Retrain Your Brain & Show Up Like a Badass
Maddison Koper knew she was going to be a lawyer at 13.
She wanted a job where she could talk a lot, dress cute, and help people.
(These are still in her top priorities today, which we love 😉💁♀️).
Setting her sights on being a lawyer was a pretty big deal.
Maddison grew up in a family with a lot of siblings and not a lot of money. No one in her family had ever graduated from college. Most people never left her small town in Texas.
But Maddison was determined to have a different life.
She was determined to break the generational cycles her family had been stuck in, and she wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer.
People would say, “Oh that’s cute you want to be a lawyer.”
Her response was, “No, I don’t want to be a lawyer, I’m GOING to be a lawyer.”
Maddison got her undergrad in 3 ½ years in history and political science. She moved to Arizona to be closer to her boyfriend (who’s now her husband). She got a job at a corporate law firm, and kept taking all the right steps until she finally enrolled in law school at Arizona State.
During her 2L year, she decided she wanted to stray from the beaten path and combine lawyering with life coaching. She took a law and psychology class her next semester, worked with a JD psychologist, and wrote a paper centered on lawyer well-being.
All of this only made her more convinced this was the direction she was meant to take.
So she started reaching out to lawyers around the country to ask if there was a market for what she wanted to do. The overwhelming response was, “Yes!”
Despite having outside encouragement, it was difficult for Maddison to find support from career services, but she didn’t let it deter her. She reached out to multiple outside sources for mentorship and support.
Eventually she graduated and started her own firm, Sunshine Law Firm, and coaching business, Life Coach Lawyer.
Today, she practices law holistically, which means she approaches the legal solution with the clients’ wellbeing first and foremost, but also the lawyer's wellbeing. The feedback from clients has been overwhelming that people are relieved and happy and confident
I asked Maddison how she teaches confidence as a coach. Here’s what she said:
Decide Who You Want to Be
First and foremost, it comes down to “Who are you?” and “Who do you want to show up in the world as?”
From there, you eliminate the space between who you think you are right now and who you want to be. Eliminate that as much as possible. Get rid of all those little blockages that are lies you’ve been told or told yourself.
Start with small habits around how you wake up, go to bed, eat, exercise, communicate… all of it. Build those little skill sets.
Retrain Your Brain
One little tangible tool I teach frequently is to look in the mirror or look at a photo and only say things you like about yourself. It’s so easy to look at a picture and see everything you don’t like. This is what you’ve trained your brain to do.
We do this in the law too. We don’t even notice we’re doing it before we’ve gone down the hill of critiquing the entire thing. Start small and start retraining your mind to find things you like and value in yourself.
Practice Active Comparison
Another exercise I love to do is active comparison. Especially in today’s age with social media, people compare themselves all the time. Typically, they’re comparing themselves to the best of the best. Some of it’s probably fake.
Instead, look at the other end of the scale. There are people at the other end who don’t have as much as you. You are living someone else’s dream. You have a lot that someone else doesn’t have. You just need to be grateful for those things and build that gratitude practice, which is ultimately what creates goodness.
This was such a fun conversation with Maddison. She is an absolute powerhouse to the core and exemplifies so many of the qualities and values we love.
Here’s where you can find Maddison:
Website: lifecoachlawyer.net
LinkedIn: Maddison Koper
Instagram: @queenkopes
