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Steady, Not Perfect: A Kinder Way to Move Through The Year

Ever found yourself elbows deep (pun intended) in something that felt overwhelming?

I had committed to baking cookies for a fundraiser at our church. A group of volunteers (myself included) is headed back to El Salvador for a service trip this summer, and one of our biggest fundraisers is selling holiday cookie trays.

So I needed to help bake and decorate cookies - a lot of cookies (like over 1500 cookies!).

At the outset, it felt like too much. It feels pretty daunting when you are looking at piles of ingredients without a single cookie made and thinking “how is our little group of a few adults and some middle schoolers going to bake 125 dozen cookies?”

The ingredient lists were long. The kitchen and prep-station were crowded with people and supplies. The time commitment felt impossible.

And my first instinct was that familiar one: Why did I say yes to this?

So we decided not to try to solve the whole thing at once.

We worked through one batch of one recipe. Then another. Then another.

Dozen by dozen, tray by tray, it started to come together. By the end, we had baked, decorated, and assembled over 125 dozen cookies for a cause we care deeply about. What felt overwhelming at the start became meaningful, satisfying, and even joyful.

And it struck me how often this lesson applies far beyond the kitchen.

Life, especially December, has a way of amplifying everything.

Responsibilities don’t slow down.

Deadlines remain firm.

Client needs don’t pause.

At the same time, personal obligations, end-of-year pressure, and the emotional weight of the season continue to pile on.

When everything feels urgent and heavy, it’s easy to freeze - or to push ourselves harder in a way that leaves us depleted.

Here’s the reframe I want to offer this week:

You don’t need to move perfectly. You just need to move steadily.

In legal work, projects, workloads, and all the corresponding details can feel massive when viewed all at once. The full scope can be paralyzing. But progress rarely happens all at once anyway. It happens in steps.

One filing task.
One client call.
One thoughtful decision.
Then the next.

This steady, incremental approach isn’t just about getting work done.

It’s about sustainability - for lawyers, legal professionals, and leaders at every stage of their careers.

In the legal profession, it’s easy to feel like you’re holding everything at once: deadlines, decisions, client needs, team dynamics, and the unspoken pressure to stay sharp and responsive at all times. When that happens, even the most skilled and experienced professionals can quietly become the bottleneck - not because they aren’t capable, but because they’re carrying too much.

Moving step by step helps release that pressure.

It reduces cognitive overload, supports clearer judgment, and reflects professional wisdom earned over time. It also sends an important signal to others: that effectiveness comes from consistency and follow-through, not constant urgency or personal depletion.

When lawyers, legal professionals, and leaders pace themselves, they protect their decision-making capacity. They stay more present with colleagues and clients. And they create conditions where people can do their best work over the long haul - not just survive the busiest weeks.

Just as important as taking those steps is checking in with yourself along the way.

Not to judge or criticize.

But to notice how you’re actually doing.

To ask where support might help.

To allow others to step in when possible.

And to remember that even the most capable professionals aren’t meant to carry everything alone. You can’t drive all of the trains forward at once.

One practical tool I often recommend when overwhelm starts to creep in is this:

Before you make your next to-do list, make a “done” list.

Write down (or at least reflect upon) what you’ve already accomplished in the past day or week, even the things that felt small or routine. You may be surprised by how much is already there. Momentum often builds not from pushing harder, but from recognizing progress.

Life doesn’t require perfection. It asks for steadiness, perspective, and care - for your work, your clients, and yourself.

Batch by batch, step by step, you will move forward.