header-logo header-logo

Mindfulness: taming the inner critic in lockdown & beyond

22 July 2020 / Helen Pamely
Issue: 7896 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail
24640
Fear of failure rather than celebration of inspiration imposes a heavy burden on mental health. Helen Pamely offers some mindful tips

‘The most important words you will ever hear are the ones you say to yourself.’

It’s 5pm on Friday, and just as you’re about to pour yourself a well-deserved and much anticipated G&T, that dreaded email you’ve been waiting for all week invades your peace. Your heart sinks as your hopes for the evening, weekend and your sweet G&T evaporate just like that. But once you’re over the initial disappointment, the pressure to succeed and pull off the task in hand is pumping through your veins. You need to smash this, you tell yourself.

Except that you’re exhausted; you’re not at your best after a long, heavy week. What is really driving you to succeed at this moment is a deep-seated fear of failure. The stakes are high; do something wrong and you’ll know about it. You can kiss goodbye to that bonus, promotion, or general

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan—Andrew Savage

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan—Andrew Savage

Firm expands London disputes practice with senior partner hire

Druces—Lisa Cardy

Druces—Lisa Cardy

Senior associate promotion strengthens real estate offering

Charles Russell Speechlys—Robert Lundie Smith

Charles Russell Speechlys—Robert Lundie Smith

Leading patent litigator joins intellectual property team

NEWS
The government’s plan to introduce a Single Professional Services Supervisor could erode vital legal-sector expertise, warns Mark Evans, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, in NLJ this week
Writing in NLJ this week, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers argues that the ‘failure to prevent’ model of corporate criminal responsibility—covering bribery, tax evasion, and fraud—should be embraced, not resisted
Professor Graham Zellick KC argues in NLJ this week that, despite Buckingham Palace’s statement stripping Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his styles, titles and honours, he remains legally a duke
Writing in NLJ this week, Sophie Ashcroft and Miranda Joseph of Stevens & Bolton dissect the Privy Council’s landmark ruling in Jardine Strategic Ltd v Oasis Investments II Master Fund Ltd (No 2), which abolishes the long-standing 'shareholder rule'
In NLJ this week, Sailesh Mehta and Theo Burges of Red Lion Chambers examine the government’s first-ever 'Afghan leak' super-injunction—used to block reporting of data exposing Afghans who aided UK forces and over 100 British officials. Unlike celebrity privacy cases, this injunction centred on national security. Its use, the authors argue, signals the rise of a vast new body of national security law spanning civil, criminal, and media domains
back-to-top-scroll