Blueprint For Career And Life Success

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers Blueprint for Career and Life Success I have been coaching two lawyers I will call Ryan and Samantha (not real names). They are both junior partners in firms that are about the same size. They both bill about the same number of hours annually. Ryan is thoroughly enjoying a successful career and fulfilling personal life and Samantha frequently calls me to say she is burning out and feels like all she does is billable work for her firm. Why do you suppose they are having different experiences? Is your career and life more like Ryan’s or more like Samantha’s?   Here are the differences and how you can apply them to find your own career success and life fulfillment. It starts with attitude. As lawyers we are taught to be skeptical. But, too often we apply skepticism to our careers. I love this Winston Churchill quote: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” The difference between Samantha and Ryan is that when thinking about their careers Samantha frequently says: “yes, but” and Ryan says: “sure, how.” Samantha finds reasons it won’t happen and Ryan finds ways to make it happen.   The second difference is Ryan knows exactly what he wants to accomplish in his career and life and Samantha has focused on what she does not want to do. Napoleon Hill, who studied successful people for over 20 years in the early 20th century, said it well: “There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.” Successful lawyers have a clear idea of what they want and many actually visualize accomplishing it. You can’t visualize or get energy and a burning desire around what you don’t want. Ryan is a labor lawyer. He knows what he wants both in his career and personal life and has a burning desire to achieve it. Because of his burning desire, he has set goals and has a plan and is not easily derailed.   The third difference is how Ryan and Samantha define success. Over the years Samantha has defined success by her billable hours and money she is making. That is like a golfer looking at the scoreboard rather than the ball. Ryan finds meaning and success in how he contributes to help his clients succeed.   Finally, Ryan is in the zone in whatever he is doing and Samantha is easily distracted. When Ryan is working on a client matter he is in the zone. When he is teaching at a local college, he is focused on his students. Ryan frequently leaves the office early to coach his older son’s soccer team and baseball team. When he is coaching, he is in that moment and not distracted. He plans his personal life as well as his professional life. Samantha plans her billable time at the office and her time at church on Sunday, but not much beyond that. So, she is rarely in the zone and focused on the moment.   You can have a successful career and fulfilling personal life by saying: “sure, how,” having a definite purpose and a burning desire to accomplish it, finding meaning in your work by focusing on how you benefit your clients, and by focusing on the moment.     I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.