The strangest secret

August 9, 2013 by
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You just found out you won the Powerball. Hundreds of millions of dollars or pounds or shekels or yen. Life changing wealth.

Smile. Bask in the thought. Feel the tingle of delight go up your spine (or down you leg).

From this day forward, your life will never be the same.

Now, what will change? What will your new found wealth allow you to do?

Will you continue practicing law? If so, is there anything about your practice that you will do differently? Different cases or clients? More employees? Fewer?

Will you retire? What will you do all day?

Will you give the money away?

What will you buy? Where will you live? What will you be doing a year from now?

You may think it silly to indulge in such fanciful thoughts. You may remind yourself that you don’t play the lottery and see this exercise as a waste of time.

It’s not a waste of time.

It makes you examine your life to see what might be different. It may make you realize that some of things you’re doing aren’t serving you. Maybe you can get rid of them. Or begin moving in that direction.

Many people live their entire lives doing what they have always done. They never consider changing course. They may be unhappy but they are settled into their unhappiness. It’s easier to maintain the status quo.

And then a crisis occurs. A serious illness. The death of a loved one. A divorce. A financial calamity. Only then are ready to consider making changes. And then they find that some of those changes are a welcome relief.

I don’t want you to wait for a crisis before you examine your life. Use your imagination instead. Let your mind dwell on the impossible dream. Let your inner child frolic in the playground of your mind.

Grab a pen and start writing. Or grab a friend and a beer and start jabbering. You just got the word that you won the lottery and now, anything is possible.

What’s the first thing you will do? What will you do after that?

Now, how does it feel when you think these thoughts?

If it feels good, it means you are already moving in the right direction. The essence of what you desire is on its way. You are attracting the changes you desire.

If it doesn’t feel good, if you feel resistance towards what you have imagined, things will not change for you, at least not the way you want them to.

In his classic recording, The Strangest Secret, Earl Nightingale said, the key to success and the key to failure is this: “We become what we think about.”

He also said, “Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.”

Our thoughts have power. I hope you use that power to get what you really want.

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, Inspiration, Personal development Tagged With: , , ,

Who is your favorite client?

March 21, 2013 by
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In a previous post, I talked about how to get more clients like your best clients. I was referring to the class of clients who provide you with the most work, the most referrals, and the least amount of trouble.

Today, I want you to think about your favorite client.

Not your biggest or best client, necessarily, or the one who sends you the most referrals. I’m talking about the client you most like being around.

Identify them by name. Picture them. Think about them.

Why are they your favorite?

Is it their personality? Are they easy going? Do they make you laugh?

Knowing why someone is your favorite client will help you more easily spot people like them, if not actually attract them.

Do you remember where you met them? Networking? Who introduced you? Through an ad? In what publication? A referral? From whom?

If you were introduced to your favorite client through another client, for example, maybe you should be paying more attention to that mutual client. If you met them at a Rotary event, maybe you should spend more time at Rotary events.

But this exercise isn’t just about finding more clients like your favorite clients. It’s not just about marketing. It’s about appreciation. Counting your blessings. Feeling good about yourself.

You see, you would not have a favorite client if you didn’t attract them into your life. And you wouldn’t attract them if you didn’t have some of the same qualities that you admire in them.

Like attracts like. The things you appreciate about other people are things you appreciate about yourself.

So, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to call your favorite client and say, “I just want you to know that you are my favorite client.” Tell them what you like and appreciate about them. Go put a smile on the face of your favorite client.

And then give yourself a pat on your back for being so damn attractive.

Marketing is everything we do to get and keep good clients. Here’s where to start.

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Filed Under: Inspiration, Marketing legal services, Personal development Tagged With:

Build the law practice you would want to represent you

December 14, 2012 by
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If your law practice would fit in a box and I could buy it at a store, what would I see when I opened that box? Would I see something so beautiful it would make me smile? Would I admire the clock-like precision and attention to detail? Would I be so enamored by what I saw I would tell everyone I knew to go buy one?

Or would I see flaws? Things that don’t work right? Missing parts?

Most law practices aren’t broken, but neither are they great. They’re good enough and for most clients, good enough is good enough. But is it good enough for you? How would you feel if you were the client of your firm, knowing what you know about what goes on behind the scenes?

In an interview, Steve Jobs offered an excellent description of the standard befitting a great company, or a great law practice:

We think the Mac will sell zillions, but we didn’t build the Mac for anybody else. We built it for ourselves. We were the group of people who were going to judge whether it was great or not. We weren’t going to go out and do market research. We just wanted to build the best thing we could build.

When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.” [Playboy, Feb. 1, 1985]

For Steve, good enough was never good enough.

If you want to build a great law practice, you need great clients. Learn how to get them here.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Inspiration, Law office management Tagged With: ,

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

November 2, 2012 by
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In 1988, Don’t Worry, Be Happy reached number one on the Billboard music charts, a position it held for two weeks. Bobby McFerrin’s a cappella hit had us singing (or whistling) along, buoyed by it’s upbeat message. Right now, there’s a whole lot of worrying going on in the world and it might do us all some good to listen once again.

“In every life we have some trouble. When you worry you make it double. Don’t worry, be happy……” (lyrics)

A long time ago, I eliminated the word “worry” from my lexicon. Worry is not a helpful word, or emotion. All it does is make you anxious. Today, I might be “concerned” about something, but never worried. I find I can deal more clearly with things when I’m not caught up in the emotions surrounding them.

Worrying about a problem will never fix it. Creative thinking, asking for help, taking action–these can fix a problem, but not worry. So stop it. Stop worrying about your problems. Get yourself a big box and put all your worries in it. Set that box on fire. Burn it up. You don’t need what’s in it, so get rid of it. (At least put it in storage. You can come back later if you really miss your problems.)

“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” –Mark Twain

While you’re at it, throw into your box all of the things you worry about that aren’t problems. Stuff that never happened and probably never will. That includes all of the “missed opportunities” that nag at you. All of the shoulda’s, coulda’s, and woulda’s.

What good is it to worry about your web site and all of the search engine traffic you’re NOT getting, for example? Let it go. Stop thinking about it. In fact, what if you never had to think about SEO again? How would that feel? You wouldn’t have to think about it or read about it or spend money on it.

Release it. Let it go.

There are other ways to get traffic (and clients) that have nothing to do with search engines. Sure, it’s nice when you get them through search but wouldn’t it be nice to know you don’t have to depend on it?

Relax. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry. Be happy.

“Here is a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don’t worry be happy

Now that you’re feeling better and you have more free time, you can explore SEO if you want to. But only if you want to, not because you have to. No worries, no “have to’s,” just an opportunity. Do it or don’t do it.

Make a list of things you’re thinking about right now. Projects, ideas, things you have to do. Make sure you add anything that you’re worried about. Get them off your desk and out of your head. That alone feels good, doesn’t it?

Then ask yourself, “How many of these things could I cross off my list?” If you can’t cross them off, label or tag them with “someday/maybe” and file them away, out of sight.

Spend your time thinking about things that are important, and things that feel good when you think about them. No, you can’t ignore your responsibilities or pretend you don’t have any problems. But you don’t have to worry about them, either.

Need clients? Don’t worry. Get The Attorney Marketing Formula and be happy.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Dealing with stress, Inspiration, Personal development, Productivity Tagged With:

Are you thinking about quitting the practice of law?

October 18, 2012 by
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I just heard from an attorney who says he’s thinking of getting out of law. He’s been very successful in the past, not so much right now.

He was looking for “inspiration” so I asked him if he really wants out or would he choose to continue practicing if he could again be successful.

I told him not to use logic to answer, but to look to his feelings.

Your logical mind will lie to you. It will tell you to you what you’ve habitually said to yourself over the years, or what your parents have said, or what you think you should say. Your logical mind will have you say, “I’ve invested all these years in building my career, I can’t just walk away from it and start over.”

Yes, you can. People do it all the time.

You can talk yourself into or out of just about anything. You can add up all the pluses and minuses, examine your skill set and other interests, talk to your loved ones, and seek the guidance of mentors. With logic, you can come to a measured, intelligent decision about what to do. But would it be the right decision?

When it comes to making a big decision like this, don’t trust logic, but don’t ignore it, either. Examine the facts. Let them incubate in your subconscious. Plot out the alternatives. Give yourself a month or three to think it through.

And then, before you make your decision, go get drunk or meditate or go to the beach and stare at the waves. Think about the alternatives and ask yourself, “what feels better?”

My grandfather always told me to “trust my gut”. I’m offering you the same advice.

If you decide to stay in your practice, do yourself a favor and order The Attorney Marketing Formula. You’ll thank me later.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Inspiration, Personal development Tagged With:

What do you like best about practicing law?

October 12, 2012 by
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“What do you like best about practice law?” I was asked that 1,000 times when I was practicing and I’m still asked that today. I’m sure you are, too. My standard reply is that I liked helping people and I liked making money, and that’s the truth. That’s why I went to law school, after all.

Do I like the title or the prestige of being a professional? Actually, it’s not important to me. When I’m introduced to people and they find out what I do [did], something changes in the dynamic and while sometimes it’s a good change, just as often it’s not. I can’t put my finger on it but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. They look at you like you’re not a regular person. They become guarded, as if you’re going to ask them some tough questions and find out their secrets.

What about the work itself? There were some things I really enjoyed and some things I despised. Most of what I did I found boring.

But that’s me. How about you? What do you like best about what you do?

Make a list of all of things you do as a lawyer, and all of the things that being a lawyer means to you. Write down the big things and the little things, about the work, the people, the challenges and the rewards. Look at your calendar, look at the files on your desk or in your computer, look at how you spend your time.

Write down everything and when you’re done, look at your list and put a star next to the things you like best about what you do. And then, focus on those things.

Do more of what you like. The rest–the things you don’t like or the things you are bored by–don’t matter. Eliminate them, delegate them, or just do them, but focus on the things that you do like.

In my case, I focused on the people. My clients. Much of the work may have been routine and boring, but the people never were. They were unique. Every one of them. I enjoyed meeting them and finding out about their lives. I enjoyed explaining how things were going to get better for them and then helping make that happen. I enjoyed delivering the results and watching them smile and say thank you. And I enjoyed getting calls from their friends who had heard about me and wanted me to help them, too.

That’s what I enjoyed and that’s what I focused on. It made everything else, all of the things I didn’t like, relatively unimportant. It’s also what made my practice grow.

Whatever we focus on grows. By focusing on what you like about your practice, you will create more of it. Focus on your problems and you’ll have more of them. Focus on what frustrates you and you’ll have more to be frustrated about it. Focus on what you love, what gives you meaning, and you will create the life that you want because you will be doing more of what you want.

You don’t have to know how it works, just know that it does work, and do it.

If you want to earn more than you ever thought possible, download The Attorney Marketing Formula

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Client relations, Increase your income, Inspiration, Referrals Tagged With: , ,

We won!

October 11, 2012 by
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Have you ever noticed that when your team wins you say, “we won!” but when your team loses you say, “they lost”?

It’s understandable. When your team wins, you want to be associated with that success. It’s a subtle way of suggesting that you contributed to it. But you don’t want to be blamed when the team loses.

In truth, unless you own the team or play on it, you don’t deserve the credit or the blame. But that’s okay, it’s just sports. No harm, no foul. It’s not okay, however, in your law practice where you are the owner and star player.

When you win the case you deserve credit for your skill and hard work. But what about when you lose? If you blame the judge or the jury or the evidence, you may learn nothing from your loss. If you made a mistake you may be destined to repeat it. Maybe the judge was an idiot but maybe you should have known that and prepared for it.

Personal growth starts with personal responsibility. If you blame others for your losses, you relinquish your power. You can’t change anything when someone else controls the outcome.

And yet taking all the credit for your wins doesn’t increase your power, it diminishes it. Michael Jordan wouldn’t have won championships without teammates passing him the ball or a coach setting the plays. When his team won, he freely credited his coach and teammates. When they lost, he took responsibility.

Michael Jordan never said, “they lost.” And that’s one reason why he could so often say, “we won”.

The Attorney Marketing Formula shows you how to build a championship practice.

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Filed Under: Inspiration, Personal development Tagged With:

If my cat managed your law firm

October 10, 2012 by
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They say that dogs think of you as a member of their family and cats think of you as their employee. Our Tuxedo cat, Seamus, agrees. (He told me to keep this post short and get my ass back to work.)

Anyway, if Seamus was managing your law firm, I imagine he would tell you not to sweat the details. “Take care of the basics,” he would say, “and everything will be fine.”

For Seamus, the basics (that we are required to supply) are food and water, a clean litter box, and some play time. He takes care of grooming, sleeping, and staring out the window. If the basics are taken care of, Seamus is happy, although he has put in a request for more of that laser light thingie.

What are the basics in managing a law firm? Well, you need clients so marketing would have to be at the top of the list. You need some staff to help you because doing everything yourself is not a smart use of your time. And you need some tools: a computer, phone, and access to a library. Of course I am assuming you have the knowledge and skills to take these resources and put them to work for you.

Seamus says humans spend too much time fussing with little things. You don’t have to read everything, know everything, or do everything. Just cover the basics. Time management? That’s for sissies, he says. There’s plenty of time for the important things, as long as you cover the basics.

You can run a multi-million dollar practice with only the basics. And still have time to play with your cat.

Seamus says you need clients and recommends The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Inspiration, Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With:

How to be successful today, and also tomorrow

September 14, 2012 by
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In a previous post, “The one thing you need to know about success,” I noted the dichotomy between the premise that success is predicated on doing what you like doing (and avoiding what you don’t like doing) and studies which show that the ability to delay gratification is an accurate predictor of future success. I suggested that these conclusions aren’t really in conflict because thinking about your future success can be as enjoyable, if not more so, than the actual achievement.

Blogger Derek Sivers writes about the delayed gratification study and agrees that “future focused” people (i.e., those who can delay gratification) are the most successful, but notes that they may miss the enjoyment of the present. Similarly, too much focus on the present “can rob life of the deeper happiness of accomplishment.”

For true happiness, Sivers notes, we need to be flexible:

The happiest and most effective people are balanced: equally high in future-focus and present-focus, and viewing the past as positive. When you have work to finish, be future-focused. When your work is done and it’s time to relax, be present-focused. During family holidays, be past-focused to enjoy family customs.

He also says that our focus changes depending on our circumstances. “Cavemen needed a full present-focus at all times to survive in the wild and find food each day.”

When I started practicing and had no money and no clients, my circumstances forced me to delay gratification. I had to learn how to “survive in the wild and find food each day.” Like the caveman, I was not focused on the future, I was focused on eating. You can’t think about a five year plan when your rent is due next Tuesday.

If you want a marketing plan that really works, today, not five years from now, pick up a copy of The Attorney Marketing Formula. You’ll thank me later.

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Filed Under: Inspiration, Marketing Plan, Personal development, success Tagged With: , , , ,

You are friggin amazing!

August 6, 2012 by
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When was the last time you patted yourself on the back? If it’s been awhile, you might want to take a few minutes to do that.

Think about what you have accomplished in your lifetime. No doubt it’s quite a list. Remembering those victories and achievements makes you feel good about yourself. It gives you confidence about the future.

If you can’t remember all your accomplishments, or even if you can, I suggest you create a “Book of Achievements” to collect those memories. Probe your mind, dig through those storage boxes, ask your spouse for help. Record your accomplishements on paper or digitally, so you can look at them from time to time.

If you’re blue, you need to remind yourself that the future is bright. If you feel good, reviewing your past accomplishments will help you feel even better.

You can decorate your book and add photos if you like. Make it fancy and detailed, like a scrap book, or keep it simple, a line or two about each accomplishment.

Have fun remembering what you have done. Go back to your chidhood. Remember that school play or the paper with the gold star.

Remember passing the bar exam. The awards, the big cases, the letters of thanks.

Most people will never do what you have done. Hell, most people will never try.

Your life is a series of accomplishments. You have done more than you realize. You have helped a lot of people. You have made the world a better place.

You are friggin amazing. I hope you remember that.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Inspiration, Personal development Tagged With: , ,
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