In 2017 The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change was published by the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being. The report has become the catalyst for efforts to improve the well-being of lawyers nationwide and here in Idaho.
What Is Attorney Well-Being?
The meaning of “well-being” is:
Maintaining well-being is part of lawyers’ ethical duty of competence. It calls for healthy, positive choices to assure that lawyers can be their best for their clients, families, organizations, and communities. Further, to be their best, lawyers depend on a large number of important contributors who are not lawyers. Therefore, well-being across the legal profession is an important goal.
The Task Force’s definition of well-being is not defined solely as an absence of dysfunction; nor is it limited to feeling “happy.” Full well-being is multi-dimensional and requires things like connection, belonging, continual growth, and aligning our lives with our values. It requires that we take care of all aspects of our lives.[1]
[1] Institute For Well-Being In Law, The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change(August 15, 2017), https://lawyerwellbeing.net/the-report/
The Idaho State Bar Attorney Well-Being Task Force invites you to celebrate Lawyer Well-Being Week, May 4th through May 8th, 2026. Join other members of the profession, the courts and support staff by participating in these free remote-friendly activities.
We will focus on a different aspect of well-being Monday through Friday. Every day you will have at least three different suggestions for activities and education. This “well- rounded” wheel shows the well-being emphasis for each day of the week. There is something for everyone!
For those looking to make long term changes to their well-being, we recommend that you try the 31 Day Mental Health Challenge. There are some impactful activities that can start any time of year!
2026 Theme: Tending Joy
This year’s overall theme is Tending Joy.
Joy Helps Us Thrive, Not Just Survive
Tending joy doesn’t mean minimizing real challenges — it means equipping ourselves to face them. Research shows that positive emotions like joy are functional psychological mechanisms that broaden our thinking, build durable personal resources, and create upward spirals toward greater well-being. Positive emotions like joy help repair the physiological effects of stress, accelerate cardiovascular recovery, and expand our capacity to solve problems and connect with others.
Joy Strengthens Every Season — Especially the Difficult Ones
We sometimes associate positive emotions with good times only. However, resilient people don’t just recover from adversity faster — they experience genuine positive emotions during difficult periods, alongside their stress and grief. This isn’t denial; it’s a core mechanism of how humans navigate hardship. Positive emotions during tough seasons:
- Broaden our thinking, helping us see options and possibilities we miss under stress
- Build lasting resources — stronger relationships, deeper self-knowledge, greater confidence — that sustain us over time
- Undo the narrowing physiological effects of stress, returning our minds and bodies to a state of flexibility
- Fuel upward spirals where better coping generates further positive emotion, which generates better coping still
Joy Improves Workplaces
The benefits of positive emotions extend well beyond individual well-being.
Organizational psychology research consistently links positive emotions at work to stronger performance, greater creativity, and more effective collaboration. Positive emotions increase engagement, bolster self-efficacy, and predict organizational citizenship behaviors — the discretionary acts of helpfulness and collegiality that hold teams together. In legal workplaces, where collaboration and trust are the backbone of effective practice, tending joy isn’t just personal — it’s professional infrastructure.
Tending Joy Is a Practice, Not a Personality Trait
Joy can be cultivated through intentional action. The most effective approaches combine multiple pathways rather than relying on any single habit.
WWIL 2026 encourages you to actively tend your joy this week — not by ignoring what’s hard, but by making room for what’s good alongside it. Try a well-being experiment focused on joy. Notice what already brings you, and others, energy and do more of it.
How can we connect Physical Well-Being to this year’s Tending Joy theme? We recommend that you Take an Awe Walk and Try a Fun, New Physical Activity.
SPARKS OF JOY NUDGE #1
Take An Awe Walk
Negative thoughts and feelings abound for many of us right now—due to events in the world and challenges of everyday life. Although negative emotions can be functional and are crucial for self-preservation, they can make us more focused on our own survival and less attuned to those around us. The experience of awe counteracts these self-focused tendencies and motivates empathy and compassion. When we experience awe, our focus shifts outward. Awe expands our awareness, fosters curiosity, and strengthens our sense of connection to others—which can boost joy and fuels resilience.
Try getting outside today with a plan to cultivate awe. You can follow the instructions in the Awe Walk Activity Guide. Read more about the benefits of awe in the Psychology Today article How Awe Helps Us Heal in Times of Crisis. A similar alternative to try is a Photo Walk, which can cultivate mindfulness and meaningfulness.
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Try A Fun, New Physical Activity
Try a fun, new physical activity today that floods your body with feel-good neurotransmitters. All kinds of physical activity boost mood and vitality. When we do it regularly, it can prevent and improve symptoms of depression and anxiety and can boost memory, attention, learning, and cognitive processing. To sprinkle more joy into your activities, pick something you enjoy, that’s challenging and helps you grow, and builds connection with others.
How can we connect Spiritual Well-Being to this year’s Tending Joy theme? We recommend that you Live Today In Gratitude and Service to recognize and share the presence of the Divine and Spread Joy Through Acts of Kindness.
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Live Today In Gratitude and Service
The experience of joy has been described as a “sign of the presence of God.” Today, we recommend that you cultivate the joyful presence of the Divine/Spirit/Creator/God in everyday experiences. Look for ways to be grateful and of service to others and to recognize joy in ordinary moments:
- Give wherever you go—including your time, attention, appreciation, advice, talents, and patience.
- Before every meeting, say to yourself: May my words and actions be for the benefit of those who are here.
- Silently wish everyone you encounter happiness, joy, and laughter.
- Say 100 “thank yous” today. Thank others for their contributions and mindfully note all for which you’re grateful (e.g., my family, partner, health, home, job, food).
- Jot down simple, everyday things that strike you as beautiful, funny, or intriguing. Joy and gratitude often can be found in ordinary moments if we don’t let them just pass us by.
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Spread Joy Through Acts of Kindness
Spread joy by doing five new things that positively impact or improve the welfare of work colleagues, clients, family, or friends. Choose things outside your normal routine. Also do them in a burst of benevolence all in one day—which research says is the best way to boost your own joy and sense of meaningfulness. Writing down your helpful activities and reflecting on them can help too.
For some ideas, check out the Acts of Kindness Activity Guide.
How can we connect Career & Intellectual Well-Being to this year’s Tending Joy theme? We recommend that you Rediscover Joy At Work and Turn Off The TV & Turn Up Personal Growth.
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Rediscover Joy At Work
This well-being dimension encourages us to seek personal satisfaction, continuous learning and growth in our professional and personal lives, and financial stability. It reminds us to engage in creative or intellectually challenging activities that foster ongoing development and to monitor our cognitive wellness.
Take a few minutes to read the short articles Rediscover Joy at Work and How the Busiest People Find Joy, then create a plan.
- How can you build strengths into your day? (You can use the Strengths Alignment Worksheet for guidance.)
- What steps can you take to focus on your
professional growth? - How might you strengthen bonds with your colleagues?What memorable shared experiences can you create?
- What nonwork activities light you up that you can put on your calendar to make sure they happen?
- What new work and nonwork activities can you try to continue to experience life as fresh and exciting?
SPARKS OF JOY NUDGE #2
Turn Off The TV & Turn Up Your Personal Growth
For just today, curb or eliminate TV-watching–the leisure activity that occupies the most time for the average American (about 3 hours per day). In that time slot, do something you enjoy (alone or with others) that helps you grow intellectually, interpersonally, or creatively. Such mini experiments might give us the insight and inspiration needed to begin to make new, healthier choices about how to invest our nonwork time in ways that bring us more joy.
Ideas: Read a (nonwork) book or magazine. Read to your kids. Paint, draw, sculpt, cook, or bake. Film a fun family video. Go for a photography awe walk. Plant something. Play a musical instrument. Go to a local lecture. Research a new culture. Plan a road trip or vacation. Make a list of 100 (nonwork) things that make you happy. Write a handwritten card or letter to someone.
How can we connect Social Well-Being to this year’s Tending Joy theme? We recommend that you Design a Joyful Gathering with colleagues, clients, friends, or family and Strengthen Your Connection to Meaningful Groups.
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Design a Joyful Gathering
Fun, meaningful social gatherings generate joy and a sense of belonging when designed well. Planning a gathering
can be challenging for busy professionals. But the payoff is worth it. Joyful social gatherings help develop high-quality connections, which combat loneliness, fuel psychological well-being, strengthen workplace culture, and enhance overall performance.
For planning ideas for your gathering, check out these two short guides: 6 Ideas For Meaningful Work Gatherings and 10 Tips For Meaningful Work Gatherings.
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Strengthen Your Connection to Meaningful Groups
Take steps today to explore how to strengthen your connection to meaningful groups—inside or outside the workplace. To help you get started, we’ve created a free activity guide, 5 Steps to Connect with Groups to Boost Well-Being. Consider recruiting a group of colleagues or friends to do the activity together and share information about possible groups to join.
How can we connect Emotional Well-Being to this year’s Tending Joy theme? We recommend that you Spark Joy By Balancing Novelty & Predictability and Practicing Joy & Other Positive Emotions.
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Spark Joy Through Novelty
Feeling stretched and surprised by new things is energizing. Research suggests that novelty is as important to our vitality and mental health as more well-known psychological needs like belonging, competence, and autonomy.
To foster joy in novelty, Dr. Todd Kashdan recommends that we “[g]enerate a plan for breaking free from the same activities, conversation topics, information sources, and perspectives. Spend more time exploring uncertain terrain and doing something unpredictable. What are you going to do differently today? How are you going to respond to people differently today?”
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Spark Joy Through Predictability & Structure
To foster joy in predictability and structure, consider designing a new social ritual—which is simply an activity that you do repetitively with others that has symbolic meaning to you all (Garcia-Rada et al., 2019). Social rituals amplify enjoyment, bolster positive emotions, increase a sense of control, create a sense of belonging, and enhance relationship satisfaction (Berinato, 2020; Gino & Norton, 2013; Sezer et al., 2016). The predictability and structure of rituals are important ingredients for enhancing positive emotions and meaningfulness.