Join Adam and Casey with their guest, Ritu Goswamy, as they talk about meditation, mindfulness, and productivity. Ritu shares her expertise in these topics to help you find clarity in your life’s mission. The three get into having a passion for work while having balance in life, properly embracing your identity as a lawyer, and why meditation might not have worked for you before.
We know there’s a lot of people rolling their eyes when they hear about meditation and mindfulness. As lawyers, we’re expected to be skeptical, so that's only natural!. But that doubt also makes us look at those who claim that meditation turned their lives around for the better. Tune in to the podcast, and see that it’s not as “woo woo” as you might have thought!
What You’ll Learn
Extinguishing an Exhausting Fiery Constitution
According to Ritu, lawyers tend to be very driven and passionate like a burning fire. We’re almost always trying to produce results left and right. Just because we can continue to push, we’ll go all out with everything we have. It’s not a bad thing to be an achiever, since we’ve got to where we are now because of all the hard work we’ve done. However, going literally “above and beyond” is not always the best thing for ourselves. Instead of going at 150% every time, dial back to 75% and find that balance you've always been looking for.
Once you start this practice of toning things down, you might think that you’re not doing enough for the day. However, that’s EXACTLY the issue that we’re trying to deal with here. You’re not supposed to feel exhausted every single day. But how do you pull back? Well, one of the reasons you’re doing this is so that you could define the things that you want to do. So, if you look at your workload, figure out which ones you love doing and stick with those. Adam mentions you could keep your A and B clients while “firing” the rest! Another solution you could utilize is delegation. Sometimes we may be hesitant to let others do our job because of our overachieving nature, but what we don’t realize is that there are other people much better (and more efficient) than us on some of the tasks we do each day.
Once you’re able to create a good system for yourself, you’ll find more time to love yourself, clarity with what you want to do, and opportunities to act on your newly-discovered (or reawakened) passions. Not only that, but you might also find yourself earning much more than you are now!
Setting Expectations with Meditation and Mindfulness
Now that we’ve established the value of slowing things down, it’s time to talk about taking care of the mind. Because we’ve overworked our minds to point of exhaustion almost every day in the span of our career, it’s essential to let it rest now. This is where meditation or mindfulness comes into the scene. Without getting too technical about it, mindfulness is simply giving yourself time to be in the moment. There are a plethora of ways to go about it, but one example mentioned in the show is staying still for at least five minutes and getting your mind out of the hamster wheel of “more”, “fast”, and “next”. This state of mind allows you to be clear, giving yourself some room to breathe. If you have special space for yourself, you can proceed with whatever you have next with more intention.
While all of this sounds good, many people still give up. Why? It’s because mindfulness is a lifestyle that one has to develop. A few sessions of meditation can’t just immediately bring alignment into our lives. Success with this practice is a matter of starting somewhere and putting in the effort. Some people can do it by themselves, but others may do better a little guidance. Listen to the full episode, learn more, and get the opportunity to avail of Ritu’s book for free!
About Ritu Goswamy:
Ritu Goswamy, Esq., is a lawyer and productivity strategist for lawyers. She is the best-selling author of The New Billable Hour: Bill More Hours, Be More Productive, and Still Have Work Life Balance and The Holistic Lawyer: Use Your Whole Brain to Work Smarter Not Harder. Ritu is the creator of the New Billable Hour ® system, which helps lawyers increase their productivity by billing themselves first. She teaches this system directly to lawyers in a way that is engaging, fun, and practical. Ritu hosts "The New Billable Hour Podcast" available where you like to listen and on YouTube. She consults with lawyers individually and in groups and is an active speaker and trainer in the areas of lawyer productivity, competence, and mindfulness. For a free copy of her first book and other resources, visit: www.ritugoswamy.com.
Show Notes
Outline of the Episode:
- [01:19] The problem with the overworking and overachieving culture among most lawyers. Self-care is still possible even with the limited time we have!
- [05:03] The legal profession is imbalanced by design, but the biggest stress is the pressure we put on ourselves.
- [09:02] Pulling back the fiery constitution that exhausts your energy.
- [13:41] Take time to live in the moment and tone down on looking at the next task on the to-do list.
- [15:47] We can’t do all of the things we’re told to do! Settle down and decide on which ones are important for you.
- [18:28] The value and difficulty of delegation as a lawyer.
- [21:16] Why would we be fixated on the “Esq” at the end of our names?
- [24:01] Why didn’t meditation work for you the first time? Discomfort is normal when we’re trying to transform ourselves!
- [26:51] Improvement doesn’t happen at a moment’s notice.
- [29:40] The consciousness of the heart and why we should trust in our “gut” feeling.
- [30:17] The New Billable Hour, what’s in it for you? How are ALL of the lives of Ritu’s clients changed by the steps in this book?
- [34:51] Once you start being more aligned to your mission, find out how you can be The Holistic Lawyer!
- [37:00] The essence of learning more about leading yourself before leading others.
Resources:
- Ritu Goswamy’s Website
- Ritu Goswamy’s LinkedIn
- Email: ritu@newbillablehour.com
- Power vs. Force Book
- Getting Things Done
- The Presence Process
- The Power of Now Book
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