“Secure Your Own Oxygen Mask First,” by Laura Gibson, the President of the State Bar of Texas, is a terrific example of wellness in practice. So much of this equation comes from ensuring that we are taking care of ourselves so that we may take care of our clients and communities. We discuss the importance of well-being at Baylor Law to help students figure out how they will keep their work and personal lives in harmony* in the practice of law. Our message is that they should use the time during law school to figure out what works for them rather than waiting until they get to a crisis. This exercise requires a great deal of self-reflection and purposeful problem-solving, but the students who do so reap the rewards in practice. “Secure Your Own Oxygen Mask First” is a powerful analogy for finding harmony.
* We often hear this described as work-life balance, but we prefer the expression “work-life harmony.” See Chapter 11 of Fundamentals of Lawyer Leadership for a more detailed discussion of the difference.
