Introduction

As I near the end of my third year of university, I’ve started to think about what comes next. My plan is nothing new: go to law school and get a good job. But does it really have to be this way?

Since many WIB members are interested in the legal field, I wanted to share a fresh perspective by interviewing someone who has lived it firsthand.

The person who immediately came to mind: Aman Costigan, a former law firm partner turned entrepreneur. I was inspired by Aman when she shared her journey during last year’s Unconventional Journey to Success workshop, where she and four other accomplished professionals shared their unique stories and career paths.

Not only is Aman a lawyer, she is a lawyer and… Something that kept coming up in our conversation was the unique perspective of being a multi-passionate person. On top of being a partner in law, Aman is a yoga instructor, an entrepreneur, a wife, a mother… and now a life strategist. I knew she would be the perfect person to speak with about finding the right path for maximum happiness and fulfillment.

I recently sat down with Aman, where she shared all of her life lessons and bite sized pieces of wisdom that were so good, I’m surprised she hasn’t trademarked them yet. Here’s what I learned:

Life isn’t just about ticking things off a checklist.

Reflecting on her educational journey, Aman was ahead of the game when it came to creating vision boards and imagining the life she wanted. “To keep my mind focused, I had a vision board of being a lawyer and the LSAT score I wanted to get. I was big on really anchoring my brain to where I wanted to be.”

After receiving her BA, Aman followed the traditional path for success–attending law school, articling at a prestigious firm, and ultimately becoming a partner. Yet, after checking every box, Aman found herself asking, What’s next?

“It was always about chasing the next thing,” she reflected. So, how do you make sure you’re still on the right path when everything on the list is completed?

At this point, according to society, Aman had ‘made it’ in life. It wasn’t like getting to that point came without challenges: whether it was changing her major from dentistry to criminology, retaking the LSAT three times, or finding an articling job in a new city, each ‘box’ came with its own set of difficulties to overcome. Becoming a partner is a significant lifetime milestone that doesn’t come without significant sacrifice:

“I really grinded and worked hard–and to do that, I had to let go of a lot of my hobbies, interests, and relationships. I didn't go to one of my friends' weddings. I just really focused on work because I ‘didn't have time.’”

At the time Aman was offered partnership, she was one of the youngest people to receive the honour–and with that, the checklist was complete:

Get an undergraduate degree.
Go to law school.
Get a good paying job.
Work downtown, in a nice office.
Become partner.

“It was like I was living somebody else’s life–I had been completing society’s checklist. Nobody gives you the checklist after you've done it up to a certain point.”

Making partner is obviously a pivotal moment for career success, but for Aman, it was also a wakeup call to start reintegrating things back into her life and figure out who she was. This period of reflection led her to start teaching yoga to lawyers and starting vision board workshops for lawyers, spanning all across North America and the UK.

“It was crazy, the things that I was able to create.”

One phrase I loved so much (to the point where I think Aman should trademark it!) is Aman’s idea of being a lawyer and–being multi-passionate. She explains it as, “I don't just have to have one career and be there forever. I can build on other things and that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that, and there's nothing wrong with me.”

In April 2024, Aman made the biggest change: she left the firm. In July, Aman “resurfaced” as a life strategist for couples–helping them create intentional lives together.

So, when there’s no more checkboxes to tick on society’s prescribed path, how did Aman make sure she was on the right path? For Aman, the answer lies in regular self-reflection.

Schedule quarterly check-ins with yourself.

Aman’s answer is to schedule quarterly check-ins with yourself. Re-evaluate the path you’re on and reflect on whether the life you’re building aligns with your long-term goals. In her case, Aman would ask:

● Do I enjoy being a lawyer?

● Do I still want to be a lawyer?

● Do I still want to live where I'm living?

“Some of us just live in the same place we've always lived and don't really think twice about it. But why do you live there? Do you still want to live there? Does it still align with the life that you want to be leading? A lot of us don't even think about it. And 35 years goes by for people, and they're like, I don't know why I live here. I don't even like this place.”

Aman uses these check-ins to “plan life with intention by slowing down, pausing, and re-deciding.”

“It’s about living your life on purpose,” she explained, “so you’re visioning your life instead of the outside world imposing it on you. If you don’t take the time to pause and think, ‘Is this what I want?’ you’ll just absorb what you see–on social media, from your friends, from your family–and you’ll never really think for yourself.”

She also pointed out that it’s okay to get it wrong. “You could figure out wrong and then you try it, and then you realize, ‘Oh, I romanticized that idea, and actually, I don’t want to do that thing—I want to do this other thing.’ And so you try that, and then you figure it out. It builds upon itself.”

Change is scary. I thought, maybe I will check-in with myself and not like the path I’m on, but how scary is it to admit that I need to change my current life path? Where would I even start?

Listen to yourself.

In response to this, Aman said to start by giving these thoughts space. First, ground your idea by writing it down–keeping a journal, per say. Next, carve out time to hear your own thoughts, and create space for these thoughts to arise without shoving them down. For Aman, this was going to weekly yoga, which gave the thought of leaving her job in law some space. This way, you don’t have to take immediate action, but you can cement and ground the idea.

Then, tell someone you trust, and then start telling more people–plant the seed for change. Finally, surround yourself with people who are doing what you want to be doing.

“I flood my feed. I flood my socials. I flood my ears. I flood my virtual space. I flood my physical space with these people. Whatever it is, I flood myself with it.”

Why?

“A lot of people in our immediate circles are people who want to keep us safe and small. And that's not what we need when we want to grow. We can still have these people in our lives, but you've got to have the other people. Otherwise, you'll take no action.”

You are the creator of your own life.

“Could I have just been a lawyer and been a partner at a firm? Yeah, absolutely. But I would have been miserable. But, there's lots of people who are miserable and they don't do anything about it. I'm not going to be that person who just sits there and complains about life. I want to make changes. I want to do something with my life, on my terms.”

Before making significant decisions, though, Aman advises immersing yourself in the environment you’re considering. Shadow someone in the field, take a part-time job, or simply have conversations with people who have walked that path. Understanding the realities of a role or career can help you decide if it aligns with your values and lifestyle. As Aman points out, “Most people are willing to share their experiences–don’t be afraid to reach out and ask.”

Never stop investing in yourself.

After graduating from university, it’s easy to step away from learning. However, keeping a growth mindset is integral for more than just learning–in Aman’s case, continual learning after graduation led to key connections, opportunities, and even potential collaborations.

By joining Masterminds–a group of likeminded people with common interests, such as female entrepreneurs–Aman was able to start the ball rolling on the changes she wanted to make. Surrounded by other successful women, Masterminds was a way to find role-models (people who have done what you want to do), and set accountability for herself.

When Aman started her first business, Beyond Yoga for Lawyers, her first client was a Mastermind connection: forcing her to just start teaching, instead of waiting to build a website, a logo, or find a venue.

Plus, learning doesn’t have to be serious or career-focused all the time. It’s important to challenge yourself to try new things, big or small:

“Investing in things outside of education in non-traditional ways doesn’t have to be anything crazy or expensive. I do ceramics classes, pottery classes, and dance classes.”

These experiences often provide clarity and a sense of purpose that formal education alone may not.

Change your mindset.

“We have 60,000 thoughts, on average, per day, and about 80% of them are repetitive. If you're caught in this thought-like loop cycle, like you've got to do something to get out. Otherwise, you'll just stay in it.”

Find people to guide you along your journey.

Change is hard. It’s even harder when you do it alone. Aman recommends finding mentors, coaches, or even inspirational podcasts to provide guidance. Some of her mentors and guides include:

● Lawyer Coach

● Mindset Coaching, through Brooke Castillo’s The Life Coach School Podcast ● Business Coach in Entrepreneurship

● Planning Workshops

● Retreats, and,

● Yoga Teachers

Your picture of success will evolve.

Early on in her career, it was easy to prioritize success from an external perspective: how successful do you look to others?

“When you work in a downtown office in a city, you wear fancy suits and clothes, have designer bags, and drive a luxury vehicle. I did all of those things. I worked really hard to be available for everybody, all the time, at my own expense. That made me successful, but not without costs.”

So how did she shift this version of herself? It all goes back to visioning the life you want to be living. By shifting her perspective to focus on her own happiness and well being, Aman’s picture of success also changed.

What does success look like to her now? Here are a few examples Aman mentioned:

● Time freedom.

○ “I get to decide on a sunny beautiful day to take advantage of the sunshine. I can go kayaking and paddle boarding. Whereas before, I [thought] I had to be available 24/7.”

● Slow travel.

○ “We used to go to San Diego or Palm Springs on Friday at 4: 30, and then we’d come back on Sunday on the midnight flight, and then we'll be back in the office for Monday morning. Now, we don’t have to do that.”

● Creating your own picture of success.

○ “My husband and I didn’t leave the legal field because we had some sort of crazy breakdown–that’s so far from the truth. We planned for this. We knew a long time ago that we wanted to live a different life [than what we saw around us], and we just set ourselves up financially, had the discussions, talked about it, kept talking about that vision, and continuing to believe the life we’re living is fantastic, if that’s what we want. Other people don’t have to understand, and that’s okay. I can let other people be wrong about me.”

As you move through life, your definition of success will keep changing. What will success look like for Aman in the future?

● Going international:

○ “I will be leading couples retreats in-person and internationally in 2026.”

○ “I aspire to be an international speaker on creating a life by design, not by default, with your partner.”

● “I aspire to be featured in Forbes and have one of the best relationship podcasts.”

Find discipline in self-love.

You know yourself and your goals best–so be aware of how your behaviour is either leading you towards or away from your envisioned life. Become an observer of your own thoughts, and you can recognize patterns, like procrastination or limiting beliefs.

"Be onto yourself," Aman says, whether it's about prioritizing Netflix over studying, or skipping out on something you said you would do. “Self-love is all about having your own back.”

Respect your body and your mind, and they will guide you towards self-growth.

Conclusion

After I first heard Aman speak at last year’s workshop, I thought I was inspired, but after learning about her life lessons, I think the right word would be awe-struck.

Most careers have an outlined path: go to school, get a job, work your way up. Aman’s story reminds us that it’s okay to re-evaluate this path, whatever stage you may be in, and pivot onto a different road if it no longer aligns with your long term goals. Your picture of success is allowed to grow and change as you move throughout life–so it’s okay to try new things, make mistakes, and change course, however far along in your journey you may be.

So, continue to reflect on your life, be honest with yourself, and don’t let the fear of change stop you. You just might end up on exactly the right path.

Beyond the Blog

A place to find hyper-specific media recommendations, focused on highlighting our favourite female-centric books and music.

Here are Aman’s recommendations!

Books

Your Time to Rise: Unlearn Limiting Beliefs, Unlock Your Power and Unleash Your Truest Self by Arivee Vargas
- “Written by one of my friends that I met through MasterMind! She’s a mom of three, and was a lawyer, and now she’s essentially an executive coach for women and she wrote this book!”
Lean Out: A Professional Woman’s Guide to Finding Authentic Work Life Balance by Dr. Dawn Baker (my friend)
- “I was big into personal finance when I had my student loans right out of law school. I also bought a Mercedes–because lifestyle creep is real. I went to FinCon just before the pandemic and I met this doctor who was married to a lawyer. She was big on leaning out, instead of Sandberg's Lean In.
- “Essentially, leaning out is about creating a life by design and being intentional with your choices.”
Ask Your Guides: Connecting to your Divine Support System by Sonia Choquette
- “I loved this but because of its spiritual component. We have a logical mind, but we are also guided by other forces who are here to help us.”
We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth and Gaining Economic Power by Rachel Rogers
- “Financial stability is super, super important to me, as well as the ability to believe that you can make money. In this book, she talks about different things you can try to get yourself into that belief.”

Music

Aman thinks you should listen to:

“The Champion” by Carrie Underwood

“Such a good song in terms of pumping you up!”

“Unstoppable” by Sia

“Can't Hold Us Down” by Christina Aguilara

“Roar” by Katy Perry

You can find the full playlist here on our new Spotify account!