We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Courtney Glickman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Courtney, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Resilience for me comes from life experience. People aren’t tough because they were necessarily born that way, it is because they have experienced things in life that have built up that quality. I have been through a tremendous amount of change, including divorce with three children in tow whom have relied on me throughout financially, emotionally and socially. I have watched other friends, and family members go through scenarios in life where they were not equipped to handle changes, expected or unexpected, and I promised myself I always would be. While chaos is not my favorite place, I have learned to thrive in it, embracing life changes, jumped back into full-time work and balancing that against parenting and creating healthy habits for myself simultaneously. While it is not always easy, I maintain my resilience by keeping a positive outlook, and believing (no matter what) that it will all work out, and as a result it always has. When you have no choice but to do something- you just do it. That is where my resilience comes from; Never giving up, and using my actions to motivate me to set examples for my three kids so that when life throws them curve balls (because it inevitably will) they are always prepared to handle it and learn from the experience building up their own grit and resilience as they do.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a family law attorney in California. I started out my law school career thinking that I would become a criminal attorney, or estate planner, but fell into family law when I went through my own divorce unexpectedly. What I learned is that while the experience can be unbearably emotional at times, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and life after. It’s hard to see it while you are going through making decisions about your family and finances, but it does exist. I changed my path as a result of my personal experience so that I could hold people’s hands as they went through this hard time, while protecting their interests, but also so that I could help them see that light at the end that is so hard to see at times through out. While this is a life event that many will never, and most do not want to ever, experience, I feel grateful that people choose me to support them and be in their corner while they make these hard life changes. My favorite moment is generally at the end of a case, sometimes months later, when a client sends me a email, or texts or calls me and tells me that they are happy…. I know then that they have seen the light.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Positivity/Gratitude, Grit and Resilience are the three qualities that I I find most impactful no matter what one’s area of practice, stage of life, or goals may be. There are days where you are not going to be able to find each one of these inside yourself, but that doesn’t mean you are lacking one of these. As long as you are not willing to give up, and keep going you will find what you are looking for, and find the light….
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
When I feel overwhelmed I organize. I take out my calendar, go through my emails, and even if I don’t have it in me to complete the tasks I make a list of what needs to be done. This often calms me because while the list may seem overwhelming it gives me a starting place for the next day at the very least. Often I add things to my calendar for me, when I am feeling this way, (i.e. lunch with a friend, a work out etc). The key to my resilience as a whole is being able to organize or break things down into steps…. often when you do the things that were overwhelming you become less scary. As I tell my kids the monsters are always bigger in your head, then they are in reality. So don’t let being overwhelmed cause fear or not being able to get things done.
