By Debra Bruce
A bright and talented lawyer lamented: “Where did all the money go?” He was a charismatic guy and had attracted a few good cases. Because he was a skilled lawyer, he enjoyed some success. However, when profits began to dwindle, at first he didn’t notice. Then he didn’t know how to adjust his strategy, because he didn’t really have one.
In the business world, companies can’t get financing if they don’t have a business plan. That’s because bankers know that owners who run their businesses by the seat of the pants are more likely to fail. A business plan doesn’t guarantee success, but in the process of creating one, we establish goals. We consider ways to achieve those goals and how to address the obstacles to achieving them. We set a clear intention about how we want to spend our resources of time, money and talent. That clarity of intention helps us make better decisions when opportunities or obstacles arise. Sometimes during planning we have thought through the consequences of various options in advance. Other times we can ask ourselves, “Is this opportunity more likely to move me toward or away from my goal?”
I saw that the lamenting lawyer made quite a few impulsive and unwise decisions. He didn’t have a plan or goals to measure the decisions against. For example, he spent a significant amount of money on computer technology that he never learned to use. He lacked interest in it. If he had set even general goals for how he wanted to use his time, talents and money, a review of them could have informed his decision before he wasted his money. He could have been reminded of the things he really wanted to spend his time on, instead of learning about computer technology. Or he could have asked himself whether that technology would really get him closer to his goals, and if so, what further steps he would need to take.
These goal-setting principles apply to other areas of our lives, as well. If we don’t operate by design, we get what comes to us by default. We default to old bad habits when we lose sight of what doing things differently will bring us. We fail to notice opportunities because we don’t have a goal in mind that they will serve. If you have ever bought a new car, you have probably had the experience of suddenly seeing cars everywhere just like yours, that you didn’t notice before. Like those cars, opportunities are all around us that we don’t notice until we set an intention that relates to them.
What kind of intentions do you have for this year? Write them down, and give some thought to what it will take to achieve them. Define what you want to achieve in your law practice, in your relationships, in your physical health, in fun and recreation, in personal growth and in every other area that is important to you. Even if you don’t know how to achieve your goals, write down what you want. Once you commit to specific intentions, you may be surprised at how opportunities to fulfill them show up. If you don’t have enough commitment to your goal to write it down, you aren’t really setting an intention.
For some help in setting and achieving your goals, you can take a look at my article in the January 2005 issue of The Practice Manager archives entitled “Secrets to Actually Accomplishing Your Goals” or read the article on my website at http://www.lawyer-coach.com/raisingthebar/index.php/2005/01/01/secrets-to-actually-accomplishing-your-goals/. Another resource is www.BestYearYet.com. Click on “BYYO” at the very top of the page to get to a free online program for setting goals. For help in designing a business plan for your firm, the ABA Law Practice Management Section publishes a software package called “The Lawyer’s Guide to Creating a Business Plan.” You can order it at www.ababooks.org or purchase it at a discount through the Law Practice Management Program of the State Bar of Texas by calling 1-800-204-2222 x1300. Of course, you can always engage a lawyer-coach to help you get clear about what you want and to design a plan to achieve it.
Authors across generations have extolled the power of committing to an intention. Henry David Thoreau wrote about it in Walden over 150 years ago. Dr. Wayne Dyer wrote a 2004 bestseller called The Power of Intention. One of my favorite quotes about committing to intention was written by W. H. Murray in 1951 in The Scottish Himalayan Expedition. Murray wrote:
“Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:
That the moment one definitely commits oneself then Providence moves too. All sort of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
Now…will your year be one of design or default?
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