Page 21 - Social Media Musings

Social Media Musings – Part III My Reflections on the Practice and Life
Every tough situation, every failure, every stumble presents its own opportunities. Seek them out.
Stumble. Fall. Get up. Keep going. Stumble. Fall. Get up. Keep going.
The hardest lesson for young lawyers is that the employer that let them go was never going to be a good fit for them, wasn’t going to develop them, wasn’t going to mentor them, and that even though no one wants to be let go, it’s probably the best thing that happened to them. They’re free to find the job that belongs to them, the firm that is theirs.
When you set a goal and achieve it you accomplish two things - the goal and maturation.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed in these trying times, know this - what you do as a lawyer makes a difference.
The idea is 20%. The plan is 20%. The hard work is 60%. The idea and plan are important, but without the hard work, they will never come to fruition.
There are no shortcuts. There are no magic pills. There’s hard work and more of the same.
The more you fail, the faster you will succeed.
Find your one thing and chase it and wrestle it to the ground.
You can’t change what you can’t change. Figure out the difference between what you can change and what you must accept.
If you’re going to do something, do it.
Don’t talk about doing it. Don’t research it endlessly. Don’t ponder it forever. You want to write? Write. You want to paint? Paint. You want to lead? Lead. Too many of us spend way too much time preparing, making the path, studying next steps. What we’re really doing is avoiding the hard work, the sacrifice, the obstacles and failures.
Planning is two steps. Write the plan. Work the plan.
Many diverse lawyers I know are first generation lawyers and some are first generation college graduates. Many come from working class families. Many have personally experienced prejudice and racism. Many had limited educational, economic and social opportunities. Many relied on grit and hunger and perseverance to make it. Many attended state colleges and state law schools. Many did not have a sufficient support structure and many did not have a mentor to guide them through all the pitfalls, obstacles and challenges of
a legal education and career. And all these experiences, individually and collectively, define them, form their story, and to understand them, really understand them, firms need to learn those stories to better relate to, support, and mentor diverse lawyers.
I get asked a lot - why and how do you write so much? The best explanation I can give is via a scene from an old sci-fi film called Gattaca (spoiler alert), where two brothers, one genetically enhanced, Anton, and one with his share of genetic
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