“As a young lawyer, I was fortunate to have a mentor who pointed out that the legal profession can be consuming. A lawyer can be consumed not only by time demands, but intellectual and emotional challenges related to what they do. Regardless of a lawyer’s practice area, a lawyer spends every day dealing with problems presented by others and constant deadlines related to dealing with such problems. Lawyers are always using significant energy to help others, meet deadlines, and deal with multiple conflicting priorities. My mentor suggested that those of us who engage in professions requiring constant output of energy need to be committed to practices and making the time to restore our energy and keep ourselves well.

I had a friend early in my career who had achieved significant success and climbed to a high-ranking corporate position at a Fortune 500 company at an early age. I used to work out with this friend. We were both runners and we ran races together. My friend’s favorite statement was, “Never compromise a workout for work.” I watched my friend live that despite a very busy career path and a family life. I decided to follow that example and I have lived that, no matter how busy I have gotten at times.”