Video dominates marketing in 2017 and your law practice shouldn't be an exception. In our next edition of Webinars for Busy Lawyers, Nicole Abboud will get you started. We will make this archive available as soon as possible. Video is…
There is probably no better example of acting before you feel like it than the concept of bravery. By definition, bravery requires one to act in the face of fear, not the absence of it. We can often misuse bravery to imply that someone does not experience fear in a situation (“Look at her, she’s so confident and brave. Nothing rattles her.”). When we misuse the word bravery we can inadvertently tell ourselves that being brave requires a sense of unflappable confidence. Bravery suddenly seems at odds with doubt and fear. Quite the contrary, bravery is acting despite our doubt and fear.
Contrary to popular belief, forgiveness is not a feeling. Forgiveness is an action. Done well, forgiveness can be freeing and can allow the person to heal from a painful experience and become more resilient as a result. But there are a lot of misconceptions and fears that surround forgiveness, what it is, what it is not, and what the result might be.
“I feel ready. Now I can act.” The order of those phrases sounds logical. First you feel ready and then you act on that feeling. No obvious controversy there. Yet some of the common phrases we toss around in everyday conversation are not only inaccurate, but they also negatively affect our abilities to accomplish what we desire. This is often used in terms of assessing our motivation to do something difficult. In this example, waiting to feel motivated (or ready) will most often prevent you from accomplishing something that you never knew was possible. In fact reversing the order of those original ideas is often more accurate and advantageous. I decide to act and then I notice my feelings changing.
Most often when people hear the word “networking” they think of a means for ultimately getting a job or getting clients. In the current legal industry, networking is an essential part of marketing your legal services, gaining connections for future job opportunities, and strengthening your brand. It is rare these days to hear of someone who got a job by simply sending in a resume cold, without having any connection to anyone involved in the process. Unfortunately for many, networking is also one of those activities that elicits much anxiety and increases a sense of vulnerability. One reason why networking is uncomfortable for so many is the fact that often times the power to achieve the goal of networking is in someone else’s control. For example, if my goal is to get a job, then by definition I am relying on someone else to provide that job opportunity. And before you say, “Thank you, Captain Obvious for that insight” allow me to suggest an alternative.
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No one has ever said on their deathbed that they wished they had spent more time at work. Yet many of us spend most of our adult lives acting as if that won’t be true of our own deathbed experience. Given how fast-paced life seems in the moment, we are tempted to be somewhat shortsighted. Career is important, you need to pay the bills, and you want to advance in your career and make a difference. There’s nothing wrong with that. The problem arises all too often when we stop being able to distinguish between what is good for our career and what is good for our lives and the lives of others around us. David Brooks gave a brief TED talk on this topic.
In a productive and fast paced culture, a premium is placed on working hard and getting things done. So much so, that sleep can be seen as a liability. It is talked about as a badge of honor if someone regularly works 7 days a week or puts in 80-100 hours a week. Rarely do you hear someone brag about how they got all their work done in half the time and took a well-deserved nap. The conflict between valuing work and seeing sleep as a liability can be illustrated in the tempting proposition: Would you give up half of what you owned in order to be able to have the ability to be fully rested with only one hour of sleep each night?
As an LCL employee (since 1998!) it may be presumptuous of me to commend LCL on behalf of our clients, but a recent encounter with another profession’s assistance program has renewed my appreciation of our program for lawyers.
It has often been noted that law schools provide little preparation for the nitty gritty of real-life practice. Over the years, I have met individually at LCL with so many new lawyers who are losing sleep and feeling tied up in knots as they do their best to handle their work competently.