I’m stuck, I can’t move. I literally can’t go forward, backward, up, down, or around. Suddenly I felt trapped, like I couldn’t breathe, and fear and panic began to set in. The hamster wheel in my mind began spinning out of control. I found myself questioning it all, “did I make the right choice becoming a lawyer?” “Why am I so unfulfilled?” “Is getting into a romantic relationship the solution to all my problems?” “Is changing my career or getting a master’s degree going to help?”
Oh heaven, what to do? What to do?
Beep, beep, beep. that’s the morning alarm. Dang it, I’ve got to get to work.
That, is what it was like when I felt “stuck.”
Of course, your experience can be quite different but, in the end, feeling unable to move, unable to decide which direction to go in , and a level of unfulfillment is the essence of what it means to feel stuck.
If you’ve ever felt stuck, consider the circumstances: how long ago was it? And most importantly, are you still in the same position?
There was a time when I felt stuck in my legal career. In fact, I was very convinced that I needed an entirely new career. Ironically, I found that getting unstuck did not have to mean changing careers.
That feeling of being on pause did not arise for the lack of movement or from trying to expand my expertise into various areas of law. I literally focused on moving, from one area of law to another.
When my career began as a State Prosecutor, I prosecuted those who committed criminal offences. I recognised that if I stayed, I would only practise criminal law for the rest of my career. Thus, I left that area of law with no plans except a burning desire to explore. This led me to the offices of a sole practitioner, who in exchange for my labour, gave me knowledge. I began to experience life as a private practitioner and saw what it took to run one’s own law firm. Not too long into that experience, I realised that I did not like it because of the challenges, the difficulties in buildings a consistent client base and the uncertainty as it concerned my salary.
So, on to the next adventure, a corporate post. . I had no idea what I would be doing, but someone took a chance on me and I embraced the opportunity. What happened was, I applied to a company in the oil and gas sector, and as faith would have it, they needed to fill a vacancy on short notice and that portfolio required someone with strong litigation skills. Ultimately, my boss recognised this skill in me and took me on, telling me later that I could learn the other skills the job required such as contract preparation and negotiation.
After that position, I moved two more times in my legal career. I am now at my fifth position, having cycled through criminal, civil, corporate, child protection and now energy law.
As one of my law professors said “No one can teach you the law”. I always took that statement to heart. To me, it meant that no matter which area of law one ends up in, you can research, read and learn the law.
Many times, as a young lawyer, I felt stuck in an area but even more fearful to move to another. To overcome that fear, I held true to the belief that “no one can teach you the law.”
The reality is that once you master the foundational skills as a lawyer, they can transition to any area. For me, These foundational skills were drafting, vetting and proofreading, legal research, advocacy, taking instructions, and having a learning mindset.
As someone who transitioned through many areas of law, these foundational skills allowed me to break through the misconceptions of lawyer branding, and prove that marketing one’s self was possible without although you may have spent years in one area of law.
The transitions I made always relied on foundational and transferrable skills.
Although one may transition through various areas of law, there is still the possibility of feeling stuck in your career, especially as you stack up the years of experience.
What I came to realize is that we must not place all our desires, hopes and the responsibility for our happiness on our careers. Your legal career is just one aspect of your life, and to avoid feeling stuck on a deeper level, we must have fulfilment, movement, growth and development in every area.
The best technique I have found for getting unstuck is learning and growing. Nothing gets you fired up like learning something new and seeing how that can add to your growth.
It is inevitable that if you grow in one area of your life it will shine through in others.
For instance, when I was looking to get unstuck, I learnt new skills, completely unrelated to law. I learnt to meditate, practised yoga, and spent a lot of time cooking and baking. Yet, all the skills I picked up leaked into my legal career. I became better at listening, more patient, better able to tackle a task by breaking it down into small steps. The connectivity just amazes me.
Whether you are a young lawyer just figuring out which area of law you like best, or you have many years of experience, “feeling stuck” happens. It may just be a sign that you need to challenge yourself a bit more, and that challenge can even be outside your legal career. Getting unstuck, and staying so, is a journey. If you get unstuck in one area today, you might get stuck there again. As the saying goes, “variety is the spice of life”, and similarly, dare I say variety is the solution to getting unstuck.