WHAT’S ON YOUR BUCKET LIST?

Movies are made about it, people tell each other about it and even school children have them.  Bucket Lists:  all the things you want to do before you die.  So what does yours look like?

Is it filled with big plans like “learn a language”, “learn how to play piano” or “write a novel”?  or small things like “spring clean”, “take a yoga class” or “join my PTA”?

Probably your list should be filled with big things and little things.  Some to do tomorrow and some to do next year…..however, since none of us know how much longer we have to get these things accomplished, most should be something that we can get on right away.

The fun thing about Bucket Lists is that they are yours only.  They don’t involve anyone else normally because you only have control over yourself, not others.  So you can’t have “get my son to do his homework”.  That’s not a proper list member.

It is possible to have others included if you don’t have to count on them doing something.  A good one many people have is something like “Visit my Grandmother in Germany”.  All your Grandmother has to do is show up and so that is a valid Bucket List member.

Could you ever guess a Bucket List has so many rules?  Actually, you can even make up more rules for your very own bucket list.  Could be that everything has to get done by a certain date or you put the items in priority, so you do first things first.  Or you can just doodle out any old thing that comes to mind.

The importance of a Bucket List is that you now own a list of your dreams in concrete form.  When you get bored or tired or depressed, you can take out your Bucket List and enjoy thinking how you are going to get an item checked off.  It’s also best to do this while you are still capable of actually getting it done.  That’s why I’m traveling to exotic foreign countries now while I can still propel myself under my own power.  Not asking to be pushed across the Himalayas in a wheel chair.  So, see you have to be reasonable with your list.

So where did this all come from?  Most obvious is from Kicking the Bucket, as in dying.  The term is first seen in a 1993 Labor Relations Board report stating that since they didn’t get their whole agenda taken care of the remaining items would be put in a Bucket List.  Of course the 2007 movie with Jack Nicholson made the term even more popular.  It has now shown up numerous times in TV and movies since then.

So get on with it…..Start your very own Bucket List of all the things to want to do or have before you “kick the bucket”.  Don’t worry, no one is even going to see it unless you want them to.  It’s fun besides to dream…….

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How to Make the New Year Yours

HO HO HO,  here we go again with a new year after playing and eating ourselves into oblivion!

So, let’s make 2015 DIFFERENT.  We have been talking about CHANGE.  Why not really make a change in 2015.

You have all the tools. You know how to find the goals you want to work on.

  • You know how to prioritize those goals.
  • You know how to put those goals in your calendar each week.
  • You know how to get a good ANCHOR to keep you on tract.
  • You know how to visualize the goal outcome
  • If you don’t think you know how to do this, read my old blogs!

Now all you have to do is pick one thing you want to change in 2015.  Is it making more money?  Is it spending more time with your family?  Is it finding a hobby?  Is it doing charity work?  Is it making a complete change in your career? Is it losing weight or exercising more?

Whatever it is, decide on it, write it down and look at it every day.  Then make a plan and write that down how you are going to actually make this change happen.  Then all you have to do is to follow your plan and you will achieve a significant change.

THEN THE NEW YEAR WILL BE YOURS.  IT WILL NOT BE ANYONE’S BUT YOURS.  IT WILL NOT JUST WASTE AWAY AS MOST YEARS DO.  IT WILL BE THE “TIME” WHEN YOU CAN ACTUALIZE WHAT YOU REALLY WANT AND MAKE IT COME TRUE.

Just a note:  I am leaving on vacation on 12/22 and not returning until 1/2 so no blogging for me during that time. I gave you enough to think about until I return…..

  May all your days be Merry and Bright and this Holiday Season the Best Ever!

YOU, TOO, CAN CHANGE BIG TIME

Last week we talked about small changes.  Now it’s time to talk about BIG, MAJOR CHANGES.  This means changing careers, partners, life style, friends, or just about any scarey, major decision that you are facing.

Everyone who has lived any kind of life has had to face a major change.  Remember how afraid you were to go from grammar school to middle school? then to high school?  We faced each change with some degree of dread and excitement. Now that we are all grown up we would like to face change with more excitement than dread when a change is in order.  But how do we do that?

Well, I certainly don’t have all the answers, but a great part of my job as a coach is to ease lawyers through major changes in their careers and lives.  For instance, one of the most dramatic shifts come when the lawyer has found that they are not practicing the kind of law that makes him or her happy and contented.  It is even harder to face this kind of change when the wrong area of law for that attorney is making good money.

Someone who doesn’t like to speak in public or go to court should not be a trial lawyer.  An attorney that hates detail should not try to fit themselves into tax law or even wills and probate.  So how does the attorney find out about what would need to change to make them more content?

*Taking the Myers-Briggs Temperament tests can tell someone a lot about what is their natural inclination towards the type of work that would make them happy.

  • Or the attorney can look very closely at what classes in law school they loved and what they hated.
  • Taking a close inventory of the present practice can lead to ideas how it might be changed to better suit the attorney.
  • Visualizing is a great technique for this kind of change.  The lawyer can cook up a scene of exactly what he or she would like to be doing every day and see if any other area of law fits this.

Then comes the BIG DECISION. The question becomes how to go about making this change.  Careful planning and marshaling the resources is the next step.

This is only one Big Change that an attorney might encounter.  How about when he or she needs to change their life style?  What is drugs and alcohol are draining his or her energy and creating a life that is not what they imagined.  This is where a great support group of friends can be helpful.  What, then, will make certain that this BIG CHANGE can happen?

LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT NEXT WEEK…..CAN YOU THINK OF ANY AREA THAT YOU NEED TO MAKE A BIG CHANGE.  IF SO, SHARE IT OR AT LEAST, WRITE IT DOWN.  WHO KNOWS, YOU MIGHT JUST MAKE THAT DECISION TO CHANGE!

CHANGE: EVERYONE CAN DO IT BUT FEW DO!

Every lawyer wants to change something.  It might be a very small change, like not having to look for their keys every morning.  Or something big, like the area of law that they practice.

When you look at it, the small change seems simple.  Simply put a dish by the door and drop your keys in it when you come in and pick them up when you go out.  If you need to, do the same at your office.  Or always put them in a designated pocket.  It is a wonder that people will continue to spend valuable time looking for keys when 10 minutes of planning would eliminate that time waster.

Also some people like to organize and stop wasting time, other people could care less.  They might moan and whine but don’t have the energy or inclination to take the steps to change.  Some people feel so overwhelmed by the day to day activities that they don’t want to even look at the small annoyances in their lives, let along change them.

Are you one of those?  WHAT SMALL CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO TODAY?

Now take this opportunity to decide how you will go about making this change:

  • Begin by writing down the small change you want to make.
  • Can you think of any reasons you have never tackled this problem?
  • Ask yourself, what is the advantage of not tackling this problem? Yes you might find that if you make the change, then you have to look at the big changes in your life.  Or maybe you would have to give up whining and getting other people to give you suggestions….which you never follow.
  • What specific steps do you have to take to make the change? Write those down.
  • Write down the date that you will complete the change.
  • Write down how you will feel after you make the change.

That’s the small change.  We’ll talk about the big change next week.  So stay tuned.

HOW TO BECOME MORE CONFIDENT

So I hope you all read last week’s post.  I’m really interested in your comments.  Should women “buy into” every suggestion as how to become more confident in a “man’s world”.  Or is there some other answer?

Well this week I am going to give some well known HINTS about how you can gain more confidence if you feel you might like to……

  • READ MY BOOK, BE A BETTER LAWYER, A Short Guide to a Long Career. If you were a better lawyer than you are right now, wouldn’t you gain confidence? Of course.  Also I have that 20% off offer for you extended to 12/15.  Just go to the ABA.com website and find the book.  Then order it with the code: BBLES20 and that will give you a 20% discount.

Next you will have to do the exercises.  Unfortunately just reading it and thinking about all the ways you are          going  to improve, won’t do it for you.

  •     * Commit to have a fully filled out calendared with all the times and tasks you will be doing each week, completed by Sunday Night so you can start on it first thing Monday Morning!!!

* Decide one goal right now that will bring you confidence if you completed it.  If you can’t think of anything, then make “Write one article for a Journal for submission by December 1,2014.  When the article is published, send it to your A list and post it on Linkedin” your goal.

  • Call one person who you need to speak with but have been avoiding.
  • Make a BUCKET LIST of all the things you want to do with your life in the next five years.  Put dates of completion by each item and get busy.

It’s pretty apparent from this list that building confidence entails doing something.  You can’t just sit and pray it comes to you.  However, the slightest forward movement will create confidence.  I guarantee it!

I’M BACK…

Hi to all,

Yes, I made it back just to check in on you and see if you did the Action Tasks that I gave you before I left.

I’m still too jet lagged to write much but I did want to tell you that my book HOW TO BE A BETTER LAWYER: A Short Guide to a Long Career, is not out and ready for purchase.  I don’t have the correct link yet, but you can go to Shop ABA Store and click into books and then put in title.  If you are a member of the ABA or a Bar Association there is a reduction in price.

Let me know your comments.  Hopefully you will find it useful.  Take the tests and if you don’t understand how to form your goals (although I have fully explained how to do that!LOL ) give me a call and I will help you through that.

All for now.  Will be back next week with more for you to do…….

THREE ACTION TASKS EVERYONE CAN DO WHILE I’M GONE

Yes, I am leaving Friday, June 20th and not coming back until July 8th.  So I am leaving you with three “Action Tasks” that you can complete while I’m gone.  These will work for all lawyers, in whatever career space you are in……so let’s get started:

1. ORGANIZE YOUR OFFICE.

  • Everyone has an office.  It may be at home on the kitchen table, but it is where you do your work.  So the first step is to go through all the papers on your desk and file them into A. trash can  B. do now  C. do later piles. D. File
  • Now look in your drawers. Are they messy? clean each one out.
  • Clean your cookies and other junk off your computer.
  • Next, look at each of your files.  Is there something that needs to be done? If so, put on your “to do” list. Is there some files you need to get rid of?  Put them in a special place.

This should take you at least a day or several days doing it piecemeal.

2. DO SOMETHING JUST FOR YOURSELF

  • Schedule some time in your calendar to do something you have been wanting to do.  Maybe have a non business lunch.  Maybe have a massage.  Maybe go to the gym or a hike. Read a book.  Give yourself at least 2 hours to do an activity that is just for you.
  • Meditate on how that feels.  Practice your mindfulness technique to zero in on how it feels to just listen to your needs.

3.  GO TO ONE NETWORKING EVENT YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN TO BEFORE.

  • Pick out a networking event that you have never attended.
  • Put the date in your calendar
  • Plan what you want to accomplish at the event.  How many biz cards do you want to get?  What time will you arrive? depart?
  • Practice your elevator speech.
  • Ask at least one person who their target audience is.  Write that on their biz card. Let them see you do that.
  • Give out at least 5 pieces of paper wrapped chocolates with your biz card.
  • When you get to your office put the biz cards you got into your contacts list.

So now you have three very  different “Action Tasks”.  Let’s get started. I challenge you to do all three while I’m gone.  I promise they will make you a better lawyer! and human being!

 

NEXT STEP FOR LONG TERM GOAL SETTING

So now you have come up with a six month Umbrella Goal. The next step is to break it down into Intermediate Goals.  These are short term goals which will finally lead up to completely the Umbrella Goal.  For increasing revenue it might look like separating the areas that need to be researched before you can go forward.

As in the last blog, this might look like reviewing the past referral sources, locating what marketing techniques have produced the best benefits.  You could go onto locating more demographics to find out current sources of income.  A review of your marketing plan might be in order.  Intermediate goals are still very broad goals.  This should give you a map of what has to happen next but not specific work which comes next in Action Tasks.

This is where you get down to the very specific tasks that need to take place to meet the Intermediate Goals.  In this scenario, they will look like:

ACTION TASKS

1.  Locate and review all referrals sources for the past 3 years.

2.  Separate referral sources into categories as to the ones which are the most lucrative.

3.  Do a demographic search of your area of the law and how much potential business is in your community. (this should have been done when you started the business, but it is always a good thing to update this as there can be changes)

4. Identify the specific areas in your marketing plan that are producing the most and the least amount of revenue.

From these Action Tasks you should be able to locate your best sources of future income as well as getting a picture if some of those sources have dried up.  If that appears to be the case , then you need to supplement your Intermediate Goals  and new Action Task to make a decision as where to find new business.  Is that in a Niche?  Is that with better marketing?  Is not enough time being spent on business development?

Your real goal in doing this first exercise is to get a handle on exactly what it is going to take to raise your revenue.

This technique also applies to an Umbrella Goal of ASKING FOR A RAISE.   What would the Intermediate Goals look like?  First, you will want to identify how much you are going to ask for.  Next you will want to find out the financial condition of the firm or agency you work for.  If there is no possibility of a raise because the financial condition is weak, then your decision to ask or find another place of employment or wait until the situation changes may be the alternatives you need to consider.

These situations can be hard to face, but you can see that this method gets right down to the bottom of the issue in a fairly easy fashion.  If the financial viability is good, then you can go on to the Action Tasks pinpointing the steps you need to take to arm yourself with the information to make the best case for getting a raise.  This will include a bumped up resume listing all the ways you have helped the employer and how your knowledge of the particular business culture you are working in has assisted the organization in profiting.  Thinking creatively here is going to be  to your best benefit.

HOW TO REACH YOUR 6 MONTH GOAL

10/7/13 Now that you have your 6 month goal selected, the next step is to write that down as your “Umbrella Goal”. Say for instance your goal is to make a 10% increase in your revenue in 6 months.

If you are making $5,000 in net revenue each month, then you want to increase that $500 a month or $3,000 in 6 months.  It can be a trap to confine yourself to one month at a time because of the fluctuation of revenue for most solo and small firm attorneys.  If, on the other hand, you receive a salary, then your goal would be to increase your salary by 10% in 6 months by getting a raise or bonuses or some other accommodation.

The Solos approach is to then look at the overhead and see if any item can be cut.  Next, see if fees can be reasonably raised in any area.  Then take a look at the receivables.  Could a more aggressive approach get late receivables collected?

Then  look at your marketing to see if an increase in that area is needed. Count where each referral has come from in the last year.  Where is your best source of referrals? What can you do to “touch” your referral sources.  That could be a newsletter, an email, a call or something else. This is the step that always should be taken first as these are your best referral sources.

If you practice in more than one area, pin point which area is the most lucrative and calculate how much.  That may be the area you want to bolster or it may be the area you aren’t getting enough traffic in.

That should give you enough to work on this week.  Next week we will go further into how to reach your goals and talk about other types of goals you may have.  If you want to send me your Umbrella  Goal, I can include some ideas as how to work with it in my blog.

PICKING YOUR LONG TERM GOALS

9/30/13 What did you pick for your long term goals.  Let’s take one of those and decide when you want to complete it.  That may be 2,3 or 5 or even 10 years from now.  Write the goal and write the date you want it completed. Make that realistic. In other words, don’t decide you want to retire in 2 years if you just started practicing law.

Next, look at where you are right now with that goal. Say, you decide you want to double your revenue in 2 years.  That means you will write down what your revenue is right now and what it will be in 2 years.  Next check where the most of your revenue is coming from right now.  Write this down and study each place. Make a decision either to follow and further market these sources, create new ones or get some assistance in making these decisions.

Now, break down the amount you need to reach by 1 year and then by 6 months in order to get to that goal in 2 years.  You can immediately start working on the first 6 month goals by next week when I give you some ideas how to do that.  Stay tuned!!!