How to Thrive in Life and Law

HOW TO THRIVE IN LIFE AND LAW By: Emily Heird

Vantage View Coaching

HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED

Your career spans many decades. Maintaining the eager enthusiasm you once had for lawyering can be challenging. You had the motivation to get through law school and graduate. You had the motivation to study and pass the bar exam. You had the motivation to go above and beyond to get your dream job. You’ve checked all those goals off; now what? Life is showing up and doing the job every day for the next 40 years. The reality sets in, the dream job has lost its luster, and many lawyers I work with express having lost their motivation. They are stressed out, anxious, and cynical about their job. Is it possible to rekindle the motivation? If so, how can you create long-lasting, sustainable motivation to get you across the finish line of the career marathon?

Two essential components to motivation are 1. how you frame your goals and 2. incorporating activities daily that naturally produce dopamine – the neurotransmitter associated with motivation.

Motivation is the desire to act in service of a goal. When you have time-limited, specific goals, it is easier to maintain motivation because you can see the finish line. Graduating from law school and passing the bar are two such examples. Individual days may be challenging but keeping your eye on the prize sustains your drive. But you cannot see the finish line when you’re in the thick of your career, and it is easy for that drive to disappear.

Motivation lies on a spectrum. On one end is extrinsic motivation, and on the other is intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation involves accomplishing a goal because a) you either want to avoid pain or punishment or b) you want to earn a reward. Examples are: filing a motion with the court at the deadline to avoid consequences; saying “yes” to requests to avoid people being mad at you; receiving compliments about your fancy car or house; entering billable time to avoid getting in trouble; and earning partner status for the title and power over others. Stress, fear, and insecurity fuel these externally-motivated goals.

Intrinsic motivation involves working towards and accomplishing a goal because it is inherently rewarding. The goal to become a law firm partner because you enjoy extra responsibility and like to lead others is an example of intrinsic motivation. Others are: earning money to finance a life that allows you to do things you love and provide for your family; practicing law because you enjoy problem-solving, using your intellect, learning new things, and helping others; entering your time daily as an act of valuing yourself and capturing business accurately; and filing a motion on your case because you want to move the case forward and advocate for your clients. Desire, reward, and satisfaction fuel intrinsically-motivated goals.

Extrinsic goals do not help you achieve lasting well-being; they are associated with narcissism, anxiety, depression, poorer mental health in general, and even poorer social functioning. They keep you busy and believing, “If I get ______, then I’ll be happy and satisfied.” The problem is that there’s no end to this, and the satisfaction is only temporary. For example, if your main motivation at work is to hit your hours, the satisfaction drops off quickly because you start the following month back at zero.

Heidi Grant Halvorson, a leading researcher on goal achievement, explains in her book Succeed, “...not all goals lead to lasting feelings of true satisfaction and well-being, and that’s because not all goals satisfy our needs for relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Which ones do? In general, goals that are about making, supporting, or strengthening relationships do. So do goals that focus on personal growth, physical health, or self-acceptance – addressing your shortcomings or, if they can’t be helped, simply coming to terms with them. Goals that have to do with contributing to your community or helping others also fulfill these needs.”

Do you have a unique definition of what success as a lawyer means to you? Or what constitutes a meaningful career? Transforming your goals from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation is one component of creating long-term sustained motivation.

The other component is to tap into your biology and harness the power of your natural source of motivation: dopamine. Often called the “motivation molecule,” dopamine provides the drive and focus we all need to be productive. It is heavily involved with our attention span, focus, follow-through, and ability to experience pleasure.

If we are deficient in dopamine levels, this can cause an imbalance in our life. A lack of dopamine is associated with the following consequences: fatigue, apathy, lack of focus, forgetfulness, moodiness, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, sugar cravings, and lower motivation.

Dopamine-dominant people are usually focused go-getters. Unfortunately, many things people do to boost their focus and energy backfire. There are many unhealthy ways to seek out a “dopamine fix.” For example, anything addicting like nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, and sugarladen, fat-filled treats are all very effective at increasing dopamine levels. Taking amphetamine or stimulant medication flood your brain with dopamine and motivate you to complete demanding tasks. Scrolling on your phone and gambling both produce dopamine.

However, these actions have unpleasant side effects and disrupt natural dopamine production. The result is decreased natural dopamine production in the long term and ever-increasing reliance on those substances or activities to fuel motivation. They can be the root cause of addictive behavior in life.

How can you produce dopamine naturally instead? Here are a few examples: Eat foods rich in tyrosine (almonds, bananas, avocados, eggs, beans, fish, and chicken). Exercise regularly. Learn to meditate or practice mindfulness meditation. Get a massage. Get adequate sleep each night. Listen to calming music. Learn something new. Play sports. Finish a task or project. Socialize and connect with others. Spend time in the sun.

Yes, these activities may take longer than the unhealthy ones mentioned above, but you are not relying on substances or unhealthy activities to fuel you. They are components of a thriving career and life.