“Far better it is to
dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure,
than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because
they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
–
Theodore
Roosevelt (1858 – 1919)
26th
President of the United States
Normally I tend to try & keep my distance from the crowd of lawyers and so-called “gurus” who feel compelled to make excuses for their unwillingness to do what is necessary or tell you in plain simple terms what is necessary to generate a lot of business for a law firm.
Actually, in the case of the lawyers I may forgive them because in-truth, there are a lot of forces at work to try and keep that information hidden from you (us). Not least of which are the so-called “gurus” who profit (at least in the short-term) by keeping you in the dark and the news media in general. But more about that later.
Just this week I was on the line with my latest Gold Coaching & Mastermind Group and in the space of under two hours we uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars of new business opportunities for our Members. And it wasn’t by using some new and complicated technology. Or by revealing some complex mystical “secret.” Instead we simply employed some good old-fashioned THINKING & CREATIVITY to solve the problem.
Yes, we dared a mighty thing. . .we dared to think!
So about the forces at work to prevent you from winning your glorious triumphs. . . let’s just take a quick and admittedly incomplete inventory as I don’t have time at the moment to make a more complete inventory for you. So howabout I just get you started and leave you to think some more on it:
First Of All The Law Schools – I don’t know about you but despite something like 4,000 hours of education, my law school curriculum did not address anything about how to manage a small law firm, how to market a small law firm, how to manage a lawyer’s trust account, client billing strategies, law practice management skills & techniques, etc. etc. So is it any wonder then that in the face of alumni who aren’t exactly enjoying a huge ROI on the cost of tuition, the law school industry is happy to let the general economy take the blame?
FACT: 5% of the lawyers you graduated with, who also learned bubkis in law school about how to manage a law practice and how to market a law firm are making ALOT more money and having ALOT more fun than the other 95%.
Secondly State Bar & Local Bar Association’s – Until very recently you hardly ever saw a CLE program about law practice management or law firm marketing. Of course now they’re all jumping on the band’s wagon.
But where were they ten years ago? Why weren’t they teaching this stuff back when times were better so as to insulate and protect their Members for a rainy day? Could it be your State Bar or local Bar Association leaders were unaware that there is such a thing as an “ecomonic cycle”? Were they too busy making speculative real estate investments of their own to look-up and try and adjust course for the educational curricula so as to help protect their Members?
Their current efforts are a little like telling you to put on your seatbelt after they have crashed the car you’re riding in. FACT: 60% of the Members of your State Bar are solos or practicing in small law firms with five or fewer lawyers and what happens to small law firms during cyclical economic downturns is as preventable as it is predictable. So much so that lawyers who are prepared and know how to take advantage are doing GREAT. And it’s not too late for you too!
Thirdly, The News – I used to be a “newshound”. I used to have subscriptions to multiple papers including the Wall Street Journal, Daily Business Review, my local newspaper and usually I’d at least skim a couple of industry rags too. But then a funny thing started to happen. I stared to get busy making money. And the busier I got, and the more money I made the less time I had to consume the news.
You know what?
Not only did the consumption of less “news” NOT adversely affect my income, it positively affected my general sense of well-being and allowed me to be more objective, I think, about what gets reported that is truly news-worthy vs. all the sky is falling bullshit the media thinks they have to keep feeding us to keep us addicted.
It used to be I felt more “responsible” when I’d read the newspaper. Sort of like you used to feel when you were a kid sitting at the kitchen table doing your homework. But not anymore.
Nowadays the “news” is really just one step above watching “The Real World” or “Survivor” or some other moronic show like that featuring pseudo-celebrities in entirely artificial situations designed to elicit a reaction, any reaction and if they happen to share some useful information that is releveant to my life well then that would be nice too. So I count the news media in general amongst the forces who apparently have a vested interest in keeping you in a negative mindset instead of motivating you to get out there and do what is neccessary to build your business.
FACT: News media get paid for selling newspapers, or more precisely, ad-space in newspapers (and online). They don’t give a rat’s ass about how much money you’re making!
OK, gotta get on a scheduled call with a Platinum Member right now. Will continue this rant later. . .
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