We were lucky to catch up with Idara Bassey, Esq. recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Idara, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?
My life has been full of such “jumping off the cliff into the unknown”-type moments- one, in particular, is when I left a high profile job in Washington DC to work for myself and a few years later move across the country to a city where I knew no one. It did not occur to me at all that this was a courageous (or risky) thing to do. I mapped out this course of action from a rational, methodical, intellectual place (or so I thought at the time); reasoning that if I was miserable in D.C. practicing law, there was at least a chance that the misery would abate if I did something about it. In fact, to this day it is still not something I grasp entirely- where I got the guts to do what I did until I spoke to a good girlfriend of mine recently (who witnessed the whole thing) who was recently contemplating a similar 180-degree turn in her life/career some 12 years later and was seeking my advice. So in summary my ability to take risks was born out of a realization that continuing to travel down the same path in any given situation would not produce anything new. If we even do as much as pivot a little in a different direction, there’s a possibility of creating a better situation.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
In my work with lawyers I am committed to taking them from being stressed out and miserable to peaceful, fulfilled individuals who love their lawyer lives.
I’ve been a Personal Advisor to corporate professionals from various industries and been retained by legal professionals nationwide on matters of executive performance, soft skills training, values alignment, stress reduction and wellness since 2002.
I earned my J.D. and an LL.M in Public International Law from the University of Georgia School of Law in Athens, GA where I was named a Ford Foundation Fellow and then later a Doctoral Degree in Metaphysical Counseling from the world-renowned University of Sedona.
I love to write and have published extensively in the self-help/spirituality genre over the past 20+ years. My award-winning essay collection Reflections of a Mystical Sistah (iUniverse Publishing) tells the “story behind the story” of creating my own lawyer life on my terms. For additional information of my portfolio of current offerings devoted to lawyer well-being visit me at www.loveyourlawyerlife.com.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
When I think about how my own lawyer life has unfolded (and is still unfolding), and distilling some lessons learned to pass along to my clients who are engaged in their own inner reflection and evaluation of their own. The following components stand out to date:
1.) Remembering that Status Quo is Just a Suggestion (Mindset)- when we look at a can of vegetables on the shelf in the store and we may see a small sign on it that says, “Serving Suggestion.” If we purchase the item we are not obligated to serve the vegetables in the exact manner pictured on the can- it literally is just a suggestion- meaning that how the world shows up in our experience is only one version of how it can unfold. There are many other versions available and one of them will resonate with your unique configuration of skills, talents, and temperament and your task is to search for the best fit.
2.) Recognizing the Limits of Thinking Like a Lawyer-
We all know that lawyering is primarily a left-brained exercise- We lead with logic and analysis to provide service to our clients. However, it is important to realize that this approach only goes so far. Lately for many of my fellow law colleagues, it’s been a season where everything that they knew to be true and dependable has been upended. Consciously cultivating new tools and training in ways of eliciting new insights has been the only way I have been able to respond to changes in the legal market. A legal professional with an agile mind and a receptive spirit paves the way to better lawyering and a more fulfilling (lawyer) life experience.
3.) The Importance of Passion & Purpose
I have always thought was important to find a cause or activity that you are passionate about and incorporate it into your life somehow- plugging it into the energy of it just really makes life worth living. There are so many places where there is a need for either your legal expertise or your non-law-related gifts and talents. Make it a priority to decide on what quality of life you wish to experience by sharing these gifts and talents for the benefit of others. I insist on it and tell my clients that they can as well.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
My ideal client is:
-a young to mid-career legal professional
-who is willing to invest time and resources in personal development
-Who is either stressed out, feeling misaligned in their law career and/or dealing with wellness concerns. (Physical, emotional, spiritual or executive performance) and is
-open to innovative approaches and tools that they never learned in law school to create desired changes.
At JOY Legal LLC we help young to mid-career lawyers become inner-resourced so they can become peaceful, fulfilled individuals who love their lawyer lives!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.loveyourlawyerlife.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/attyartisthealer/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/idara-e-bassey/
Image Credits:
Bio Picture (Photo credit: Lenna Davis)
