As we end another year which many people would like to throw in the trash, I encourage everyone to use this last day of 2021 to reflect on the year we are leaving behind and take an opportunity to plan on how you will make 2022 work for YOU. 2021 was almost the year I forgot the word “no”. I found myself trying to help everyone, speak on every panel that I was asked to participate on, being the lawyer that my community needed, trying to answer every media call, be the diligent family member….and then I found myself stretched too thin, I was running on fumes from exhaustion, frustrated, temperamental and then one day I just stopped. Not literally stopped but I cut back on a lot. I can’t answer every call. I can’t speak at every conference. I can’t be everyone’s lawyer. There is only so much that I can do without sacrificing my own health and well-being. The first thing I had to do was a master reset (yes just like a phone) to get back to being my whole self. I was able to do that, beginning with my trip to Palm Springs where this picture was taken. I had to take inventory of my life and figure out what was important. I left a job that I loved but know that it was necessary. I’m venturing into something new and I am in a very good place. I have relearned the art of saying “I would love to help with that, but I just don’t have the bandwidth right now” and will take this with me into 2022. I look forward to what the future holds for me personally, professionally, and as President of the National Bar Association (I get sworn-in in July of 2022). Sometimes you have to make drastic changes to become your best self, so take time to assess what changes you may need to make. Whatever you do in 2022, make sure you make it work for YOU (and yes this is a play off of make the money, don’t let it make you)!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!