Confidence under pressure

Why even capable lawyers second-guess themselves – and what helps

Why it feels so hard

From the outside, many lawyers look calm under pressure.

They keep going. They meet the deadline. They answer the email. They hold the meeting. They produce the work. They sound measured. They appear capable.

What often goes unseen is everything happening underneath that surface.

The overthinking. The tightening in the body. The mental replaying. The fear of missing something. The worry that this will be the moment they get something wrong, say the wrong thing, let someone down, or finally get found out as less capable than they appear.

That second-guessing is more common than many people realise.

And it does not only affect junior lawyers. Highly capable, conscientious and successful legal professionals can struggle with it too.

Why pressure chips away at confidence

Pressure has a way of distorting how we see ourselves.

In legal work, the stakes can feel high. There is responsibility, scrutiny, urgency and expectation. Accuracy matters. Judgement matters. Deadlines matter. Reputation matters. There can also be pressure to look composed and in control at all times.

When you are working in that kind of environment, it is not surprising that pressure can start to chip away at confidence.

Many legal professionals are not lacking in ability. They are overloaded, tired, hyper-alert and carrying more than is obvious. Those are not the same thing.

The trouble is that under pressure, people often interpret the moments when they start to doubt themselves as proof of inadequacy. They think:

Why am I finding this so hard?
Why can’t I think clearly?
Why am I doubting myself?
I should be better at this by now.

But pressure does not just test performance. It affects the body and mind directly. It narrows thinking. It heightens threat perception. It makes everything feel more urgent and more personal. It pushes people towards over-checking, overthinking and trying to achieve impossible certainty.

Why this is so common in law

That is particularly hard in legal culture, where caution is often rewarded and mistakes can feel costly.

That is where second-guessing grows.

You reread the email one more time.
Then once more.
You delay replying because you want to be sure.
You tell yourself you need just a bit more time before speaking up.
You lose confidence in judgements you would probably make easily on a better day.

Over time, this is exhausting. It can make even small decisions feel disproportionately difficult. It can make you feel isolated, because everyone else looks as though they are coping better than you. It can also make you forget something important: feeling under pressure is not the same as being incapable.

Because once you stop treating every moment you feel unsteady as evidence that something is wrong with you, you can start responding more helpfully in the moment.

What helps in the moment?

One of the first things that helps is to come back into your body.

Pressure is not just mental. It is physical. Often before you have even consciously named what is happening, your shoulders are tight, your breathing is shallow and your whole system is braced. You are trying to think your way out of a state your body is still locked into.

So start here.

Put both feet on the floor.
Drop your shoulders.
Take a slower breath out than in.
Do that a few times.

It sounds small, but it helps interrupt the sense of threat enough for clearer thinking to return.

The second thing is to separate facts from fear.

Ask yourself: what is actually happening here, and what am I adding to it?

Not what might happen in the worst case. Not what this means about you as a person. Not what you are afraid someone else is thinking.

What is the actual issue in front of you right now?

Then narrow the focus further.

Ask: what do I know, what do I need, and what is the next step?

Not the whole week. Not the whole matter. Not everything that could possibly go wrong.

The next step.

Pressure makes everything feel bigger. Breaking it down helps return you to something workable.

It can also help to reality-check with one trusted person. Not five. One. Sometimes pressure creates such a loud internal narrative that you need a steadier voice outside your own head. A quick sense-check can stop a spiral before it builds speed.

And perhaps most importantly, notice the standard you are holding yourself to in that moment.

Are you trying to be careful, or are you demanding perfection?
Are you taking responsibility, or are you assuming you must hold everything alone?
Are you preparing well, or are you chasing certainty that simply does not exist?

Confidence under pressure is not perfection

Confidence under pressure does not mean never feeling stressed, unsure or stretched. It does not mean performing calmness perfectly. It means knowing how to steady yourself when pressure starts to pull you away from your own clarity.

Not overnight. Not by pretending everything is fine. But by noticing what pressure does to you, understanding that it is a human response rather than a personal failing, and having a few practical ways to come back to yourself.

Even very capable people can feel unsteady under pressure.
Especially in environments that demand a lot.

The aim is not to never feel unsteady.
It is to start to doubt yourself less often, recover more quickly and stop mistaking pressure for proof that you are not good enough.

Because often, the issue is not that you are incapable.

It is that you have been carrying a great deal for a long time, and your confidence needs support, not criticism.

Portrait of a young woman with long black hair. Tricia Gudka

More about the author

Trisha Gudka is a wellbeing coach and facilitator, and a former lawyer. She helps professionals feel calmer, clearer and more confident under pressure through practical, grounded tools that support communication, emotional resilience and everyday wellbeing. Her work is informed by both her background in law and her own lived experience of navigating difficult periods of mental health. Find out more on Trisha’s website or get in touch via LinkedIn.

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