Pursue Passion, Find Self

Dear Rookie Advocate,

As we wound down last year, I thought I was too burnt out to think through what my biggest lessons or wins were. And then the last two days of the year happened: someone asked me to recommend a young lawyer for a project. My immediate thought was, wait, am I that grown, that I am the one they now call to ask for recommendations?
The next day, someone else asked me to mentor them. Gasp!

With only 6 months to my 5th Anniversary of admission to the Bar, I am very hesitantly accepting that I am ‘grown grown’. Here are a few things I’m realising:

1. Your passion? Find it and pursue it.
Mine is mentorship. This blog was partly birthed from the fact that so many people have given us, Emmanuela and I, their time, invited us to sit at various tables with them and presented us with growth opportunities. Having sat at the feet of Rockstar Advocates and gleaned from their wisdom, we thought a blog like this would be a good way for us to help others along on their journeys.

The request for mentorship that I got was not the first I received last year. If my count is accurate, it should be the 4th or 5th. None of them surprised me. But they each had me wondering if I was “that grown-up yet”. Was I ready for this? Surely I needed to learn a few more things? Right? Maybe. But what am I doing with what I’ve already learnt? The blog is a comfortable zone but you know what they say about a ship at shore…it’s safe there, but that’s not what it was built for. Pursue your passions. Start where you are, with what you have. Pour into others and create room for more refilling. Just…start.

2. Be open and honest with yourself.
The thing about pursuing passions is you may wake up one day and realize, you are not where you have to be. That comfortable job isn’t what you are meant to be doing. Your passion may lead you along an unconventional path. Are you willing to pursue it there? I read of someone who practiced law for 17 years before they realized they are meant to be running a more entrepreneurial business away from the practice of law.
Forget what the people will say, or think about you. I think a deciding factor should be, if you leave or if you stay, will you be able to live with yourself and the path you choose?

3. You will gain yourself a reputation.
Your career journey? People are watching. Some from afar, and others are taking front row seats. Whatever you do, whether you do it well or poorly, it will gain you a reputation.
I somehow seem to have set myself up as trustworthy and able to recommend someone for a project. Maybe it’s the way I network within the profession so they trust I will definitely know someone suitable. Accept the results of who you set yourself up to be. Just ensure it’s a reputation and standard you want to be known by. If not, change it. As some people have aptly put it, you are a brand.

Cheers to a new year of discovering self, becoming, and enjoying who we become.
Cheers to a year in which we learn our passions, pursue them, and fail if we must. But at least we will fail at the practical elements and not the theory. Just do it.

Cheers to growth. 🥂
Edwina