The Secret Behind All the Secrets to Success
There are many secrets to success. They are as plentiful and as numerous as the sands under the sea. Some are easily discovered through diligence and creativity, some by meeting with others we consider more successful than ourselves, some by paying to see specialists, and some by scaling lofty mountains and seeking our gurus. But I can tell you that all these secrets are subordinate to the one, glorious secret within all such secrets.
Best of all, it will cost you nothing, requires no discipline, will not cause you to sweat, does not involve unending self-absorption, is not fattening, and, boot, will make you happier.
And that is: desire. I do not mean mere 'wanting', I mean an all-encompassing passion directed toward a particular state or goal or need. The point is not that you must have goals-goals are too superficial. What you need is to unlock the floodgates before the ocean of your passions. Don't laugh. It is the natural and unassailable state of all men and women that they have massive storehouses of passion walled up inside them. The trick is to let them out. And it is not hard to do so. In fact, it is merely the knowing, the realization, that such a storehouse really does exist, that starts the waters to boiling.
Thus, now that I have you starting to think about that well of passion, you need but allow that truth to sink in a little, and the inexorable drive of your well-honed mind (you ARE a lawyer, right?) will bring to you the point where that passion will find an outlet. Once that begins to happen, the only challenge will be to channel the force of the waters that flow out from your creative and competent mind.
On a lighter note, it is sort of like "cooties"-it is easily passed on-tag! And now that I have planted this tiniest of seeds in your mind, it will have no choice but to germinate. In those with high intellect and fortitude (you automatically qualify by virtue of getting through law school and passing the bar), those seeds will of necessity fall on fertile ground. Just you wait, even the tiniest of realizations can become an unstoppable force. It has happened to me; it has happened to many of my candidates. It can happen to you.
If you want to learn more about your own unlocked potential as a lawyer, as a person, as a professional, surf over to www.bcgsearch.com/pete_smith.html.
Best of all, it will cost you nothing, requires no discipline, will not cause you to sweat, does not involve unending self-absorption, is not fattening, and, boot, will make you happier.
And that is: desire. I do not mean mere 'wanting', I mean an all-encompassing passion directed toward a particular state or goal or need. The point is not that you must have goals-goals are too superficial. What you need is to unlock the floodgates before the ocean of your passions. Don't laugh. It is the natural and unassailable state of all men and women that they have massive storehouses of passion walled up inside them. The trick is to let them out. And it is not hard to do so. In fact, it is merely the knowing, the realization, that such a storehouse really does exist, that starts the waters to boiling.
Thus, now that I have you starting to think about that well of passion, you need but allow that truth to sink in a little, and the inexorable drive of your well-honed mind (you ARE a lawyer, right?) will bring to you the point where that passion will find an outlet. Once that begins to happen, the only challenge will be to channel the force of the waters that flow out from your creative and competent mind.
On a lighter note, it is sort of like "cooties"-it is easily passed on-tag! And now that I have planted this tiniest of seeds in your mind, it will have no choice but to germinate. In those with high intellect and fortitude (you automatically qualify by virtue of getting through law school and passing the bar), those seeds will of necessity fall on fertile ground. Just you wait, even the tiniest of realizations can become an unstoppable force. It has happened to me; it has happened to many of my candidates. It can happen to you.
If you want to learn more about your own unlocked potential as a lawyer, as a person, as a professional, surf over to www.bcgsearch.com/pete_smith.html.
Labels: attorney career satisfaction, attorney coaching, career success in the law, work life balance
posted by Peter L. Smith, Esq. at 7:32 PM
2 Comments:
It is great to have passion and passion is indeed contagious; and we all have it inside of us for sure (anyone who has ever been a parent can see how much innate passion a child can have about seemingly mundane things--but daddy, I really want to watch the baseball game---over and over and over again.)
For many lawyers, however, long hours and mundane tasks like document review or due diligence can put the kibosh on our passion to work.
So the key is to find something about being a lawyer that can reignite your passions. Perhaps it is taking on a pro bono case. Maybe it is writing an article about something you have worked on. Getting involved in a committee at your firm might do the trick. If the work itself is not igniting the passion, don't overlook the many other ways that you can tap into your inner child. Your days will move a lot more quickly.
Thanks, Steve, for the comment!
My point is perhaps a slightly esoteric one, but I believe that there is no need to 'rekindle' anything. One of my fundamental beliefs about people is that there is always another storehouse of passion no matter how burned-out, haggard, exhausted or spiritually dead we feel. The only trick is to understand that, for whatever reason, our passions have been dammed up inside. It is not that passion is gone and must be rekindled. It is, rather, that we have been 'burned', perhaps, by some life experiences and we no longer feel that sense of trust. After all, letting our passions flow requires a certain amount of trust in one's self and in the world. Yet, the good news is that there is nothing to fear! If we simply believe in our own abilities, trust in our own amazing and almost universally unplumbed depths of strength, resilience, and passion, we can do amazing, and frankly very fun things. Life does not have to be a grind. It is only our thoughts about our circumstances that make it so. Trust me.
pete
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