Money, kudos… a shortage of jobs; a recipe for ruthless ambition and competition. So why bother if you’re not competitive enough?

A worried potential lawyer posed this problem to Bitter Lawyer:

After reading your website and working as an intern … I’m questioning my decision to attend law school.

It seems that lawyers have to be very competitive… People on your website worry about grades [here], facial hair [here], hairstyles [here], tattoos [here]—all just to get ahead of their peers. (extrinsic motivation)

More>

The obvious point first – someone entering the inherently competitive arena of law with the burden of such doubt may already be at a huge disadvantage. But there is a flip side – as BL points out, if she ensures the objective criteria are met (grades, work experience, billable hours etc) she will probably get where she needs to be. In doing so she can choose her own goals along the way which don’t have to amount to competing with peers at every juncture.

Keeping an eye on the woods and avoiding the distraction of individual trees, so to speak, could even be a solid long-term strategy.