Do you want to grow your estate planning practice?
Most lawyers answer YES to that question.
But the follow-up is a little more complicated: How much do you love your practice?
If you’re a lawyer, that may be a funny question for you. I talk to lawyers every day, and follow all the major groups online. What I see, far too often, is that lawyers do not love their practice. Their comments run the gamut from “somewhat satisfied” to “disappointed” or “discouraged.”
For all of the work and sacrifice we put into our careers … is somewhat satisfied enough?
Should we tolerate disappointment and live with discouragement?
Somewhat satisfied with your law practice … is that enough?
No! A thousand times, no. It absolutely does not have to be – should not be – this way.
Those feelings of dissatisfaction or discouragement – those are signs, a symptom if you will, that something is WRONG.
Ignoring that symptom in your career health is no different than ignoring your body’s health. Shortness of breath, pain in your chest? Those are symptoms … your body’s way of saying, “Hey! Pay attention to me! I need help!”
Many of you know that I’m a runner. When I talk to people about running, they usually fall into one of two camps – they either say they hate running and would only do it if something were chasing them and they had to run to save their lives; or they say they love running and do it, not just to save their lives, but to enjoy their lives … to have more life, more energy, and more love of living every day.
You can have that same energy and joy in your law practice, too.
It starts with recognizing the symptoms … and then committing to change.
Is change disruptive?
Well, heck yes, it SHOULD be!
Little changes … saving a few dollars here and cutting some corners there … they don’t amount to much.
Little changes … little impact.
Big changes? Big impact. It’s the big changes … the disruptive changes … that make a big impact.
The First Step to Grow Your Estate Planning Practice
If you’re struggling with loving your practice … or not loving it … the first big change I’ll ask you to make is to get in touch with your mission … your purpose.
Why are you doing this?
You may have to take your mind all the way back to that idealistic kid who wanted to become a lawyer. Who wanted it so badly they took on debt, studied for the LSATs, put themselves out there by applying to law schools and risking rejection.
Why? Why would you do all that? I mean, it was pretty disruptive to your life, right? You could have just done what most everyone else did … grab your diploma and find a job.
But no, that kid had bigger dreams. And that kid sacrificed to make them happen.
Can you get in touch with that kid who still lives in you? Can you?
Somewhere in that idealistic, passionate kid was a mission.
When you tap back into that mission … and that passion … you’ll remember that achieving great things takes great effort.
Combine that passion, that inspiration … with disciplined action and you can love your practice. You can wake up every morning ready to serve … ready to help families safely through some of life’s biggest challenges, protect personal dignity, preserve family relationships, and create legacies that impact generations to come.
Wow! What a gift! What a mission!
Don’t let that fire die with a thousand wet blankets … cutting corners here, saving a few dollars there, muddling along mediocre. Always remember that mediocre is easy … but extraordinary sleeps better at night!
