Motivation Moment: Remember Why You Started
I think I speak for a lot of us when I say that the last few months have been hard for law students, NCA students, and licensing candidates. Even now, as we and the world around us start to pick-up the pieces, the future remains uncertain for many. Whether you are just starting the NCA process, continuing to plug along, or moving on to articling and the bar exams, there are likely many question marks ahead floating around topics like online classes/exams, articling placements, and job security.
The legal industry tends to inspire a continually “onwards and upwards” mindset, making it quite easy for completed milestones to be overshadowed by the next steps laying just ahead and all the uncertainties that come with them. But now, more than ever, I think it’s important to remember why you started your journey to being a lawyer to begin with. Continually looking to a future that is persistently uncertain due to global events outside your control can take a toll on your sense of wellbeing and accomplishment. Taking time to remember why you decided to pursue legal qualification in Canada will help you overcome feelings of failure and self-doubt when the path ahead looks too uncertain or difficult to pursue.
I first appreciated the importance of this during my first week of law school in the United Kingdom. Despite being excited to move to London, once there I found myself incredibly homesick, lonely, and thinking I’d made a huge mistake. I remember calling the airline to see if I could make my Christmas return flight earlier in December and considered not returning to the UK in the New Year.
Then I stopped and remembered why I decided to come to London in the first place. I wanted to be a lawyer, I wanted to qualify in more than one jurisdiction, and I wanted to travel as much as possible while pursuing my career. Remembering my goals helped me move forward. I booked a weekend tour of Scotland for the next week, started familiarizing myself with my school’s networking and training contract application resources, and signed up for a pro-bono legal work experience program. Naturally I ended up enjoying my time in the UK immensely and made life-long friends from all over the globe. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything; but I almost gave it all up because the future seemed uncertain and hard.
I’ve used this motivation technique many times over the last four years. Remembering my original goals has helped me get through law school, the NCA exams, my LLM and, now, studying for both the Ontario and New York Bar exams. Reminding yourself of your original goals also gives you a chance to use your experiences to adjust, fortify, and add to them. Doing a periodical “goal refresh” ensures you stay motivate and can help you clarify the career path ahead—making it less daunting and hazy.
For instance, I now have a clearer picture of what kind of lawyer I want to be, what practice areas I’d like to focus on, and why I want to be in this work at all. I also have a clearer understanding of what I can do with dual jurisdiction qualification and how to market this quality to firms and clients. However, despite the updates I’ve made to my original goals, at their core they are the same. I’ve made progress against them, of course, but there’s still work to be done which motivates me every day.
So, next time the path ahead seems overwhelmingly uncertain or impossible, take a minute to remember the goals you had when you started and let them re-energize you to continue forward. Take some time to think about how you’d update them and what the next steps are to help you clear some of the fog and uncertainties lying ahead.