focused on making the whole mouse body transparent and imaging it at a cellular level for the first time.𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁? 𝗪𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗯'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽. We were excited to see our science make the front page of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and major outlets worldwide. This was a major inflection point in my academic career. Then the ERC grant application became my next massive focused effort. Ten months of preparation. The written application was sent to 20-25 colleagues for feedback over different rounds and revised repeatedly. The interview presentation was practiced over 20 times, in person and recorded, and refined based on feedback. 𝗪𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗥𝗖 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗵𝗼𝗹𝘁𝘇 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗟𝗠𝗨 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿. Where to focus? 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁. I got a lot of guidance and help from my mentors (more about mentors later). Focus isn't just about productivity. It's about finding the niche where we can solve major gaps in science and society. "Asla Vazgeçme!" 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗽! 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳-𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵?