Being a lawyer is hard, right?
This is the received wisdom about the law profession.
- It’s hard to get into
- There are high expectations and exacting standards when you get there
- It means long hours, late nights and is intellectually challenging
- There’s intense competition for promotion
- There’s extreme pressure where the consequences of making a mistake are huge.
Being a lawyer is nothing like the glamorous portrayal you see in the media and movies. If you’ve ever felt disappointed with the reality of your daily experience of work, it may be comforting to know you’re not the only one.
Being a lawyer has its challenges, you know that. But what you may not know is how a deeply ingrained belief that lawyering is hard exacerbates the challenges you experience every day.
In this episode, I explain how you can change that experience, and ‘make lawyering easier’. This requires:
- A willingness to question and examine the “accepted truth” of lawyering being hard
- An understanding of how seemingly innocent statements, cliches and stereotypes about lawyering being hard reinforce that “truth”
- Recognising that “making lawyering easier” is within your control
- Adopting a new belief about being a lawyer, that invites the possibility of ease into your real-life experience of being a lawyer
- Seeing possibility as the key.
I’m not trying to convince you that being a lawyer is easy. It isn’t! I want to show you that there is a way to make it easier and to help you understand the impact of your thoughts on your results.
I explain how changing your thoughts from ‘lawyering is hard’ to, ‘I can make this easier’, will make you feel empowered, in control, proactive, creative and motivated and drive you to actions that will make lawyering easier. For example, actions like:
- Honing your craft: the better you are at something, the easier it is to do
- Growing your network: the more people you know, the more help you have access to and the more opportunities you’ll attract, which will make getting the support you need easier
- Speaking up in meetings: the more you speak up, the more you’ll show your value. The more you show your value, the easier it will be to attract the right work
- Learning to stay calm: the better you are at staying calm (despite the urgency and panic all around you), the easier it is to stay focused, be efficient and get the job done.
All the above are examples of what you need to do to progress your career. What it takes to progress your career and what it takes to make lawyering easier are the same – this is no coincidence. When you progress your career, you also progress who you are. The more YOU progress as a person (develop skills and experience, push through discomfort), the better equipped you are to cope with what being a lawyer throws your way.
When you join Imposter Syndrome Coaching you get the strategy and a process for solving your Imposter Syndrome so you can progress your career. I walk you through every step.
Enrolment for the July 2022 class is coming, 10 – 17 June. Sign up to the wait list here.
There is a Free Webinar on 10 June : How to Progress Your Law Career (without fixing your Imposter Syndrome) which is a great introduction to this work – sign up here.