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22 July 2020 / Helen Pamely
Issue: 7896 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Mindfulness: taming the inner critic in lockdown & beyond

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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

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen appoints senior legal PR and ex-government communications adviser, Liz Giles

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott boosts Southampton commercial property team with addition of partner Lee Edwards

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors announces four promotions

NEWS
The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, and Solicitor General, Andy Slaughter KC MP, marked the 25th anniversary of Pro Bono Week by joining lawyers, charities, students and parliamentarians at events celebrating voluntary legal work
Witness evidence can be compromised by AI before a solicitor sees the draft, leaving safeguards focused on authorship incomplete
Possession claims are entering a new digital era, with procedural traps awaiting practitioners who assume familiar rules still govern every step
The Environment Agency can prosecute offences beyond environmental legislation where proceedings support its statutory functions, the Divisional Court has confirmed
A polished legal defence may owe more to artificial intelligence than legal merit—and creditors risk paying the price in delay and expense
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