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The Renegade Lawyer Podcast
I am more convinced than ever that nothing that traditional bar organizations are doing is going to move the needle on the sad stats on lawyer happiness ...
The root cause of all lawyers' problems is financial stress. Financial stress holds you back from getting the right people on the bus, running the right systems, and being able to only do work for clients you want to work with. Financial stress keeps you in the office on nights and weekends, often doing work you hate for people you don't like, and doing that work alone.
(Yes, you have permission to do only work you like doing and doing it with people you like working with.)
The money stress is not because the lawyers are bad lawyers or bad people. In fact, most lawyers are good at the lawyering part and they are good people.
The money stress is caused by the general lack of both business skills and an entrepreneurial mindset.
Thus, good lawyers who are good people get caught up and slowed down in bringing their gifts to the world. Their families, teams, clients, and communities are not well-served because you can't serve others at your top level when you are constantly worrying about money.
We can blame the law schools and the elites of the profession who are running bar organizations, but to blame anyone else for your own woes is a loser's game. It is, in itself, a restrictive, narrow, mindset that will keep you from ever seeing, let alone experiencing, a better future.
Lawyers need to be in rooms with other entrepreneurs. They need to hang with people who won't tell you that your dreams are too big or that "they" or "the system "won't allow you to achieve them. They need to be in rooms where people will be in their ear telling them that their dreams are too small.
Get in better rooms. That would be the first step.
Second step, ignore every piece of advice any general organized bar is giving about how to make your firm or your life better.
The Renegade Lawyer Podcast
Ep. 228 - The Biggest Lie Professionals Believe
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Most people think success means sacrificing everything.
Ben Glass disagrees. In this quick episode, he explains why protecting your energy, choosing the right people, and building a thriving culture will do more for your career than working longer hours ever will.
Ben Glass is a nationally recognized personal injury and long-term disability insurance attorney in Fairfax, VA. Since 2005, Ben Glass and Great Legal Marketing have been helping solo and small firm lawyers make more money, get more clients and still get home in time for dinner. We call this TheGLMTribe.com
What Makes The GLM Tribe Special?
In short, we are the only organization within the "business builder for lawyers" space that is led by two practicing lawyers.
One thing we're sure you've noticed is that despite the variety of options within our space, no one else is mixing
the actual practice of law with business building in the way that we are.
There are no other organizations who understand the highs and lows of running a small law firm and are engaged in talking to real clients. That is what sets GLM apart from every other organization, and it is why we have had loyal members that have been with us for two-decades.
Who Owns Your Life
SPEAKER_00Here's more from the renegade lawyer Ben Glass. Like the first part is, damn it. Are you living a life that energizes you? Oh, but we're lawyers, we can't do that. No, no, no, no. It's your life. Like it's nobody else's life. It doesn't belong to your mom, your dad, your law professor, does not belong to the president of the bar station. This is your life. Does not belong to your clients. Your life does not belong to your clients, right? Another thing lawyers
Work As A Human Requirement
SPEAKER_00get wrong, right? You must work to produce something. Just by living on this earth does not mean that you deserve someone else to feed you, work for you, or shelter you. So by his nature, man must work. All right. So if we are going to work and spend a significant part of our hours on earth working, then why not make that positive, happy, energizing rather than miserable?
Combining Passion And Work
SPEAKER_00I first understood this philosophy, but Ray Dalio in his book Principles really lays it out. And it's we actually have it on a sign in our in our training center, like combining your passion and your work and doing it with people you like. And I add doing it for and with people you like, because now that includes like we only want to work with clients who bring us energy, right? Um and so to me, that's the that's the perfect
Culture Matters More Than Skill
SPEAKER_00life. So Brian and I, like when we look at why we exist, why are we why are we risking all of this to run a business? Is at the end of the day, Bengal's law is built because we we want to build a place where people will thrive. It's not for justice, it's not for helping the constitution, and I know I'm giving some lawyers some heartache here. It's not for any of that stuff. First, that's what everybody says, right? We want to build a business where people thrive. The owners thrive, the people who work here thrive. And if the owners and the people who work here thrive, then the clients will be really well served, intentional about creating this culture, and backs it up with action, you attract great people. And when you attract great people, you end up attracting more great people. And to me, more than your legal skills, more than your administrative skills, more than your video skills, right? Because I could go get another videographer. I could get you and I both know. There's videographers that are better than you. There's a lot of lawyers who are better than me, right? But having you here in a place where everybody likes you and you like everybody else, and we work really well and we're and we're willing to engage in tough conversations when we need to, open and honest conversation, that's it. Again, we spend most of our life, and you know, as we said by definition, that means you're you're you're doing less.
Reject Noise And Play Bigger
SPEAKER_00You're saying no to a lot of things. But if you will reject the influence of people whose opinions don't really count, if you will look outside the legal box for other other ideas, and then if you will know that you are important, that your playing small does not serve the world, then you will find happiness. And when you find happiness, you will attract, I swear to you, you will attract the clients and the types of cases and matters that you like doing. You'll become what we often call here, you know, a hero to your family and an icon in your community.
Closing And Subscribe
SPEAKER_00Like what you heard? Keep the conversation going. Explore the archive, listen to another episode, and subscribe for more conversations that challenge the ordinary.
