Fun times. Skipping school, going to the movies, eating junk food, goofing off—with nobody around to tell you what to do.
Remember?
What? You never did that? You should have. Everyone should do it once in a while, even big kids like us.
Hey, how about tomorrow? Take the day off and do something non-billable.
I know, you’re busy. Do it anyway. It’s good for you.
The work will be there when you come back. If it won’t, because you don’t have enough work right now, then you really need to play hooky, but instead of going to the movies, write your own movie—a visionary tale of your future.
What do you want that future to look like?
This is your movie. You are the writer, producer, director, and star. Write the movie of your future the way you want it to be.
Don’t hold back. This is a fantasy, not a drama, and you can be, do, or have anything.
Set your movie 5 years from today. Are you still practicing or have you moved on to something else?
Where do you work? What are your hours? Who do you work with, or for? Do you have people working for you? How many? What do they do?
Do you do client work? Handle cases? What type? How big? How many? Or do you do corporate work? For what kinds of clients?
Speaking of clients, how do you get new ones? What marketing strategies do you use? How much revenue do you produce? How much do you net?
What does a typical day look like? What time do you start work? How many appointments do you have? What do you do all day?
Do you do all the legal work? Some of it? None of it?
Do you spend your day writing? Seeing clients? Negotiating deals? Supervising your team?
In this movie, anything is possible. Anything. No matter what your current situation, level of experience, resources, or lack thereof. Pretend you have a magic wand and when you wave it, your dream comes true.
If you’re a little too linear in your thinking and find it difficult to imagine your ideal, think about someone who has what you want and use their life as a model for your own.
Okay, you have a picture. How does that feel?
If it feels good, you’re doing it right. If you have doubts or fears or any negative feelings at all, something’s not right. Get out your magic wand and make it right.
Okay, yes, there is a point to this exercise. Actually, two points.
The first is to help you decide what you want, something we don’t always allow ourselves to do. We usually let our current reality tell us what’s possible, but that’s what is, not what could be..
If you’re happy with all aspects of your current reality, great. But if you want something different, let your imagination tell you what that is.
Which leads to the second point to doing this exercise—to help you create a plan of action. A list of what you need to learn, acquire, change, or do.
A mighty list, wouldn’t you say? Worth taking the day off to create.
Nicely done. Now, choose something from your list and get to work.
