"I wish I had fought harder to find my giants"
I spoke to one ex-lawyer for the Happy Lawyer Project who wished she'd had more confidence to just be who she is, and not try to conform to the parts of the practice that were shoved onto her and that didn't fit (especially the macho part -- that, and the unsustainable caseload).
In Rising Strong, Brené Brown talks about the importance of regret. It may be uncomfortable, but it's one of our best teachers.
This ex-lawyer has some regret.
Not necessarily that it had turned out differently, but it was clear from talking to her that she would do things differently if she were in that situation now. She currently does things differently because she went through that experience, and learned.
"I wish I had fought harder to find my giants," she'd said. There's the feeling she really could have thrived if she'd done it her way. And the expression, if you don't know it, comes from Sir Isaac Newton: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
It all starts with awareness.
She has awareness now, after the fact. You, in the middle of whatever you're going through right now, have the opportunity to lean into awareness now. Some questions to get the awareness-train out of the station:
How am I doing?
If I could make this better in any way, what would I change?
What am I afraid of?
Just remember, you are someone else's giant.
You've got this. 🧡💙
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