BusinessLawGuy's Blog

When inspiration hits, you know. You don’t need to listen to an interview with an artist to understand it can be anytime, including when it’s not necessarily convenient. It makes me think of the musician who hears a melody while sleeping and has to decide whether to get up and write it down or record it, or to just go back to sleep. I have had this happen in regard to legal matters I’m working on. I think it’s because sometimes when you’re not thinking about something intently is when inspiration strikes. One thing I have learned is when you have inspiration, don’t lose it.

Whether I am at my desk or asleep, if something good pops into my mind, I write it down. I usually use the Note app on my phone, but paper and pen still work. I have learned that if I don’t, there is a good chance my moment of brilliance will be lost; I may remember it later, but I may not.

The key is to come up with what works for you when you have that great idea, even when it’s at an inconvenient moment. If you fail to record your thoughts when the inspiration hits, it’s on you and is your loss. Come up with what works best for you so you don’t risk losing whatever fantastic thing has popped into your brain.

One way to think about it is what if you were a musician and you didn’t want to get up in the middle of the night to record that melody that came into your head, losing a possible big hit. Or if you were an author and you lose a great plot twist for the book you’re writing. We all have something equivalent in what we do for a living, or in our personal lives. Figure out what works so you remember and can capitalize on your great ideas.

I know some of you are thinking “What is he talking about? Fun at work?” But it’s that simple and that’s exactly what I mean. If you can’t have fun at work, then why are you there? Fun and good work do go together. A joke can reduce tension during stressful times at work. The saying “Laughter is the best medicine” exists because it’s true.

This doesn’t mean you will joke around with co-workers every day. Of course, even if you do, it’s unlikely a minute or two will derail you from the tasks at hand. Fun doesn’t need to take up a lot of time.

I joke around with colleagues regularly. It sure makes my days more fun. On the days when I am feeling overwhelmed by what I need to accomplish the humor may include sarcasm or be darker, but it still is part of my day. Humor relieves tension and stress, even if momentarily.

You will encounter others in the office, or online or over the phone if you work remotely. It’s good to remember that humor may not come across how you intend when it’s in electronic communications or during phone calls. It’s much easier for people to understand you are joking in person where they also can see your body language.

No matter how or where you work you should allow yourself to take breaks, even if it is only a few minutes. It will help reinvigorate you to go back and work more. Plus, when you see others having one of those days, maybe you can lighten the moment for them and bring a smile to their face.

You may know the line from Dr. Seuss’s One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish: “These things are fun, and fun is good.” Fun is good. True statement. Put some fun in your day and see how it brightens moments for you and those around you.

Just because the thought comes into your head does not mean it should come out of your mouth. In many situations, it matters what you say next. This is why it’s so important to think before speaking. It doesn’t mean uncomfortable long silences, but it means you need to plan for important conversations, negotiations, or presentations. It also means you need be able to think on your feet.

This can be difficult in emotionally charged situations. But those situations require the most thought and patience.

This was brought home to me a few years ago when an opposing attorney answered a judge’s question too fast and before the judge had finished his question. In doing so, the attorney not only failed to answer the question the judge actually asked, he blurted out information that the judge later used against his other arguments. This really happened.

After speaking too fast and, apparently, without fully thinking through what he was saying, grasping for an answer, it became obvious the attorney was arguing two sides of the coin. It probably will not shock you this was obvious to the judge. It caused the issue on which the attorney had a weak case to look like a failure and the issue on which he had a slightly better argument to lose its shine. The attorney’s failure to think before speaking, let alone not letting the judge finish his question, lost his client any chance of succeeding on either of his positions.

Don’t let this be you. Always plan for important conversations, negotiations, or presentations. If you are not sure of an answer to a question, it is better to admit that. If you do answer, think before speaking. If you do these things, there is a better chance your conversations will go well and you will avoid putting your foot in your mouth.

And, it should go without saying, let people finish their thought or question before responding. If your mouth is open your ears are shut.

In everything you do you can do better, you can be better. Always. If you disagree you are only fooling yourself and being intellectually dishonest. Investing in yourself is the best investment you can make.

If you put your money in a can and bury it in your backyard, it has no chance to grow. If you invest your money, it has the chance to grow. The corollary is if you don’t take the time to improve yourself, to learn, you will become stagnant and, in this fast-paced world, probably be passed by others. If you work to improve you will grow and your opportunities will expand.

I am speaking about improving in relation your given business or profession, but it also applies to your personal life. It may help you to take a class related to what you do for a living, taking guitar lessons, or for me, keeping up with the state of the law and current legal opinions.

I know you are busy. I know you don’t think you have time. But the truth is you don’t have time not to invest in yourself. If nothing changes, well, you get the idea.

Think about what you can do to invest in yourself. It will make you a better professional or person, and it will help improve the world around you, your world.

Are you the workaholic each of us knows? You know the one. Checking email from the moment they wake up, when they are at lunch with you (rude, by the way), and checking it right before they go to sleep. Every social opportunity is really a networking opportunity with people they probably would not socialize with. All conversations point towards and relate to business, money, etc. You are not sure what their interests are other than work and making money. Or is this you?

It is no secret that hard work is required for success, and there are times you must work harder than others and longer hours. Getting ahead does not come easy. But, as important as it is to give your all for your career or business, there has to be down time to. No, I don’t mean sleep.

What do you do for fun? What do you do for stress release? If you have to even think about the answer to either of these questions you need to rethink your priorities. Working hard until you die will only result in one result. Everyone knows someone who was a workaholic because they were going to retire young and didn’t make to retirement. While fun is important, stress relief is a required part of all of our lives.

If you question what I just said, talk to your doctor, your partner, your shrink, or whoever you confide in. Stress relief doesn’t need to be training for a marathon or triathlon, but you need to put physical activity in your routine. Your body and brain will thank you for it as you age.

As for fun, it really is a requirement too. It could be sewing or playing an instrument, travelling, participating in a book club, etc. or a combination of many things. But you need to find things you enjoy unrelated to your work. If not, you will have no balance and the odds of burnout or something worse increase exponentially.

Plus, the more things you do outside of work, the more you have to speak about the next time you are networking.

Expectations are important whether it’s your expectations of yourself or setting expectations for others. In both cases it’s good to be realistic. If your expectations aren’t, it is a negative because you set the expectation too low as if you didn’t have faith in yourself in a given situation or set the expectation too high and don’t come close to touching it.

In setting expectations for yourself, you need to think them through. It may be the expectations you have regarding a co-worker, family member, or friend. Or maybe about a new job or opportunity. The hard part is thinking through if you have enough information to have realistic expectations. If not, can you get the information you need to do so? Information is power and an important part of being able to set your expectations.

When you’re setting expectations for others it may be even more important to make sure you have the information you need to set realistic expectations. In my role as an attorney, my clients are looking to me to walk them through the process of whatever legal situation they find themselves in and to advise them on the possible and likely outcomes. If I can’t do so, I’m not doing my job. 

Of course I can’t know whether a transaction will close or the outcome of a lawsuit, but I have enough experience to guide clients through each step and either set expectations step by step or regarding the ultimate outcome. Sometimes it’s not very specific because I don’t have the information I need to do so. If that’s the case, I let my client know and then, if I acquire new information, I revisit the issue of expectations based on what I’ve learned. 

Many times expectations are a moving target. Knowing this can help you set them for yourself or others. So when setting expectations, be realistic and adjust as new information is learned, while always being honest with yourself or whoever’s expectations you’re setting.

When you are striving to reach a goal, do you get there by the intensity you bring to it or by consistency in following the steps you have sketched out? I think it’s a combination of the two. You can employ both to pursue your goals and dreams.

Intensity can move you forward like a big push someone gives you when are on a swing. It’s focus and energy. It may allow you to complete a time sensitive project, move a long term project forward a few steps, or get over a hump that had you stopped in place. It accelerates your progress whether in getting to or crossing the finish line.

Consistency is when you have discipline to regularly work on a project or goal. Discipline is helpful in keeping you on track. It’s easy to not get back to work when it’s a nice day outside or a friend calls you do do something fun. But if you do what you planned it’s investing in yourself. 

When you work consistently and at times with intensity, you will see a return on your investment. Working with intensity all the time isn’t possible. It’s like inspiration in that you don’t always know when a burst will come. When it does, go with it. And even if it doesn’t, keep working on your goals regularly and you will have a much better chance to the reach them.

We all take inspiration from different people, actions, inaction, etc. Sometimes it comes out of nowhere and sometimes from surprising places. When it does you need to be ready to notice and process what it means to you. 

For instance, I find inspiration for various blog posts I’ve written from many different sources, many unexpected. The sources include a random comment on a podcast, something one of my children says, and once, from a comment made by an announcer about a snowboarder who had won a gold medal in the Olympics. You never know when it will hit you or where it will come from, but you know it once it does. 

Earlier this year I read about an 8 year old who has unexpectedly inspired other children. Dillon Helbig, who is from Boise, Idaho, is a second grader who wrote a book and then hid it on a library shelf. This action resulted in there being a waiting list to check out his hand written book and other children wanting to write stories and books too. The whole story is great (and easy to find on the Internet).  And now other children want to write. How cool!

Where will your next inspiration come from? There is no way to know. All you have to do is be open to it. Looking for it can work for some, but many times it comes out of left field and is a surprise. Next time you’re inspired will you act, or let the opportunity pass you by?

As has been said by Eric Dewey of eLegal Training, Networking is about knowing more people; connecting is about knowing people more. The distinction is obvious. You know a lot of people professionally and personally, but you actually are connected to only a fraction of those you know.

When you are at a business, social or charitable event, you likely run into many people you know. With many of these people, you will know them “socially” or “professionally”, which is a way of saying you know them, who they are, but are not deeply connected with them and have no investment in their successes or failures.

I think a good example is a small town of say 1,000 people. In a small town, you are likely to know everyone else who lives there. At the same time, you will not be connected with 999 other people. Maybe you are connected with 40-70. This is because connection requires a deeper relationship than simply meeting someone. It involves time, mutual respect, and participation in the relationship by both people to become more than mere acquaintances.

Another good example is LinkedIn. I have approximately 16,000 connections on LinkedIn. But it would be more truthful to say I am networked with approximately 16,000 people on LinkedIn because it is not possible for me to be connected to that many people. If I went through that list, maybe I am actually connected to 100 to 200 of those people, maybe more, but nowhere near 16,000. It’s just not possible.

True connections make up your community. People in communities care about their connections’ success and have a relationship built on mutual respect and trust. Respect and trust have to be earned before someone in your network becomes an actual connection. It takes time and work on the part of both people.

Once you have a connection, you will learn more about each other, be interested in transfer of knowledge and information, and care about each other’s successes (and failures). When you reach this level with another person you add another layer to the community you are building.

Through your networking activities you should have a goal to find people to connect with. By identifying possible connections and forging new relationships you will strengthen the foundation of your community and build the type of community you want to be a part of. These types of mutually beneficial relationships involve real connection and make your life far more interesting.

We all have a pitch to make and the need to do so comes up all of the time. Many times you are making a pitch unconsciously because it can be second nature for some. Think about how good your pitch could be if you actually thought about what you want to say in a given situation.

A pitch is about conveying information to one or more people to obtain a desired result. It can be to a potential client or customer, a potential investor, or a new potential connection.

It is hard work to come up with a pitch. In most situations you will lose the other person’s attention unless you have a short and to the point pitch. This is why people reference the thirty second elevator speech.

So how is your pitch? Is it good? Do you have different pitches for different situations? Spending time thinking about this or outlining pitches is time spent investing in yourself.

You should practice your pitch, including to others you know and trust to provide honest feedback. It isn’t as easy as you may think, but it’s worth it. You want your pitch to come out sounding natural. That’s why you need to practice both alone and in front of other people. Take and listen to constructive criticism and then see where your new pitch can lead you!

So what should you do?  Work on a pitch by thinking of your audience and the message you want to convey.  Don’t make it too long or use words people generally won’t know the meaning of, i.e. dumb it down so whoever you are speaking to will understand what you are saying. By doing so you will avoid your audience thinking about what a word meant and missing the next part of what you are saying.

After practicing, use your new pitch. See what works and feels comfortable. This will allow you to continually revise it to be the best version for the moment and have the best chance for your pitch to be successful.