Edward Ngo is a wills and estates lawyer at KMK Law and a director with the Global Lawyers of Canada. In the era of social media - where we are able to watch others develop and grow in their personal and professional lives - the constant comparison subjects us to a sense of restlessness and anxiety. 

In Edward’s view, anxiety started with the LSAT. When you realize that you are not the only smart person in the room. For perhaps the first time, you will experience the feeling that you should be doing more - the need to go above and beyond. This is normal. And this is called anxiety.

During his law school years in the UK, Edward developed 3 approaches to managing his anxiety:

(1) Create timelines. And keep in mind that everyone moves at their own pace.

(2) Be methodical. Use a pen and paper. Because the act of writing it down physically makes it easier to visualize your goal and stick to your vision.

(3) Keep it simple. When you have a lot of things happening all at once, describing things in everyday language will help keep you from losing sight of the task at hand, and will help you correlate those tasks to your life.

Lastly, if Edward could go back and record a message to himself before he started law school, he would say: “You’re on your way and if you follow your instincts, you will get to where you want to be.”