When building our legal careers, we can become so focused on the career ladder that we forget our personal wants and needs. It doesn’t have to be that way. With some forethought, preparation, and practice, you can build a professional life that honors your personal desires. Following are seven best practices I learned while climbing the career ladder in law.

If you’re anything like me, over the course of your career you’ll have found yourself weighed down by excessive workloads, feeling like your path to self-fulfillment is an uphill climb. For me, maintaining a work-life balance has become as important as any one of my other career goals.