November 2019 Out of Office - The Importance of Building Mental Toughness

by Anthony F. Geraci

Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.
~ Winston S. Churchill

There are several articles out there on various practices of law, what to study for, and how to study the law if you want to learn it. You may want to learn about an area of law, read a treatise, take a class, or, maybe even the oldest of ways, apprentice and learn it that way. However, law school probably didn’t teach you how to be mentally tough (although the author does allow it taught you where the “other” bar is).

There is plenty of evidence that lawyers should study mental toughness. According to a study conducted by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, 21% of licensed, employed attorneys qualify as problem drinkers, 28% struggle with some level of depression, and 19% demonstrate symptoms of anxiety.¹

And yet, actual classes for mental toughness? Zero. Discussions about dealing with stress, anxiety, or the “other bar”? We don’t talk about it enough, and we need to. Because if we don’t, the alternative is far, far worse: suicide.²

I believe that in order to not only combat depression, anxiety, and excessive drinking, but to be successful in the legal profession, it’s necessary to develop and increase the mental toughness muscle all of us can develop. The goal of this article is to share detailed ways for attorneys to build their mental toughness, both for health as well as wealth.

How can you build mental toughness? It is a combination of both positive psychology and putting yourself in uncomfortable positions.

Whenever Possible, Choose to Be Happy

A study by Harvard showed that a happy brain is exponentially more effective than your brain at neutral or stressed. Thus, in order to combat the stresses of the practice of law, more work must be done on being positive and optimistic. The following are scientifically proven methods to increase happiness and should become part of your daily routine (as much as that morning cup of coffee is):

1. Gratitude. Gratitude is the cornerstone of positive psychology. By being grateful for where you are, who you are, and what you have, rather than what you don’t have and what you haven’t achieved, your brain will be more receptive to the stresses of life. Write down one person each day for whom you are grateful. It could be the partner who has shown you how to practice law or the associate who referred you a key piece of business. It could be a vendor who helped you along the way, or your parents, siblings, or anyone who had any impact whatsoever in your life. Envision what they did for you and feel grateful.

2. Journaling. Much of this world lives inside our own heads. Whether you got that promotion, or demotion, or you having troubles at home, they are usually amplified inside your own mind. Get out of your own head. One of the best ways to get out of your head is to journal about it. Put it on paper. Whatever gives you anxiety, stress, worry, or whatever, write it inside your journal. Do this ten minutes each day, and you will feel much happier by writing the stress on the pages instead of keeping it stored in your mind.

3. Reading something positive. As lawyers, I know that you read a lot. This is why I emphasize reading something positive each day. Much time, energy, and paper is dedicated to how you should nourish your body and exercise, but you also need to feed your mind. The same formula applies: if you feed your mind garbage, you will feel like garbage. Feed your mind something happy, or positive, every single day. Do this for at least ten minutes each day.

4. Exercise. Take it from someone who knows, I hate to exercise. There’s nothing I hate more than going to the gym each day. But, nothing else has been shown to help you with managing stress better than exercise. Exercise releases dopamine, your natural stress reducer. Exercise at least three times a week for thirty minutes each session.

Get Outside Your Comfort Zone

Aside from positive psychology, to build mental toughness means you have to intentionally put yourself in uncomfortable positions. Think of it this way. How did you learn to practice law? You learned it by practicing. By apprenticing.

The same analogy applies to dealing with uncomfortable situations. By putting yourself in these uncomfortable situations, you are training your mind to be mindfully tough and get through them.

So, do something every day that makes you uncomfortable. Take a cold shower. Deal with the unhappy client that you have been avoiding. Exercise differently than how you usually exercise. This is the practice you need to put in to make mental toughness a part of your life.

By focusing on the positive, you will increase your focus, become a better rainmaker, and, more importantly, lead a happier, more fulfilled life. Couple that with mental toughness practice, and you will not only survive “the other bar,” but thrive in all aspects of your life.

ENDNOTES

1. In fact, a separate article by the ABA discussing the study done advocated for these solutions to be dealt with in law school. See, Solutions for addicted attorneys must start in law school, recovering lawyer says, American Bar Association News, August 3, 2018, https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2018/08/solutions_for_addict/.
2. Jeena Cho, Attorney suicide: What every lawyer needs to know, ABA Journal, January 1, 2019, http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/attorney_suicide_what_every_lawyer_needs_to_know.

 

Anthony F. Geraci is a lawyer who works for Law Coaching International, coaching solo, small, and medium-sized law firm partners on how to achieve exceptional results in their law practices. He can be reached at anthony@lawcoaching.com.

Out of Office is an occasional column in which authors share ways to make life meaningful and fulfilling, during and outside of the practice of law.