* Melcher's The Creative Lawyer: A Practical Guide to Authentic Professional Satisfaction
* Levit's The Happy Lawyer: Making a Good Life in the Law
* Schreiter's The Happy Lawyer: How to Gain More Satisfaction, Suffer Less Stress and Enjoy Higher Earnings in Your Law Practice
* Parker's The Unhappy Lawyer: A Roadmap to Finding Meaningful Work Outside of the Law
* Happy Hour is for Amateurs: A Lost Decade in the World's Worst Profession
* Fort Collins's own Kevin Houchin's book, Fuel the Spark: 5 Guiding Values for Success in Law and Life
And then there was Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project (which I had read about previously, particularly in Psychology Today, but had rejected as too kitschy). . .But now I am taking another look.
"After graduating from law school in the early 1990s, Rubin served as a law clerk for the US Supreme Court. This job is perhaps the sweetest plum in the American legal orchard. It practically guarantees a career of high-level positions in law firms and government.
But during her stint, Rubin's eyes wandered away from the law.
"When I had free time, I never wanted to talk about cases or read law journals, the way my fellow clerks did. Instead, I spent hours reading, taking notes and writing my observations about the worldly passions – power, money, fame and sex," Rubin says.
"Finally, I realised, 'Hey, I'm writing a book.' And it dawned on me that some people write books for a living. This project didn't have to be my hobby; it could be my job."
She wrote her first book – Power Money Fame Sex: A User's Guide – and soon she realised that she wasn't a lawyer. She was a writer."
And I'm starting to think that maybe the best way to be a happy lawyer is to not be a lawyer at all.
* Fort Collins's own Kevin Houchin's book, Fuel the Spark: 5 Guiding Values for Success in Law and Life
And then there was Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project (which I had read about previously, particularly in Psychology Today, but had rejected as too kitschy). . .But now I am taking another look.
"After graduating from law school in the early 1990s, Rubin served as a law clerk for the US Supreme Court. This job is perhaps the sweetest plum in the American legal orchard. It practically guarantees a career of high-level positions in law firms and government.
But during her stint, Rubin's eyes wandered away from the law.
"When I had free time, I never wanted to talk about cases or read law journals, the way my fellow clerks did. Instead, I spent hours reading, taking notes and writing my observations about the worldly passions – power, money, fame and sex," Rubin says.
"Finally, I realised, 'Hey, I'm writing a book.' And it dawned on me that some people write books for a living. This project didn't have to be my hobby; it could be my job."
She wrote her first book – Power Money Fame Sex: A User's Guide – and soon she realised that she wasn't a lawyer. She was a writer."
And I'm starting to think that maybe the best way to be a happy lawyer is to not be a lawyer at all.
I don't think the question is "are all lawyers unhappy?" but more, "what makes YOU happy?"
ReplyDeleteAll jobs are going to have their downsides, their certain amount of politics and crap. It's about choosing a job that is worth all that to you.