Return to Your Hobby

Well-Being in Law Week continues: Do you have a hobby?

When I moved to Wisconsin to clerk, I had one personal goal: get back to tennis, and I did just that.

My physical and mental health improved drastically, as I played tennis 1-4 days a week, pushing me to be active in other ways as my energy and mood strengthened.

And, two of the connections I made through tennis actually go my foot into the door of #biglaw.

That first eight months of being an associate, I held onto my tennis habit.

And then slowly but surely, almost without me noticing, it slipped away. Ultimately, an injury + the pandemic took it away from me all together.

To me, it is not a coincidence that leaving tennis behind coincided with my experience with burnout, low mood, loneliness, and other extreme thoughts.

After three years, I got back to it last July and now I'm back to playing 1-3 times a week. The impact on my mood was almost immediate.

I wish I hadn't let it go. I wish I hadn't let work interrupt this thing I love so much.

How many of us have something like that? Something that was important to us that we let go--for college, for law school, for our careers?

It is so easy to say, "I'm too busy." I used that as a crutch and excuse for a long, long time. Now, I try to ban that word from my vocabulary: it is a cop out.

I post regularly about time management and mindset because those two things help create the time we thing we're missing--like, for me, tennis.

I had the time those three years I didn't play, but my mind told me otherwise. My worries and doubts about pleasing others told me I couldn't.

Some days, that is true, but most days, it is not. If you look closely, many high performing attorneys have something they make time for--for themselves, unrelated to work.

It helps you keep part of your identity.

It helps you exercise choice and build a sense of autonomy.

For me, it is tennis. What is it for you?

❤️✌️🔥