An Attorney’s reputation and character are closely linked to their fearlessness. It is understandable why attorneys are especially averse to any discussions about fear.
Unfortunately, these attorneys miss out on an important point. Fear is a useful tool. Without fear, lawyers would be unable to gauge dangers and risks associated with a case. Also, without fear they would not heed instinctual when something is about to go wrong.
Remember Roger?
You met Roger in an earlier post. As a successful partner, he had practiced law for over twenty years appeared to have reached the pinnacle of success. Peers and colleagues didn’t know that Roger secretly suffered from severe panic attacks. These attacks had worsened over the years. I remember first meeting, Roger.
Roger, looked at me eye to eye, his face did not crack a smile when he said, “Pamela, practicing law is a stressful career, a time-scarce profession. My law career has squeezed out many things that are important to me, like time with my family; my social life, family vacations, and even my health have all suffered. The more demanding my workload is, the harder it is to slow myself down and know what I feel. ”
“Roger, I am glad to talk with you face to face, ” I said.
Roger scoffed, “I don’t want to talk about fear. I’m not into that touchy-feely stuff. Quite frankly, I don’t care how I feel. I have no time to contemplate my navel.”
He became more agitated, “I just need to stop these damned panic attacks. I’ve tried everything, pills, and alcohol, even a shrink. My friend said you might be able to help me.”
“Roger, just hear me out. What I am talking about is science. Everything about our thoughts and processes of thought is science. Let’s look at fear from a scientific viewpoint.
Three Stages of Fear
I have divided the phases of fear into three categories. They are:
- Stage 1: Healthy Fear
- Stage 2: Frustrating Fear
- Stage 3: Debilitating Fear
It is important that you learn the traits of each phase. I will teach you how to manage your fear in a healthy way. My first advice is an important warning I give all the attorneys I work with, DO NOT IGNORE YOUR FEAR. As you know, knowledge is power. Let’s talk about healthy fear.”
Healthy Fear
Healthy fear triggers our “fight or flight response. Healthy Fear is our survival instinct that works to protect you, your law practice and your family. Your fight or flight response is when your sensory perceptions perceive that you sense a threat in some way. Healthy fear was designed originally as a survival mechanism.
The fight or flight response was originally designed to help man to protect his family from saber tooth tigers or other wild animals. Surrounded by all sorts of dangerous creatures that lurked in the woods and fields, the physical survival of families was threatened at all times.
When our actual physical survival is threatened, there is no greater helper than having this response on our side. Once our fight or flight response is activated, it causes a surge of adrenaline and other stress hormones to pump through our bodies.
These same stress hormones pump through your body as you practice law. You can use your stress hormones to your benefit. But, without proper knowledge, they can become destructive to any lawyer causing panic attacks, chest pains, and migraine headaches not to mention addictions and depression. Misdirected stress hormones can damage not only your law practice, ruin your health but also destroy your family relationships.
We all have read of instances when a mother has lifted a car off of her trapped children. Firefighters heroically run into blazing houses to save endangered victims. Men or women in the armed forces stare death in the face during combat missions who have become heroes of our day. This surge of adrenaline infuses heroism and courage at times whenever we have been called upon to protect and defend the lives and values we cherish.
This automatic response is invaluable as attorneys enter their “jungle,” the legal profession. Even a normal day in the life of an attorney can be presented with threats and controversies. Confrontation of the opposition, which can include corporations, justice systems, criminals, corporations, or institutions, can become exhausting. As Lawyers enter the fray each day, healthy fear is indeed a valuable tool.
(In an upcoming post, we will discuss the next two phases of fear, frustrating fear and debilitating fear.)
To read Attorneys Never Fear You Are Never Alone Part I click on this link Click here
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