Living and working according to purpose

Having a sense of purpose can go a long way in ensuring happiness in the workplace and creating a positive flow-on effect when it comes to career longevity.

Henry Carus recently celebrated his 40th anniversary as a practising lawyer. Recently, in conversation with HR Leader’s sister brand, Lawyers Weekly, he reflected on some of the most pertinent lessons he’s learnt as a business owner and practitioner.

Speaking on The Lawyers Weekly Show, Henry Carus + Associates principal Henry Carus mused about the “many, many moments” where he has felt that a career in law is too challenging, or difficult, or that his relationship with the profession wasn’t working.

However, he added, if people can have a perspective in which they see past those moments, they “can really enjoy the practice of law over a longer period of time”.

“Nothing is always easy every day. There are some dark days, there are some difficult days, but if you keep yourself personally happy, they will pass,” he said.
Part of this, he explained, is building a culture and practice centred on respect, reducing the capacity for dispute and dysfunction.

In his practice area – personal injury – it is important to avoid the anxiety, anger, and frustration that can emerge, Mr Carus said, noting that he, as firm principal, takes the lead in combating it.

“We try not to have that in our firm; we try to minimise those kinds of disputes as fast as possible because they are very destructive to the overall firm atmosphere.

“If I see an unpleasant email from a client, I’m all over it. I see an unfriendly letter from an opponent, I’m all over it. There’s no way that I’m going to allow that kind of mentality to come into my firm,” he submitted.

“Our goal is to make everyone else’s life as easy as possible. If there’s a dispute, how do we resolve it? If there’s a concession we have to make, that’s fine. If there’s a compromise we have to make, that’s fine. It’s about trying to make everything as peaceful as possible so people can lead their balanced, easy life.”

This kind of approach isn’t unique to those operating in personal injury law, Mr Carus went on, noting that it requires a mindset shift.

“What is your goal? If it’s self-centred, you’re likely to generate a lot more dispute and a lot more antagonism. If it’s an awareness of the interest of others and an opportunity to see where the ground lies, to find a compromise or an agreement that addresses the interest of others and yours at the same time, then life can be easy.”

When it comes to staying on track with such a professional mindset, it is critical to dedicate time and energy to one’s own personal development, Mr Carus outlined.

“I have a whole system that I follow each day: it includes a gratitude book, a personal reflection diary, books on sayings from gifted people, whether they be religious or non-religious. And I go through this pattern, and it can take me a good half hour each morning, where I take my time just to reflect on, why am I here? What is the purpose of my existence? That helps me each and every day to manage.

“And then, at the end of the day, again, I go back to the same books for reflection on what was so beautiful about that day, what I’m grateful for, how can I make it better.”

“My belief pattern is that nothing is achieved in one day. Every day is just an opportunity to grow. And so each and every day just builds on the last day and then the last day and the last day,” Mr Carus said.

If people have a focused mind about what they’re trying to achieve, he argued, then they will be accomplished.

“What I’m noticing, though, is the large majority of people are constantly in a state of destruction, whether it’s by way of their mobile phone or mass media or something else, and they’re not really giving a lot of attention to themselves.

“So, I try to explain it this way: I give a lot of attention to myself, both my mental health and my physical health because, if I’m performing at a really high level, I can help everyone else. If I’m not performing at a high level, I can’t help anyone,” he advised.

Ultimately, Mr Carus said, law is a profession whose role within the community is “super special”.

“We are the difference between having a totally unstructured environment and one that is so-called civilised,” he said.

“You can resolve your disputes peacefully. You can rely on certain structures remaining from day in, day out. You can trust others because there’s an underlying fabric of community because based on laws, regulations and rules, those are all really helpful to create the structure, to build the community.”

But to get one step above that, Mr Carus continued, you must create a place that you really want to live in.

“That’s really where people’s minds need to be: to create trust with each other, so that we’re happy to do business with each other. [One in which] we trust the person, we trust the person’s word, we trust the person’s integrity and ethics. And the more you display that, the more you invite others to join you there,” he said.

This article was originally featured in Lawyers Weekly.