BusinessLawGuy's Blog

Deliberate planning is important for a number of reasons and is important to think about at this time of year. It helps you to set goals and create a roadmap for achieving them. It also helps you to anticipate potential challenges and come up with strategies for dealing with them. Deliberate planning can also help you to use your resources more efficiently, both in terms of time and money.

Step one in deliberate planning is setting goals and creating a roadmap to reach them. This is important because:

1. Goals provide focus and direction. By setting clear, specific goals, you can give yourself a sense of purpose and direction. This can help you stay motivated and focused, and make it easier to prioritize your tasks and activities.
2. Goals help you track progress. By setting goals and periodically reviewing your progress, you can see how far you’ve come and how much closer you are to achieving your objectives. This can be a great source of motivation and encouragement.
3. Goals can help you stay motivated. Having a roadmap and clear goals can help you stay motivated and focused, especially when you’re facing challenges or setbacks.
4. Goals can help you make better decisions. When you have a clear understanding of your goals, it can be easier to make decisions about how to allocate your time and resources.
5. Goals can help you achieve your long-term vision. By setting goals and working towards them, you can move closer to achieving your long-term vision and dreams. This can help you create a sense of meaning and purpose in your life.

Setting goals and creating a roadmap is a powerful tool for helping you stay organized, motivated, and focused as you work towards achieving your objectives.

Step two in deliberate planning is anticipating challenges and coming up with strategies for dealing with them. Some steps you can take to do so include:

1. Identify your goals. Start by clearly identifying your goals. This will help you to understand what you are trying to achieve, and what potential challenges you may face.
2. Analyze the potential challenges. Next, think about the potential challenges that you may face in achieving your goals. What could go wrong? What are the risks and uncertainties?
3. Come up with strategies. Once you have identified the potential challenges, start brainstorming strategies for dealing with them. Consider both proactive measures you can take to prevent problems from occurring, as well as contingency plans for when things don’t go as planned.
4. Prioritize and plan. Prioritize the strategies you have come up with, and create a plan for implementing them. Consider the resources you will need, and make sure you have a clear timeline for executing your plan.
5. Monitor and adjust. As you work towards your goals, be sure to monitor progress and adjust your strategies as needed. It is likely that you will encounter unexpected challenges along the way, and being flexible and open to adjusting your approach will help you to overcome them.

By anticipating potential challenges to your goals and strategizing to lessen or avoid the challenges you will give yourself a better chance for success.

It’s obvious that resources such as time and money may be scarce and negatively affect your ability to put your plan into action. There are no easy answers because you cannot simply create more of either. Despite this, there are things you can focus on to more efficiently work on your goals:

1. Make a plan. Clearly define your goals and create a plan for how you will achieve them. This will help you focus your efforts and use your time and resources more effectively.
2. Set priorities. Determine what is most important and focus on those tasks first. This will help you avoid wasting time and resources on less important tasks.
3. Use tools and technology. There are many tools and technologies available that can help you manage your time and resources more efficiently. For example, you can use project management software to track your progress and stay organized, or use online tools to automate tasks.
4. Delegate tasks. If you have the resources, consider delegating tasks to others. This can help you free up time and focus on the tasks that are most important to you.
5. Avoid unnecessary expenses. Be mindful of your spending and try to eliminate unnecessary expenses. This will help you save money and redirect those resources towards your goals.
6. Stay organized. Stay organized and keep your workspace clean and clutter-free. This will help you work more efficiently and save time and resources.

These types of ideas can assist you in dealing with scarce resources. You may not move forward as fast as you hope or want, but, when resources such as time and money are in short supply, the timeline is under your control and the important thing is to keep moving forward.

Remember that what you’re doing is investing in yourself. By taking the time to deliberately plan out your actions in this manner you can increase your chances of success and make the most of your opportunities. At the same time, it’s important to also be flexible and open to adapting your plans as needed, as things may not always go exactly as you expect.

The most important thing is to take the first step towards where you want to go. Start now.

Presence refers to the state of being aware and engaged in the present moment. It is the opposite of being distracted. Being present can be difficult, especially in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world where we are constantly bombarded with distractions.

Practicing presence can be beneficial in a number of ways. It can help you to:

• Be more mindful and aware of your surroundings and experiences
• Improve your ability to focus and concentrate
• Enhance your communication and relationships with others
• Reduce stress and increase feelings of calm and well-being

I have to work hard on being present at times. My mind drifts at times and I have to work on focus. This includes fully listening to people on calls or during meetings, whether with a client or opposing counsel. Over time I have come up with tools that work for me, but it’s a continuing practice everyday.

There are many ways to practice presence, including:

• Meditation or mindfulness practices
• Engaging in activities that require focus and attention, such as hobbies or sports
• Paying attention to your breath or using other techniques to bring your attention back to the present moment when it wanders
• Setting aside time to disconnect from technology and other distractions

I use all of these to stay centered and focused. It’s not easy to meditate, but can be over time with practice. The more I use these types of tools and practices, the more I am able to be present without thinking about it. The time can be hard to carve out of a busy schedule, but it’s an investment in yourself.

It takes time and effort to cultivate presence, but with practice, it can become a natural and valuable skill that can improve many aspects of your life.

Ending the year well can mean different things to different people. For some, it might mean achieving a personal goal or completing a major project. For others, it might mean spending time with loved ones or taking some time to rest and recharge.

Regardless of what it means to you, there are some general tips that can help you end the year on a positive note:

1. Reflect on the year. Take some time to think about the highlights and lowlights of the year, and what you learned from them. This can help you gain perspective and move forward with a clearer understanding of what you want to accomplish.
2. Set goals for the new year. It can be helpful to set some specific goals for the new year, whether they are personal or professional. This can give you something to work towards and help you stay motivated.
3. Prioritize self-care. The end of the year can be a busy and stressful time, so make sure to take care of yourself. This might mean getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising, or doing something else that brings you joy and relaxation.
4. Spend time with loved ones. The end of the year is a great time to reconnect with friends and family. Plan a special outing or gathering, or simply spend some quality time together. This can help you feel supported and loved, and can also provide a much-needed distraction from the hustle and bustle of the season.
5. Give back. The end of the year is also a time when many people are in need. Consider volunteering your time or donating to a charitable cause. This can be a fulfilling way to make a positive impact and can also help you feel grateful for what you have.

Overall, ending the year well is about finding balance and taking care of yourself and others. By setting goals, prioritizing self-care, spending time with loved ones, and giving back, you can end the year feeling fulfilled and ready to tackle the new year ahead.

Preparation is everything. It makes things look easy and natural. In my world it’s being prepared for a trial, closing of a transaction, oral argument, or the first meeting with a new client. People know when you’re unprepared. When you’re prepared they likely think you just know your stuff and don’t think about the time you put in to perform at that high level. In your world there are equivalents where you can win or lose business based on your preparation or lack thereof.

My wife has a huge presentation today. She has been preparing for as long as she has known about it, which never feels like enough. I know her well enough to know she spent the time needed to have it go as well as she can. Like all of us, she always has a lot going on in her professional and personal worlds. Even with that she carved out time because she knows preparation is key. This gives her the best chance for success in achieving her objectives.

The more prepared you are for whatever you are dealing with today provides the opportunity for the best possible outcome. I am not naïve enough to think I’m the only person a potential client is speaking with. Even if they are not speaking to another law firm or attorney, the confidence I instill in them because of my preparation gives me a better opportunity to reach the outcome I’m seeking, which is to be retained to assist them with the legal work needed.

Plus, you never know who will put your name out there providing opportunities in the future. Your preparation and then good performance turns those people into your cheerleaders too, which always helps. Preparation is investing in yourself, and it can help make your future.

Many of us sit in place all day long working hard. This is bad for you mentally and physically. You know how this works when you’re focused on an important task or project. You’re on a roll and stay in your chair, not even getting up to stretch or walk around. This is something you know isn’t good for you, but are you willing to try new steps to help yourself and lower your stress level?

Many activities help lower and manage stress. What you have time to do depends on the time you can carve out each day to invest in yourself. Of course this is a function of the business you are in, what is going on with your children or family, the demands of your spouse, etc. so the hour and a half hike or bike ride might be out of reach. Despite that you probably have time for a 20 minute walk, to stretch, or do some sort of exercise. You should strive to find something that fits your busy day and which you can create the time to do. Find activities you actually like to do.

For me, fitting things in first thing in the morning makes it much more likely it will happen. I have two main things that I try to fit into my daily and weekly routines that lend themselves to the time I have and which help me to feel better physically and mentally. The first is hiking and the second is meditation.

This morning, before doing anything else, I meditated and exercised. I didn’t have time to hike, but I still stretched and exercised, getting my body and brain moving. I know some of you are thinking meditation is not for you. I used to think that way too. After learning about it more through a program at work a few years ago, I stopped and started with it, but now can’t imagine beginning my day without it.

I have meditated almost every day for a number of years. Two things helped me do this. The first was the resolve to make time and see if I found benefits from the activity. I did. Second was finding an app where I could track statistics and try to keep myself accountable.

Over time I worked my way up from 2 minutes to 5 to 10 and now, for the last few years, 20. I won’t lie and say that it’s been easy to fit in 20 minutes of meditation every day. It’s not. I know it sounds as funny reading that as it is for me to write it. How can it be hard to find 20 minutes in your entire day? We all know in reality it is. But the benefits I think I get from meditation have focused me on continuing to make it a part of my routine and it is something I look forward to doing each morning.

Interestingly, I think the hiking I do is an extension of and related to the meditation in that it puts me in a happy place and allows me space to think. For instance, on many hikes I come up with ideas for blogs. Sometimes I listen to podcasts on subjects I am interested in. Sometimes I listen to the news. Sometimes I listen to music. Sometimes I listen to nothing and think about work, but if I have something such as a trial or deposition that day, odds are I am at home or work preparing and I have changed my routine because of the nature of that day.

These activities together help keep me better centered and less stressed than I would be if I did not do them. It makes me feel better mentally and physically. It’s important to keep moving as we get older so we can do so when we reach ages when many people have trouble doing moving and being active.

I am not suggesting that each of you should take up meditation and hiking, though I do think you should try meditation. Instead, I think you need to figure out what will help to focus on your mental and physical wellbeing. Once you do, try to do so a short time each day and you will see how it improves your life. Once you do, the next thing to do is to make it a routine. It takes almost no time to feel the benefits of taking time to invest in yourself.

Start today. Your body and brain will thank you.

Whether you are an owner, manager, employee, parent, child, or whatever role you find yourself in the only thing you can control is yourself, which means your decisions, and your actions. When you try to control more than that and if you are aware, you realize your overall lack of control, Instead you realize whatever you have put in motion is subject to the responses and reactions of the others, whose decisions you’re trying to guide or control.

This doesn’t mean as an owner, parent, or whatever role you are in where are you are supposed to be “in charge” you shouldn’t make decisions that affect others. Instead, it means you need to understand how others react to those decisions may not be what you expect, let alone what you may be hoping for. And sometimes you need to make the hard decisions for what you feel are very good reasons. Other times, it may be in more important to speak with others where there is a trust relationship to obtain grounded feedback to help you make choices. Even when you do that, it doesn’t mean the actions of others will be what you want or expect.

This is brought home to me regularly in my role as an attorney. Many times I have a belief on the direction a client should take. Generally my clients listen to my recommendations along with the various options and follow the path I think is best. Other times they respectfully disagree and choose a different path. In my role there is a saying many clients and coworkers of mine have heard over the years. That is, as an attorney I make recommendations, but my clients make decisions. This type of situation applies to all situations where you are providing someone else with options, or even just a singular path. Your employee or child hopefully will listen with open ears, but the resulting action or response may not be what you hoped for or even anything that you considered as possible.

Of course, the seriousness of any situation is relevant to what we were talking about. Me directing a child to unload the dishwasher and being ignored, is different than making a decision with my partners that will affect all of the firms employees. Even if you spend time, considering an action or decision, or discussing it with others you trust, it doesn’t mean that, in the long run, it’s the right decision. Always remember that sometimes the fact of making a decision or taking an action is as important as the the decision itself. In hindsight you can decide whether it was the correct one. Indecision or inaction is the same thing or worse than a bad decision.

I suggest taking some time to think about recent important decisions or actions you took, which you believed to be important, whether in your professional and personal life. Think about what you did to come to the decision or action, and whether it worked out as you had hoped or expected. If it did, think about why, including whether the process you went through, including if you discussed it with others who were stakeholders in the decision, had any relation to the success or failure of the decision. If it didn’t turn out what you were expecting or hoped, analyze anything you could’ve done differently to achieve your desired result. Be open to the fact that the answer may be that you could’ve done nothing different and you are never going to achieve or reach a desired outcome.

Understand that everything is a work in progress because it generally is impossible to predict the reactions of the people your decision affects to fall in line with that decision or action. Spending the time to think about this is an investment in yourself and hopefully will lead to better decisions and better actions you have thought through when dealing with others in whatever roles you occupy.

I read somewhere when you are speaking with someone you should imagine them wearing a hat that says “Make me interesting.” The point is to ask questions that allow the other person to speak because the more someone speaks during a conversation, the better they think the conversation went. This is because people like talking generally, and talking about themselves specifically.

When you ask question make sure to listen to the answers. It’s a skill to fully listen to one or more people in a conversation. With new clients and others I test whether they are listening or, even if they are listening, whether they understood what I was saying, by asking them to repeat back to me the message or information I was trying to convey. You will be surprised at how often the other person wasn’t fully listening or took something from your words that is different than what you meant.

At times I struggle with active listening because my mind goes into overdrive on what I want to say or how I want to respond. In my role as an attorney I have to be able to think on my feet, immediately respond to questions from judges or clients, and all the while respond in a meaningful way that answers a question or drives home a position. This doesn’t help me be a better listener, but only a better advocate for my client. Turning this off in other conversations is difficult.

The struggle to listen is evident in conversations any of us have with clients, friends, and family. You may be thinking about a response to a question or position, or a story you want to share, but if you focus on what you want to say, you are not focusing on what you are saying. Maybe you are better at this than I am because I constantly am working to be a better listener and it is a work in progress.

A good reminder to yourself during a conversation is to remember that if your mouth is open, your ears are closed. You know the desire to interrupt someone to get a point across or tell them a relevant story, but you have to listen to really know what they said and what to say.

I notice when I focus on asking questions and on what the other person says my responses are more thoughtful and directed at what I understand the speaker is interested in discussing or trying to convey. I challenge myself to do this all of the time. Such a challenge or remembering to “Make me interesting” may help you to listen better in conversations too.

Don’t be too busy or self-important to miss an opportunity. Opportunities are everywhere, but you need to take notice and in the right case treat them like they can be life altering. We all have missed important opportunities. Of course you can learn from this happening, but looking back with regret is not a positive.

On the other had, if you are presenting me with an opportunity, grab my attention and blow my mind. Whether it’s for me or others I may know, you need to impress me, make me want to know more or invest in you, or spread what you have shared.

How do you make sure you don’t miss a great opportunity? It can be something general like just being nice to everyone. Was that millennial dressed more casual than you think she should be and seemingly on her phone too much a slacker or a tech innovator with a company more valuable than you can imagine. It is impossible to know and judging people on appearance will hurt you in today’s more casual world. Talk to someone and see what happens. The worst case is you waste a few minutes and cut the conversation short to escape. The best case is an opportunity you would have never had.

Sometimes a certain opportunity only comes along once. Don’t miss your chance.

In my world organization can mean many things including time management, having an organized office, or being organized in the work I am doing for cases generally and in relation to deadlines. As in all worlds, disorganization leads to disaster. It not only can make you late on your commitments, it can adversely affect your business and personal life. For me it can mean losing time (and therefore money) or malpractice if I miss certain types of deadlines. The point is we all have consequences if not organized, if we miss deadlines, or if we don’t meet the expectations we set for clients, customers, or our bosses.

We live in a “what have you done for me lately” world that demands that expectations not just to be met, but exceeded. These include your expectations of yourself. I consider myself to be well organized, but that is because I constantly am working on maintaining organization and control of my time, work space, and calendar. If you struggle in any of these areas you need to come up with SMART goals to help change this. It will be hard work, but you will be happy you did it if you stick it out and improve your organization skills.

Initially set your expectations low and gradually raise them. Becoming organized takes work. If you set the bar to high to start with you have a greater chance of failure and not improving, even incrementally. It also helps to let at least one other person know about your goals. Of course, doing this exposes you to potentially let others down in addition to yourself, but it also give you a better chance of success.

So how do you do this? It depends on you. Will lists and calendaring items keep you on track to meet or exceed expectations? Do you need another person, an accountability partner, to help keep you on track? There are many tools to better organize and keep on task. You have to know yourself well enough to know what will and won’t work for you. Of course, you then have to put what will work in motion and commit to it.

What can you do today, this week, this month, to better organize yourself and set yourself up for success on meeting and, hopefully, exceeding expectations? Answer this question, work it and see how it benefits you in business and generally.

If you are not sure where to start, I suggest you find someone you know who is successful and organized and see if they will formally or informally serve as a mentor or accountability partner for you. For insight on mentoring, I suggest you review an older blog post of mine: “Why Mentoring Matters?” https://69.16.209.165/~businesslawguy/2015/08/26/why-mentoring-matters/