2024 is right around the corner, which means a promise of a fresh start and a clean slate. The closing of any chapter, whether it’s a year, project, or phase of life, is the perfect time to perform a reflection practice, and I’m sharing mine with you this week.

 

Approaching the end of one year often means we’re beginning to think ahead to the next. If you, like me, have been in action mode throughout 2023, pausing to step back and reflect is vital so you can plan in a smarter way for what’s to come. 

 

You may feel like you have worked hard to create a life that looks great on paper, but it feels like something is missing.

 

You may be in a position where you have the career, title, material comforts, partner, and children—or any number of things you always dreamed of having. However, instead of feeling like you’ve arrived, you find it’s not actually what you want. In fact, you might even feel trapped by the life you’ve created.

 

Where do you see yourself having the habit of procrastinating? Procrastination is a problem many lawyers face that comes in all shapes and sizes. If you don’t know how you even got to this place where procrastination has become involuntary, this week, you’ll learn how to bring consciousness to what is often an unconscious habit.

 

Whether it’s putting off sending an email, drafting an argument, or working out, we all understand that there are painful consequences that come with the habit of procrastination. Why, then, is that not enough to motivate us to take action? And how can we learn to break up with the habit of procrastination for good?

 

Do you feel uneasy about what’s on your calendar right now? What are you currently making time for? Is it aligned with what you truly want in your professional and personal life? How can you become more confident in the choices you make as it relates to your time?

 

This week’s content is based on a workshop I recently ran with my mastermind group about time and boundaries. We often talk about creating work-life balance and identifying the boundaries that we need to set up between those two worlds. However, it’s not uncommon to feel out of control when it comes to prioritizing and protecting what’s most important to us.

 

If you’re struggling with your level of self-confidence at work, know that you’re not alone. A lack of confidence is an extremely common challenge among professionals in the legal profession, and I see it holding my clients back from going after what they truly want. 

 

Maybe you hold a vision in your mind’s eye about what being a lawyer is like. The practice of law is important, and there’s a certain level of reverence offered to lawyers because of the nature of our work. The quintessential lawyer might be noble, wise, forthright, and otherwise perfect, but holding on to this image might be fueling your self-doubt.

 

Where in your life and practice are you having thought loops that don’t seem to land anywhere concrete? What is it that’s currently bringing up an overpowering feeling of overwhelm? And how are both overthinking and overwhelm keeping you stuck?

 

If the habit of overthinking and the feeling of overwhelm seem like common challenge for you, you are not alone. The truth is, they often go hand-in-hand, and we’ve all had our fair share of this experience. Whether in or out of your practice, this pairing can often feel like a huge wall between us and what we ultimately want. This week, I’m sharing my favorite strategies to help you stop overthinking and tackle overwhelm. 

 

How often do you find yourself struggling to make a decision? Does it feel like there are equal costs and benefits no matter which direction you choose to go? Are you looking outside of yourself for the answers?

 

We get all sorts of inputs from the society we live in about how we should be living our lives. There is no shortage of opinions that seem to have the utmost right answers, so if you assume other people must know something you don’t or that you’ll find the answers if you just search long enough, you are not alone. However, it might not have occurred to you that the answer you’re looking for is one you already possess.

 

Where in your life and career do you struggle with your levels of confidence? A lack of confidence is a topic that comes up often in my work, and while it’s not labeled as such in all situations, my clients find there are moments where they feel frozen with self-judgment or discomfort around certain decisions moving forward.

 

The truth is, even the most confident lawyers have rough days where they feel riddled with self-doubt. Confidence is a nebulous thing, and you might experience more or less of it in various environments, with different people, or in various work tasks. Feeling a 10 out of 10 in confidence is not the goal here. The key is in the process of defining, measuring, and increasing your confidence levels.

 

Does achieving some goals feel effortless and easy, while others seem impossible? Why is it that some goals feel simple to create a plan for and follow through on, and yet, you also find yourself failing to take action on other goals? 

 

The truth is, there is no shortage in terms of knowing what we need to achieve our goals, no matter the area of life they’re based on. The real problem when it comes to goal setting is in taking the actions required to create the results we want. If you often find yourself experiencing unpredictable and inconsistent results when it comes to goal setting, you’re in the right place.

 

How often do you notice that voice in your head that tends to have an extremely negative narrative? Some people refer to it as negative self-talk, while others call it the inner critic. However you relate to this concept, chances are you’ve had at least a few interactions with yours.

 

If you identify that your inner critic is running the show and you haven’t fully investigated it, examining it closely can seem scary and overwhelming. However, or whenever, your inner critic manifests for you, the underlying message it offers is often about how you don’t deserve a break or how you’ll never be enough no matter what you do. But the truth is your inner critic isn’t bad, it’s just trying to protect you.