Each summer, The Jacksonville Bar Board of Governors convenes to plan the year ahead.
It is a time to go over what went well the year before, tweak what needs work and to hear the incoming president’s goals for the year.
Last summer when we met, President Giselle Carson told us her goal for the year was to focus on work-life balance issues, including health and wellness.
Those who know me well know just how hard I work to avoid touchy-feely topics and would not be surprised to learn I was hesitant. But, I listened.
And I kept listening, as the topic was discussed in a variety of ways at each of our meetings, here is what I discovered:
1. Work-life balance means something different to each of us and that is OK.
For some, it means running a marathon to prove that you can. To others it means getting home in time to tuck their babies into bed.
For me, it means working to be in the moment, to enjoy those around me without being distracted. Of course, that is not always as easy as it sounds.
You have to start somewhere though and leaving my phone in my purse when I get together with friends or sit down to dinner with my family is one of the small commitments I have made.
Each of us is different and that is OK. Find what work-life balance means to you and do not worry about what everyone else is doing.
2. Taking time to set and re-evaluate your goals is important.
For many of us Type A personalities, our lives have been a series of goals we have reached, only to move forward to the next one — graduating college, graduating law school, getting our first legal job, making partner, etc., etc.
But what do you do once you run out of goals? This puts many of us in a place we are not used to.
For me, this has made me really pause and think about where I want my life to end up.
How many accolades are enough? How much money is enough?
When faced with all of these questions I realized that I had been missing a very important area in my goal planning — life.
It is important to set goals for our careers, but it is equally (if not more) important to set goals for our lives and our families, small or big.
3. Mental health cannot be left out of work-life discussions.
Being a lawyer can be extremely stressful. We have expectations for ourselves, our firms, our clients, our families and it is hard to balance all of those.
These are often compounded by attorneys who use overly zealous litigation tactics, without any real benefit to their clients.
All of this weighs on us as people and yet we seem to resist addressing these issues as we do other health issues.
No one thinks twice about getting their cholesterol checked or taking medicine for high blood pressure.
But why are mental health issues still considered taboo?
We should be encouraging each other to seek the help we need, not continuing the stigmatization.
Lawyers are not all the same. We come from different backgrounds, have different life experiences and are each moving toward different goals in life.
But the one thing we have in common is we all face the same pressures. Work-life balance really comes down to choices.
I choose to encourage my friends and colleagues toward their goals, to support them when the pressures become all too real and I know just how lucky I am to get the same in return.