Making significant change is hard, but doing it without support is even harder.
In theory, a lot of people are supporting you and want you to succeed.
In practice, not as many do. Not because they don’t want to, or because they’re bad people.
But just because, well…
It’s a lot of things as I’m sure you know by now. Because if you’re like most people you’ve had that experience of not getting support from someone you expected would give it.
Some people are just negativity zombies. So don’t expect them to be upbeat when they hear about how you plan to try something new.
So, here’s the deal…
If you want to make big changes to your practice you need to be picky about who you talk to about it.
You need to be careful who you spend time with, and try to find folks who are supportive because they’ve been through what you are going through.
When I was first trying to figure out how to adopt technology to make my practice easier I was in a big firm. No one there cared about technology.
They didn’t care too much about efficiency either since that meant (in their short-term thinking mentality) fewer billable hours.
I felt like an outcast, a weirdo, for thinking that technology could help me practice law better, and in a more enjoyable way.
I had to leave the big firm to clear my head.
Hurricane Katrina gave me an excuse, and a cover story. But the real reason I left was I couldn’t take the negativity anymore.
Negativity wrapped in cluelessness, disguised as a well-run firm.
What kind of cluelessness?
Oh, don’t get me started. I have so many stories.
But forget about the cluelessness. What really bothered me was the negativity.
And one thing I’ve learned is how insidious negativity can be…
When I announced I was leaving the firm my law partners were shocked.
Sure, they offered superficial encouragement and support.
But in reality they felt like I was betraying them somehow. Like I didn’t appreciate their process.
Weirdly, I felt like maybe they were right to be negative.
I felt guilty, and I didn’t have a lot of confidence that my “plan” for starting a solo practice would succeed.
I projected confidence outwardly, but inside I was afraid.
I was afraid that my solo practice would fail and I’d need to return to a big firm to make the money I needed to make.
Which would be humiliating for me, and a source of schadenfreude for my old law partners.
Fortunately, things worked out the way I hoped they would.
I practiced law in a simpler, less stressful way.
I got a steady flow of great clients, and confidently turned away prospects who seemed high-maintenance or troublesome in any way.
I had more free time and my life was now flexible enough that I could work as much as I wanted, when I wanted and where I wanted.
I practiced law from my living room for several months after I went out on my own and it was sublime. I even had client meetings in my living room.
Turned out my clients loved that kind of informality even more than me. Who knew?
In the end, I discovered something.
And I couldn’t have discovered this while working in the large firm.
I discovered that you can create the exact kind of practice that makes you most satisfied, based on your unique sense of what provides deep fulfillment.
Very few people will understand your unique sense of fulfillment.
And if they don’t understand it they probably won’t support it.
ALSO…
if they’re not fulfilled themselves (and most people aren’t sufficiently fulfilled) they’ll probably downplay or dismiss your aspirations.
Consciously or unconsciously, it doesn’t matter.
To you it feels the same: lack of support and reflexive criticism hurts.
It wounds and it discourages.
So, if you want to make big changes to your practice…
Find people who understand what you are trying to do and will support you in a way that provides you with confidence that what you’re trying to do makes sense and is achievable.
One place you will find that kind of support is at an event like the Small Firm Bootcamp that’s scheduled for May 7th & 8th here in New Orleans.
The event will sell out so don’t delay in registering if you are interested in coming. And because, I’ve been asked a bunch of times, yes we will be providing 12 hours of CLE credit, but…
Getting CLE is the least significant reason for coming.
The Bootcamp will be a rare opportunity to engage with like-minded lawyers and meet consultants and cheerful guides that understand how to help solo and small firm lawyers make massive breakthroughs in their practices.
I’ve just created a waiting list, which you can sign up for now if you feel like you might want to attend but can’t commit now (for whatever reason).
Yeah, it’s weird to sign up for a waiting list now before the event has sold out, but here’s another reason to sign up for the waiting list…
If you join the waiting list now (which is FREE to sign up for) you can lock in the current early bird discount rate so that, if later you are able to come, you will be able to come at the lower price of $850 (the current early bird price) instead of the full price of $1,295.
Plus if you join the waiting list now you’ll be at the “front of the line”. In other words, it’s like getting an option to buy stock but you don’t pay anything for the option.
Of course, you need to exercise the option before the opportunity goes away, but the sooner you sign up for the waiting list, the more valuable your option is because you’ll be closer to the front of the line.
Oh, and one more benefit…
When you join the waiting list, you’ll allowed to attend the weekly webinars that I’m putting on each week from now on until the Bootcamp. These webinars are part of what the registrants get access to as part of signing up.
The webinars will feature sessions on some of the topics we’ll delve into at the Bootcamp. And most of the webinars will feature speakers who’ll be at the event.
The sessions will all be practical and designed to help you make key changes to your practice now. The sessions will last for about 40 minutes followed by a Q&A session and they’ll typically happen on either Thursdays or Fridays depending on my schedule and the speakers schedules.
So, just by signing up for the waiting list you can get access to those weekly trainings.
Now, if you are only on the waiting list (and not officially registered)…
You will NOT get access to recordings of the webinars. So you’ll need to attend live.
Nor will you get access the other online materials that are bonuses for people who have registered for the Bootcamp. But if you want to attend the weekly webinars you can.
And, if you want to work on improving your practice then you definitely should sign up and attend as many weekly webinars as you can.
Why am I doing this?
Well, because I know that a lot of solo and small firm lawyers need this kind of support. And I’m trying to provide meaningful support in the best way I know how.
Online webinars are one efficient and effective way.
But a live event is even better, especially if it’s combined with online trainman and support. So, I highly recommend coming to the Bootcamp if you can.
If you attend the Bootcamp I can promise you that you’ll make massive changes. And because folks who sign up for the Bootcamp get immediate access to a bunch of online resources, I can promise that I will start helping right away.
Everything I do from now until May is geared towards helping the folks who attend the Bootcamp (or helping folks in my Co-Pilot program).
If I can help you by letting you get on a waiting list and watch some of the webinars I’ll be doing, then I want to do that too.
I’m trying to make this as easy and convenient for as many people as I can.
Hopefully, I can find a way to help you move forward even if you feel like there are too many obstacles.
The only insurmountable obstacles are the ones you believe are insurmountable.
And, if you stick around you’ll find that I’m even willing and able to help you develop more optimal beliefs about what’s truly possible for your law practice.
If you want to join the weekly webinars and get on the Bootcamp waiting list, click here. But signing up you’re automatically being added to the waiting list for Bootcamp and locked in at the $850 early bird rate if you later decide you want to come (which will of course depend on your position on the waiting list and how many slots open up in the days before the event)
Oh, and by the way, just so you know…
If you register for the Bootcamp and find later that can’t attend, no worries: we’ll give you all of your money back.
Why? Because we don’t want you to feel stress about paying for something you can’t use.
And, because we know we’ll have a waiting list and will be able to resell your ticket to another solo or small firm lawyer who needs it later.