I hope that 2019 was a great year for you and that 2020 will be even better.

I hope that the inevitable challenges that you’ll face will help you grow stronger and wiser in ways that help you feel empowered and uplifted .

I hope that you’re able to appreciate all the love and generosity that surrounds you (and me, and everyone on this beautiful amazing planet that we live upon).

I hope that I’m able to help you more this coming year than I did last year.

I realize that many people who receive my emails don’t know me very well, and probably don’t quite understand what drives me to do what I do.

My friend Mike Kim once asked me a weirdly provocative question. He urged me to think about “what breaks your heart.”

The purpose of this question wasn’t clear, but I trusted him and started thinking about it. And when I did I realized that there is something in particular that repeatedly makes me feel sad in a deep way.

And that thing is what motivates me most of all to do what I do, which includes writing emails like this one.

That thing is the feeling of sadness when I see people not achieving what they truly want out of their life.

Almost always because they don’t believe in themselves enough.

Of course, cynics will say things like “life is hard and you don’t always get what you want.”

And that’s true, but it’s irrelevant to what I’m talking about.

Here’s what I’m saying…

If there is something you truly want out of life then you should pursue it, and do so with unrestrained passion.

Maybe the thing you truly want is closely connected to your law practice. Maybe it’s not.

Either way, if you know what you truly want then you should pursue it.

Maybe the people around you are supportive of your deep desire. Maybe they’re not.

You should pursue your goal regardless, and find people who support you in the way that you need most.

If I can help you and support you in a meaningful way then it’d be my honor to help in whatever way that I can.

If there are others who resonate more strongly for you then please go spend more time with them.

(By the way, here’s a blog post I wrote about my competitors in case you find they’d be a better fit for you)

Don’t get trapped in unhelpful routines or patterns. Break free and go in the direction that inspires you the most!

We all have different needs, and we all need different kinds of connections to help us thrive.

You should never stay in any relationship unless it’s one that you feel passionate about.

That’s true for family relationships, social relationships and definitely for our looser relationships.

Again, I can’t emphasize this enough…

When you discover what you truly want out of life then the first thing you need to do is surround yourself with people who can help you achieve your goal and make you feel good about trying to achieve it.

In my life I’ve been blessed to have several people who believed in me at pivotal moments in my life, usually moments where I didn’t believe in myself as much as they did.

My parents both believed in me in a big way, but there were others who did as well…

For example, Michaelle Wynne who helped me see that I could practice law in a serious way without having to always be overly formal.

And my high school professor Ernesto Regales literally changed my life in a way that I’m still trying to wrap my head around to this day.

There are people out there who can touch us in deep ways and radically change our lives for the better. We are blessed when we come upon those people and when we receive their gift.

So that’s really what I wish most for you.

I want you to connect with people who will help you believe in yourself in ways that allow you to achieve the great things that you are meant to achieve.

It would make me really happy if that happened for you.

And I’m sure it would make you even happier.