The Young Lawyer’s Path to Achieving a Better State of Well-Being, 0217 COBJ, Vol. 46 No. 2 Pg. 77
Author | Jake C. Eisenstein, J. |
Wellness: Your Job, Your Career, Your Life
Jake C. Eisenstein, J.
Barbara Ezyk, executive director of the Colorado Lawyer Assistance Program, is the coordinating editor of this series of Wellness articles. Readers are encouraged to send authors and Ezyk their feedback to the articles-bezyk@coloradolap.org.
As
current chair of the CBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD), I was
asked to write this article on wellness from a young
lawyer's perspective. I'll admit that my first
reaction was that I'm not the best choice for this topic.
First of all, my "young lawyer" status is circling
the drain.
Develop Your Wellness Barometer
There is so much to do and learn at the beginning of your career that it is easy to let your health and wellness take a backseat. Then before you know it, you're in trouble. That's why one of the most important things young lawyers can do is develop an internal wellness barometer early on This is as simple as taking the time to periodically, and honestly, assess your physical and mental state. With practice, you'll start to develop a better understanding of your own wellness and how external factors influence it. This in turn will provide advance warning when your wellness is at risk, or alternatively, signal when it's okay to let your guard down a little.
It will also help you define what wellness means to you and quantify whether you are within an acceptable wellness range. Regardless of how you define wellness, it is not a static target; you will never achieve a state of permanent stress-free bliss that precludes any further attention or work. Instead, what is achievable in terms of wellness changes from moment to moment depending on your circumstances. In other words, you will not feel as "well"...
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