So, you have decided to do a PhD … now what? In this essay, the author provides some advice for beginning PhD students, basically sharing what he would tell his younger self. Doing a PhD is a transformative experience, but the process is challenging, not merely on an intellectual level but also psychologically. To overcome these challenges, one needs a certain mindset and a bag of tricks. The author offers some help for getting in the right mindset, and shares some of his own tricks for studying, research, and productivity in general.