What are you tolerating that you shouldn’t be? And how is that costing you in money, time and happiness
Before you answer that, let me tell you a little story. I just got back from speaking on the Lawyer of the Future panel at the American Bar Association’s International Section Meeting. It’s a big event that lasts for a week and brings lawyer from around the world together to connect and learn.
I was happily surprised that a pretty big crowd came to hear our panel speak. There were lots of questions from the crowd and there was a bit of lively debate as well (what do you expect with a bunch of lawyers in the room?)
Our panel of mostly young, female lawyer-entrepreneurs was schooling older, male lawyers on how innovation is done in the legal industry.
While the crowd was very receptive to hearing what we had to say, there was also a ton of fear. I realized that for a lot of people …
The idea of changing the way things have always been done, even though that way has lead to utter misery, is absolutely terrifying.
For the lawyers in the room, many of whom own their own practices, the idea of changing the way they do business, scares the bejeezus out of them. Accepting payments via credit card online, allowing their associate attorneys to work from home, using software to communicate and exchange documents with clients, all sounds absolutely insane. From my perspective, not doing those things is insane. Why am I able to try new methods in my business and they aren’t? Simply because I have built up my tolerance for risk.
The more I try new things, the more I try new things. And the less scared I am that said new things will lead me down a path to irreversible catastrophe.
It’s amazing how much people will fight against trying something new when the old way is really not working for them. For example, these lawyers are tolerating things like getting paid late or not at all — it is not uncommon for small firms to see 40% of their annual receivables go unpaid — an accepting online payments would solve this problem but many lawyers are scared to use it for a variety of reasons that seem incredibly silly to me. So in order to avoid the unknown these lawyers will tolerate getting paid only 60% of what they earned. Un-fricking-believable.
Now you may not have a problem with using technology like so many lawyers do, but I’d bet there is something equally as silly holding you back from having the business and life you want.
So back to my initial question — what newfangled way of doing things is scaring the crap out of you? What are you tolerating and how is that costing you? What silly excuses are you making for keeping toxic clients on your roster, for working 80+ hour weeks, for not making smart investments in your business, and for not generating the kind of revenue that would give you the lifestyle you are looking for?
The things you are tolerating have a price tag — they are costing you a great deal.
If you believe that 60% of what you’ve earned is all you deserve, then that’s what you’ll get.
If you believe that you’ll never be able to do better than the toxic clients that make you miserable, then that’s what you’ll get.
If you believe $50k, $100k or $250k is the best your business can do, then you’re right about that, too.
Cause we don’t get what we want, we get what we believe.
When you believe that you are capable of getting better clients and making more money, than you will take the appropriate action to make that happen. Your beliefs will cause you to take the risks necessary to get those kickass clients and to double your revenue. It’s a choice. It’s always a choice.
After our panel presentation ended, there was a line of lawyers waiting to speak to me about how I was able to build my practice. The answer is simple: I believed, so I took the risk. And when it was time to grow my practice so I could upgrade my lifestyle: I believed, so I took the risk. And it when it was time to invest huge amounts of time and money to create Small Business Bodyguard: I believed, so I took the risk.
Cause we don’t get what we want, we get what we believe.
What’s one thing you’re not gonna tolerate any more? What are you done with? What are you choosing to believe? If you’re done with tolerating less-than-stellar revenue and are so over not taking action on the product idea you’ve had for so long, join me, my team and a group of amazing entrepreneurs for a mastermind and retreat in France. You’ll learn how to build an audience of raving fans for your product, how to create a product that attracts thousands of devoted fans and have a luxurious, creative week in France. Check out MADE: IN FRANCE to get all of the deets and put your deposit down here.
