Season 1, Episode 002
In this episode of Legally Blissed Conversations, we are joined by Dina Cataldo, a criminal prosecutor turned coach, who helps her clients conquer overwhelm, build a better practice, and love their life. While working 70 hour weeks with sleepless nights, Dina had a wake-up – a breast cancer diagnosis at only 29 years old. When her chemo felt like a vacation compared to her work life, she knew something had to change.
Dina created a unique framework that worked to reduce stress while still following her ambitions. Not only could she continue being a criminal prosecutor, but she could also design her day to incorporate creating the business she loved. And now she helps others do the same.
Shownotes
Website: https://dinacataldo.com/
Instagram: @dina.cataldo
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCITlQ0sUkUcq77LQPyB_j_Q
Transcript
Suzi: So welcome, everyone to the legally blessed podcast. I am so happy to have Miss Dina Cataldo. He helps driven lawyers get out of the grind, create clarity on their goals and boosts productivity so they can reach their goals with more ease. UCLA grad Deena double majored in English literature and history. After graduating from Georgia School of Law in Sacramento, she became a criminal prosecutor and has tried dozens of jury trials ranging from DUI to homicide, and she’s also negotiated 1000s of cases. After a breast cancer diagnosis at 29. Dina realize that breast cancer was the best thing that ever happened to her. When chemo seemed like a vacation compared to her 70 hour work weeks. Dina has taught workshops and spoken to audiences at UC Davis Medical Center Folsom State Prison, California State President Sacramento, the St. Thomas More society and the Association of corporate counsel in Sacramento and on her podcast, be a better lawyer. So go check that out. Dina offers one on one coaching to lawyers committed to finally changing their lives for the better. Dina? Welcome. I’m so happy that you’re here with me. Thank you so much for agreeing to hang out with me and having a little conversation about practicing law. Trying to maintain blissfulness.
Dina: Yeah, it’s my pleasure. I love your your mission. Like it’s just in alignment with mine. So I have my pleasure to be here.
Suzi: I’m so happy. So tell me, tell me about you tell me, what’s something that your bio didn’t go over that you think our listeners would love to know about you?
Dina: Yeah, and I think it’s something that your listeners have in common. They’re very driven, success driven, whatever that might look like. And that meant that I worked a lot. And I worked hard. That was how I got my praise growing up is you know, so it’s like that something I think, probably most highly driven lawyers have experienced, and we get socialized to crave all those external success factors, the praise, the money, the accolades, and all of that good stuff. And we forget to reconnect with ourselves. So part of why I say chemo was just amazing guys, like it was like a vacation is because I finally connected with myself. When I hadn’t for so long, I didn’t realize that I was burning myself out because it felt very normal. To me, that was my norm. And part of that was fueled by looking for those external validation factors, which I think is very typical for those success. goal driven lawyers.
Suzi: Right. I mean, I remember just loving accolades, right? Oh, you’re such a great student, you know, always wanting to strive for that loving those external validations. So how long were you practicing law before your breast cancer diagnosis?
Dina: I was three years in and I was already doing trials and like, it was full force. And I was actually thinking about this today for my podcast because one of the things I recognized about where I work, which is the DHS office in Sacramento County, and I’m actually leaving January 4 is my last day. So I’m very excited coaching full time.
Suzi: Congratulations. Oh, heck yeah.
Dina: I mean, I love the work that I do as a criminal prosecutor and at the same time, I feel more fulfilled doing the coaching work with clients. And so that’s that’s really what I’m, I’m passionate about. But I recognize that especially early on In my career, that where I worked, and I know this is true for a lot of firms where young attorneys work, the higher reps really fuel the anxiety and the stress and they make it like a challenge. Like you’re supposed to, like feel this, and you’re just supposed to grind through it. And it discourages them from taking a closer look at how they’re working and whether or not that’s healthy. And whether or not there’s a better way, because they’ve been programmed to, to think that that’s the right thing to do.
Suzi: Right. It’s like, it sort of reminds me of a fraternity or a military like rite of passage. So one has to go through. Right, right. Like it’s almost like this hazing in some ways that some of these bigger firms put their younger attorneys through. And it’s interesting that you mentioned sort of that thoughtfulness, right, like we get so caught up in the moment of getting the work done, saying yes, staying in the office till eight o’clock, nine o’clock at night, right billing 6070 hour weeks, at least. And a lot of young lawyers don’t take a moment and take a step back and say, Wait a second, what am I doing? Like they’re just kind of going through the motions. It’s just such a it’s like a deeply entrenched way of practicing law, particularly in, you know, in that law firm environment.
Dina: Yeah, I mean, that’s what really attracted me to coaching is that there’s this whole new way to think about things. And I didn’t have that awareness that there was a different way. And so when I started learning some of these things, I was really drawn into it, because I could see so many successful people creating lifestyles, they love going after goals without killing themselves. And he’s like, wait a minute, if it’s possible for them, that means it’s possible for me. So what is that saying about how I’m approaching my legal practice about how I’m approaching my goals, my life what I want?
Suzi: So when did you decide that you wanted to go through coaching certification? Like when did you because like, apparently, like you had that awareness, right, like you saw that people were able to do be able to say, Oh, they seemed like they were living life more authentically than kind of being stuck in that rut of being a law firm, like, at what point did you see coaching, and certification as sort of an opportunity to learn more, not only about how to help others, but how to help yourself?
Dina: Yeah, I think that took me some time to kind of come around to it, because I think I am probably your listeners are like this, too, was very stuck in the well, obviously, if I do more, then I’m going to create the success. So I really grounded out I did all the programs, I didn’t learn all the marketing, like I wanted to do the work, because that’s what I was used to doing. And so I allowed myself to just like have that moment of, okay, well, maybe these people who have this mindset training have have something know, something that I don’t know. So I would like, maybe instead of listening to my fears about how much money it was, and you know, how I didn’t really know what was happening, I would just say, You know what, this speaks to me, I’m just going to do it. What’s the worst that could happen? Right? And, you know, turns out the worst that can happen is, is I go all in on myself.
Suzi: So what does that look like to you? When Dina goes all in on herself?
Dina: Yeah, for me, it’s like, Hey, I’m investing the money in myself. Because there are skills that even when we know them, like, I’m a coach, but I have a coach, you know, even when we weigh in, right, it’s like, we may know them but our brain is still a human brain, it still goes off and wants to do its own default motions, go through the motions. And so I invest in myself to help me focus because it saves me so much time. I don’t go spinning in ruminating or wondering what went wrong, because I know exactly what needs to happen. I need to take a look at how I’m thinking about whatever it is that’s in front of me and start thinking differently. And that’s like, when I go all in on myself. It’s like okay, let’s just do this and it and it sometimes takes a while for me to come around, like leaving my legal job was a big deal for me, because, you know, golden handcuffs, making very easy, you know, easy money in the sense that you know, it’s coming every two weeks, you’re gonna get a paycheck, but not easy money in the sense of what But I would be giving up in myself and going after what I want. And so when I realized I have that moment where I was, like, if I don’t just make this decision and just go all in, leave my job, like, what’s the worst that can happen, and the worst that could happen for me is that I totally regret not leaving my legal job.
Suzi: I love that. I love that. So I love that you’re, you take that position of going all in, right, and you’re making decisions ahead of time. And that’s something that, you know, Life Coach School really taught me was, you know, we don’t make our decisions about whether or not to have the piece of cake. When the cake is sitting in front of us. Right, we make our weekly, we make our decisions. The day, you know, the day before or the week before, when we’re doing our, you know, are weekly planning is that something that you work with a lot of attorneys on also is sort of, like, I know that, you know, sounds like you do a lot of the mindset work, but what about productivity and and planning ahead? Management?
Dina: Right? I mean, that’s like kind of how I focus a lot of what I talk about, because that attracts a lot of lawyers in and then I kind of sneak in the mindset work. But there is this sense of never enough, I’ve never worked hard enough. I’ve never done enough for my client. And so we really start to get clarity on what enough means. And sometimes that means okay, well, let’s take a look at what you offer in your package. Like, do you want to offer that in your package? Right? And if you’re doing above and beyond that, do you want to be charging for it? And what are your reasons for whatever your decision is, like your reasons, right? Like just kind of off the cuff not charged for whatever it is a phone call a contract, whatever it is, like, know what your decision is ahead of time on that what your policy is, and whether or not you like your reasons for it. And, you know, one of the concepts that we also learned is like, put yourself first on that calendar is if you’re not putting yourself first, you’re not going to have the energy to do what you want to do for the rest of the week for your clients for your family.
Suzi: You know, that’s, that’s so interesting that you mentioned that because I was coaching someone the other day, and we were, you know, I was talking to her about putting her personal time down, like, where’s your mental? Like, where’s your time on your calendar? And she was like, huh, like, you know, she, it was a foreign concept to her, you know, and I was like, really, your cup needs to be full, right? Like, before you can pour what you have into someone else you have to if you are not taking care of your own mental health, like you’re not you’re you can’t help anyone else. So I think that lawyers in particular are so it’s like, they plan the calendar, and then and then if they can, if they can squeeze in, like the yoga session, right? Or, or, you know, whatever it is, it’s the kind of trying to place it where the things already are. Whereas you teach you proactively schedule your personal mental health time.
Dina: Oh, yeah. I mean, when I started doing that for myself, because I did a lot of trial work. Yeah. And if you’re doing trial work, and you’re not taking care of yourself, you’re gonna have a Snickers for lunch, and you’re just going to crash on the couch at the end of the day, like, and then you’re just going to be worrying and ruminating about your case all day long. So when I learned these skills, like I learned some of them intuitively by looking at like, Okay, well, what do I like? I like a little bit of time in my morning, I don’t like to feel rushed. So how do I change that? Like, changed? My bedtime schedule changed when I woke up? But when I incorporated that with like, Okay, what would an amazing day look like while I was in trial? Right, I could do things. This is gonna sound crazy for the people who are like, not morning people. I was not a morning person. I made myself into a morning person and I loved it. So now I’m still a morning person. But like, I wake up at 4am I get dressed. I go to the office. I work on my case, I have my coffee. I just kind of chill, get everything prepped before, you know, I had to go to court go to court the week before I planned all my meals. So I had meals just ready. You know, I could eat something at lunch that was light, trial tummy, you know, and then go in and still focus in the afternoon and then leave the office at a reasonable hour to go to my yoga practice. So I could go home and then have dinner and then go to sleep and not worry about my case and start over the next day. But unless you have that the mindset behind it that I matter that how I feel man matters. And you start treating yourself like you matter. You won’t implement any of the stuff I just said.
Suzi: Okay, that’s so interesting. So let me ask you a lot of the lawyers that you work with do, do they come with that mindset? That they don’t matter?
Dina: Yeah, I mean, they don’t think that out loud. But it shows in your actions, right? Like everything that we have in our life is a reflection of what we think. And so if we don’t have time to ourselves, if we don’t have space to allow ourselves to shine through in our life, somehow, whether it’s through a hobby, or through physical activity, through relationships, where we are asking for what we want, it’s a reflection that we have the thought, we don’t matter. Everybody else matters more than us.
Suzi: Okay, that’s really interesting, because I’ve noticed with myself, like, sometimes I’ve had a hard time asking for what I want, what I want, that was a realization that I’ve kind of had through coaching. And the I think that’s, that’s really fascinating. And I think it’s something attorneys, especially female attorneys really need to, you know, kind of get a, an awareness around whether or not they are having a hard time asking for what they want, right? Or what’s kind of the flip side of that saying no, right? Because we take on things that may be beyond our capacity. I mean, I remember as a young lawyer, not wanting to say no to the work that came across my desk, right? For a lot of reasons, you know, it was just, I wanted to do the work, I wanted to learn, I might want to want to, you know, to work with a particular partner, or, you know, this particular subject matter. And so saying, No, is not something I did, and I’ll never forget, you know, being in the bathroom crying, right? Because you like you’d ever cry, like at your desk, like you go into the bathroom, and you’re just like, you don’t show emotions.
Dina: No emotion.
Suzi: No, no, but you know, my mentor at that point. She did. She, she knew I was really upset. And she, I guess she saw me in the bathroom. And she just like, she was a great mentor. And she asked me, you know, what was going on? And I was like, Well, I think I took on more than I can handle right now. I’m just really overwhelmed. And she’s like, let’s sit down, and look at all your work right now. And we’re going to work through it. And it was it just like, that was a very simple thing. But I’ll tell you what that meant the world to me, like she helped me so much. Just, you know, taking a moment with a young associate, right. And being being aware as an older attorney, that a younger associate might be struggling, I think, is really huge. Because how are we really going to help younger women in law firms, if we aren’t aware of their mental health, right, like what’s going on with them? And just being hyper, I think, vigilant to that is really important.
Dina: Yeah, I mean, that your experience there is great. And it brought to mind a couple things is one, where are we not being a friend to ourselves? Like, where are we not asking ourselves? Like, what’s going on? Like, what do you need right now? And maybe it is just to like, sit down and say, Okay, let’s look at the reality of the situation. Let’s take a look at what my assignments are. Let’s look at the due dates. Okay, let’s just like look at them. Is there any place where I can be delegating? Is there anything that I can say, you know, what, this isn’t something that I can do right now. It’s not something that is able, it’s going to conflict with things that I have going on on the calendar, you know, is there any way that you know, you can reassign this, you know, like, those kinds of things, like just looking at it more mathematically, and also just being kinder to ourselves? Like, just being nice to ourselves, instead of beating ourselves up? I imagine in that situation, you probably felt like, really like, what’s wrong? Like, this is how I would feel I’m gonna put this on you. But in my situations, like, I would feel like what’s wrong with me? Like, why can’t I do this? Like, what, what is like happening here? And that kind of struggle that we have with ourselves, if we’re not acknowledging it, and just saying, hey, what do you need? Like, like you would do a friend, like, hey, Ron, how’s it going? And the other thing that came to mind for me, was when I was a young attorney, there, I didn’t get a lot of that, like someone coming in and saying, like, Hey, how are you doing? You know, it was like, Oh, it was like, way to do your job. If you if you got your guilty verdict, or whatever it was, we joked around about that. It’s like yeah, it’s like, why do you do your job next, let’s go well, you know, and, and if you were in any way, start So out, it almost seemed as if they wanted to, like relegate you to some other. Like, as if you weren’t good enough. You’re like, Well, wait a minute, like, they didn’t have any awareness of the tools that you and I have. And I didn’t have them. But why aren’t we teaching these skills in law school, when we’re dealing with that high stress environment with people who are unaware of their emotions and how they impact their clients, how they impact their workload, and how it impacts the overall stress level of the office? That’s my little rant?
Suzi: No, yeah, I think that I think that would be brilliant. Like, I think it would be brilliant to teach this this type of work, right coaching work, you know, awareness to, to law students, people who are taking the bar, right? People in law firms. So let me let me ask you this, I’d love to talk with you a little bit about your thoughts on decision making, from a place of abundance versus a place of fear. I have a feeling that this is something that you might work with a lot of your clients on? I don’t know, I’m just
Dina: Oh, yeah. I mean, I work on myself with.
Suzi: Yeah, it’s, it’s, I think it’s one of the most like important tenants of coaching, right, is really thinking about, okay, where, where are we making our decisions? Are we making our decisions from a place of like scarcity and fear, right, like, Oh, my, oh, my God, I have to do X, Y, Z, or are we making decisions from a place of abundance? And could you talk a little bit about that? I’d love to hear like, your perspectives on that your thoughts.
Dina: I have a client right now. And she’s, she’s been doing really well. And it comes up every time we hit a threshold, right? There’s like, a new fear. So it’s not as if fear just disappears, and we’re just like, fearless, you know, whatever the commercial is, right? It’s like, have no fear. It’s like, hey, you know, it’s normal. Right? And so the, the first big one that I remember when we came across this decision making was her charging for consults, and she wasn’t charging for consults. In fact, she had a hard time at that stage of her her business with the pricing that she had, like she had tons of clients, though, right. But she had this fear that if she charged for consults, that consults would dry up, they just disappear. And I said, well, like, how are you doing? Like, we went through her financials, we went through, like her calendar, and like, she’s complaining to me that she’s so busy. And I’m like, Well, what does that mean, exactly? It’s like, well, I have a gajillion consults. And we got a number on how many consults she was doing. I said, Well, what’s the worst that could happen? If you charge your hourly rate for a console? And she said, Well, the worst thing that could happen is that everybody stops, you know, booking calls, and I don’t make any money. And I suppose a true that you’re not going to make any money. Like, well, no, I’m still getting my hourly rate. I’m still working, you know, the, the hours I want to work, you know, even if I didn’t have the consoles, I’d still have plenty of work lined up for months in advance. I said, so really, the worst that can happen is that you just decide that you don’t want to charge for consults later. Oh, great. And then when she started charging for consults and didn’t see any lead up from people booking her, she was amazed, she was like, Oh, my goodness, like, I just they just keep booking right? And keep booking. And like, yeah, and then the next thing was because there’s always the next threshold is like, Well, should I raise my rates? Well, if I raise my rates at all dry up, but but you’re complaining to me again, about how busy you are, like we’re looking at numbers, and we’re like, is this true? Are you really going to be losing work? Because it sounds like you have more work than you know what to do with? Right, right?
Suzi: And at that point, it’s a question of, do you want all of this work? Or do you want to make your life easier? Raise your rates, and maybe some of these people drop off who don’t want to pay what you want to do the work for? Right? The people that you might be having a hard time collecting on and that, right, yeah, I think proper client vetting at the outside outset is super, super important. And sometimes that does consist of charging for those consults. Let’s take a quick pause for message from my sponsor, prominent practice.
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Dina: You know, you probably work with your clients on like marketing and like pointing your marketing in a certain direction. And it’s one of those things where yes, you can point your marketing in a certain direction, and you’re always going to attract other people. And I don’t work with just like the lawyers who want to build their practice, like it’s any goal. And I talk a lot about my transition from law to coaching and how I kind of found my way into even the business world from criminal prosecutor to like, starting my own business online and like, all that. And so I do attract people who are they want to start a business like they, they have this passion to do something that’s not law related, like me, and they don’t know how to do it without the stress because that’s what their default is. So I attract people like that, too.
Suzi: That’s fascinating. You know, I think it’s really interesting, too, that you do work with some people who are considering transitioning out of law, or already have perhaps, but, you know, I feel like, attorneys struggle with this whole and maybe it kind of relates to the golden handcuffs, but it’s like, they think that I think there’s maybe that sunk cost fallacy, right? Like, oh, yeah, I spent all this time going through law school and investing in my legal career, right, all this money with law school, and then took the bar and now, um, three to five years in a law practice. And, you know, so many people are, are unhappy and they want to, they look at transitioning out, but they get accustomed to the money or the lifestyle, right? It’s like, you know, oh, all of a sudden, my children are in private school, like, what the heck is happened? But I think the truth is that the skills that we learn, as lawyers are so transferable. So I would love to Okay, first of all, I love that you’re a criminal prosecutor, I think that sounds like like, for me, I’m like, That seems kind of like a sexy area of the law. And I know that you’re probably like, she’s this girl is completely clueless, but I’m like, well, that’s really cool. But I would love for you to tell me a little bit about that. Right? Like how your skills that you’ve acquired over the years as a prosecutor are transitioning into your your venture in coaching, right, something that people would look at as it being Oh, they’re totally different. But I bet there’s a lot more overlap than people realize. So I’d love to I’d love for you to talk a little bit about that.
Dina: Yeah, there is a lot of overlap. And it’s funny that you say like yes criminal law it’s kind of that sexy area of the law it’s just because we see it in the media I mean, I’m sure if they had patent lawyers in like some kind of law show it patent law would be
Suzi: like the employers are the sexiest what I’m telling you right now it’s like there’s they
Dina: put all this drama around legal shows and it but it’s it’s really funny because I came into criminal law and the skills that you learn or how to talk to people how to communicate clearly. Right How to hold somebody’s attention on a jury how to spot legal issues, right? Okay, there’s a there’s an issue I see an issue. And my favorite is how to cross examine how to cross examine, which I do with my clients, but I added how to cross examine with love with love.
Suzi: I absolutely love that. Right, because what we are doing as coaches would be poking holes in people’s stories, right? Because at the end of the day, our lives are just the stories that we tell ourselves, right? Like what is fact and what is just the story. Right but you know, in the wall right like we’re always looking okay, what’s what’s truly effect here? What’s what’s actually just the story right so that that’s, that’s really interesting.
Dina: I think it also helps like As lawyers, we’re all little skeptical, right? Like, we look at somebody’s story, and I’m really skeptical manner like, is that true? Are they really telling me the whole story? We never point that at ourselves. Like, is that true?
Suzi: And that’s actually a beautiful point, because that’s why coaches have coaches. Right? It goes down to what you were saying a minute ago, right? Like we, we get stuck in our own mind, right? We assume that everything is true, when at the end of the day, again, like our experience of the world is just the story that we’re telling ourselves about it.
Dina: Yeah. And of course, our story is 100%. True. Like we’re 100% honest with ourselves all the time, for sure.
Suzi: Curious, who has had the biggest influence on you in your career, either in your when you’re wearing your legal hat or your coaching hat? Or kind of both? Either one? I’m curious.
Dina: Yeah, um, I’m gonna say that probably the person who had the biggest influence on my career and my coaching practice would have been Brooke Castillo.
Suzi: I love it. Hey, Brooke, right. I mean, yeah.
Dina: I mean, like, that’s, that’s why I was so attracted to her. She’s very no nonsense, which I know that you were very no nonsense. Same with me. And she explains things in a way that a lawyer can understand almost mathematical, the way she talks about emotions, which is what helped me connect with my emotions in a way I didn’t know I could. And it also helped me see where in my law practice, I was not implementing some of these tools that she uses, right? Because like, it’s very easy for us to say, oh, their life looks a certain way. And therefore those tools work in that situation. Right? Like, I hear this sometimes with people in business where they have multiple kids, right? They’re like, well, they can start a business because they don’t have kids, they can make a lot of money, because they don’t have kids. And I look at like my coach, she’s got four kids, like small kids, and she’s making multiple, six figures on her way to seven figures, right? Like, I’m like, oh, so it doesn’t have to do with the circumstances, you can take these tools and apply them anywhere.
Suzi: But my circumstances different, Deena right, different. I think it’s amazing. That’s really how you, you’ve kind of taken those teachings and actually applied it to, to how you practice law, right? And how you work with your clients. So what Okay, so you are going to be wrapping up your prosecutor position. Yeah. What’s next? What is next for your career? Is it are we going like hardcore coaching for lawyers? What’s going on?
Dina: Yeah, so I am going to be coaching lawyers full time that is going to be my new, like, passion. And I’m really excited about it. Because, you know, and part of the coaching, right is really living in what you’ve created ahead of time. And it keeps you drawing forward towards it, right? Like, it’s just like pulling at you. And so I’ve really been trying to keep myself in that space of all of that energy is going to now be able to be focused into this passion, where right now it’s, it’s there, like I get to coach clients, I get to think about them, but it’s not in the same luxurious way. As I’m looking forward to.
Suzi: This is going to be exciting. You’re starting the full time coaching in what January? 2022? Yes, yes. Awesome. Yeah. So I have let me ask you this, if you could sit down. Oh, gosh, this is like kind of tying to coaching a little bit out, you know, so, let’s say that you sat down with little Deena like, right after she got out of law school. And you’re like, you know, you’re you’re kind of entering this phase of your life, you’re dealing with a lot of stress. You know, maybe you’re a couple of years away from your breast cancer diagnosis. So that’s not in your head yet. But what would you tell her? What would you tell young Deena in terms of advice and or anything as it relates to sort of her own mental awareness?
Dina: Yeah, I mean, at that point, just to be fully honest with you, I couldn’t have heard heard it. Like, I just could not have heard that message. And the I couldn’t get complex with her like we’re getting in deep right now. But I’d be able to tell her everything’s gonna be okay. You know, like, it’ll be all right, no matter what happens.
Suzi: That’s, that’s interesting because I’ve asked myself this question. And, you know, I’ve wondered, well, what if I would have, like discovered coaching when I was 25? Right? Or, you know, just had different influences in my life at a younger age? And I’m like, you know, like, I don’t know if I would have been ready to hear it. Right. Like, I don’t know if my brain would have accepted it yet. Right? Like, what are you talking about scheduling out my personal like, my, my workout time? First, right? Or my yoga classes? First? Are you kidding me? Are you know? So is? It’s a little bit of a trick question. But that that’s really, that’s interesting. But
Dina: I think that there’s something too, just this message being out there. So someone’s hearing this right now. And they’re not ready to implement what we’re talking about, right? The more you hear this message, and the different ways that you hear it from different people, it starts to trigger different things in our brains. And so we start to really, if we’re not making that connection early on, like, at some point, we will make that connection. We’re not losing time. Like that was a fear. I used to have like, Oh, I’m wasting time I have so only so much time, and I put myself in like this anxious frenzy. But it’s like, no, it’s like, everything happens and unfolds the way it needs to unfold for the particular person. Right? It’s never a waste of time, if you’re enjoying what you’re doing in this moment, and like fully participating in your life.
Suzi: So let me ask you, what is your must there must share strategy for for young lawyers? Oh, my must share strategy piece of advice. Give them like your little nugget?
Dina: Well, the first thing I would tell myself, you know what going back to your other question is like, you know what, be nice to yourself, like treat yourself like your best friend. Like, for instance, okay? If you’re really like in the middle of a project, and you’re feeling, I don’t know, anxious or stressed or overwhelmed, whatever the feeling is, and and you’re just working through it, ask yourself, Do I have like, if a friend asked me for five minutes, would I give it to them right now? And if your answer is yes, just sit with yourself. Just be quiet. Like, I like to close my eyes to close off stimulation. And just feel that emotion in your body. You know, just sit with it. Like, you’ll be okay, no matter what. And just like, talk to yourself, like what do you need right now. And maybe it’s just like having a cup of tea. Maybe it’s like taking a moment just to write down the reality of your day. And like the three most important things that you want to get done today, to keep your mind in track. But like, just ask yourself what you need, you have more answers than you think.
Suzi: Yes, I think it’s so important for us to allow ourselves to trust our intuition. Right? If we’re if we’re feeling tired, right, or suddenly feeling scattered, taking a few moments, like really just kind of feeling that right and asking ourselves, what is it we need? I think it’s really interesting how we, a lot of us treat ourselves so terribly, right. And we’d like negative self talk. And, you know, ask yourself, would I talked to a friend this way? Right? Or like you said, what, I would give a friend five minutes if they needed me if they need a few minutes, you know, right. So, so, I think that’s such a beautiful nugget there. You know, treat yourself as yourself like, what I treat my best friend this way, because at the end of the day, like we’re our we’re our own best friend. We should be reaching me, right. Sounds good. Sounds good. So listen, I want to be respectful of your time. And I just want to thank you so much again for hanging out with me and being like so in the mood for legally blissed that you put in your Buddha and your candles, I think. So tell people, Dina where people can find you. What’s the best path? Get out there?
Dina: Well, my favorite ways are the podcast and love doing that every week, the better lawyer podcast and then I am on Instagram a lot@dina.ca Aldo and it’s sounds like it’s spelled d i n a cat all do like the shoe. But yeah, that is where I share like everything and there’s it’s just like having an extra blog or extra video for you like yeah, great during the day to keep you inspired.
Suzi: I love it. I love it. Thank you again for hanging out with me Dina.
Dina: Thanks this has been a lot of fun. Thanks so much for having me. Thank you my friend
Suzi: thank you so much for hanging out with us today on legally bliss conversations. If you love this episode, and you want to hang out with other inspiring and light gold female attorneys, be sure to join the legally bliss community at legally blessed.com And be sure to follow me on Instagram at Suzan Hixon. See you next time.
Rewire Your Brain, Find Yourself and Be a Better Lawyer with Dina Cataldo
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