Congratulations! Your personalized stress response type results are in!
Based on what you’ve told me, your lawyer lifestyle is telling you that your stress type is:
FREEZE
The first thing you need to understand is it’s not your fault!
As lawyers, we're engaged in an adversarial system that encourages zero-sum, win-lose thinking. We're encouraged to believe that we must hustle and grind, day in and day out. We're expected to over-perform every single day. And that includes juggling a thousand little details while working with clients or on projects that carry very high stakes and sometimes high degrees of unpleasantness. That's enough to push anyone into a FREEZE state.
The profession we chose, and the billable hour naturally leads many to overwork and overwhelm. And we've somehow been convinced that always being "busy" is a badge of honor and importance when it's really just a one-way ticket to burnout.
The long-term effect of the FREEZE response is a sense of numbness, feeling disengaged, stuck and then ashamed of our stuckness. You may feel like life is passing you by and you're watching it from the sidelines, overwhelmed.
But What Do I Know?
Hello! I'm James Ferguson, a veteran trial lawyer and a professional coach.
Why do I know so much about living in FREEZE Mode? Well, because I experienced it for myself!
Just under ten years ago, I went through a professional burnout that nearly cost me everything: my partner, my health, my home, my dog, and my life. Ironically, it didn't cost me my career. It's funny the things we can save at the cost of everything else.
Fortunately, that crucible experience transformed me. It allowed me to let go of what wasn't true and embrace what was. In doing so, I freed myself from a lot of the false and limiting beliefs and behaviors that got me stuck in that frozen rut.
And once I made it through that wilderness, transformed, I vowed to help anyone that I could in hopes they could avoid my burnout experience. That's how I transitioned from trial lawyer to professional coaching.
I believe that we are all living just a small portion of our true potential. And it usually takes just a few insights–supported by consistent action–to radically shift our lives into greater ease, happiness and connection with the people and projects that matter to us.