Do you get stuck thinking about all the unpleasant things and setbacks that come with running a law practice? You are not alone. As humans, we are much more impacted by negative events and experiences than positive ones. Our training and experience as attorneys make this much more intense for us.

Negativity bias is the tendency to learn from, use, and prioritize negative things far more than positive things. That is why you get a more rapid, prominent, and powerful response to negative experiences than positive ones. This bias influences how you feel, think, and act. And it can have some less than desirable effects on your psychological health.

It can explain why we tend to:

1. Recall and think about insults more than compliments
2. Dwell on unpleasant or traumatic events
3. Focus on more negative things – like the things we didn’t get done over the things we accomplished.

Strategies psychologists recommend to overcome negativity bias include:

Notice your bias.

Check up on your thinking throughout the day – especially when you feel yourself getting into the negative spin-cycle. When you recognize the thoughts running through your mind you can start dealing with them. Just like you would with a client where you have to understand the facts and the issues to find a solution.

Challenge your negative self-talk.

Do you find yourself saying things in your head about yourself that you would never even consider thinking about another person? Yeah, me too. Notice this self-talk when it is happening, and give yourself a break. Try being just 10% nicer to yourself in the words you use. Use your analytical powers to think about what is really going on, and how you might talk to a friend about the situation. What would it be like to use those words on yourself?

Find & savor the positive moments.

When you start looking for positive moments you will find them – no matter how difficult your day has been. Maybe it is a kind word from a spouse or colleague. Maybe it’s just a nice day. Find something that is positive and savor it. Building up your store of positive mental images and feelings gives you a little gas in the tank when negativity kicks in.

Practice mindfulness.

Mindfulness practice is one of the most important ways I’ve found to interrupt negativity bias. Mindfulness can be as simple as breathing exercises. I’ve been using meditation for years to help with this (among other things). For me it is not about spirituality – it is a business necessity.

Focus your attention on activities that give you energy.

Over-commitment can make negativity bias worse – especially if the things on the list are out of alignment with your values. One of the ways to fix that is to create a stop-doing list – and find a way to start saying no to things that no longer serve you. If you’d like to know more about how to do that CLICK HERE to get my guide on Saying No without Being Negative

If you want to be more productive then you need to have “no” as your default answer. And that’s pretty hard for many lawyers.

After all, you want to help people. You want people to like and appreciate you.

You want to build your network, and you don’t want to miss out.

The problem is that when you say “yes” to too many things you wind up having to say “no” to the things that really matter to you.

If you feel like this might be your situation then you can start fixing the problem by doing what I call a Commitment Inventory.

Start with your top 10 commitments. In any order. And for each of them answer the following questions:

• What is the commitment, specifically?
• What needs does it meet for you (financial, emotional, physical, spiritual, or other)?
• How much time does it require each month? Each week?
• How well does it meet your needs, on a scale of 1 to 10?
• How satisfied are you with this commitment? How would you change it if you could?

Now, put a plan in place to make the change to just one of those commitments. Work on one thing a week and you’ll see positive changes happening.

And the next time a new obligation or opportunity comes along don’t just jump to “yes”. Take some time to think about it before responding, and make sure it fits in with your updated Commitment Inventory.

-Doug

P.S… If you’d like to get more tips on how to say “no” without being negative just click here and I’ll send you my handy guide.

You’ve probably spent most of the last year working away and doing your best to cut through the massive pile of day-to-day work that is the life of the modern lawyer.  

You’ve been doing legal work like taking care of clients, researching, writing, arguing, and negotiating – to name a few.  You’ve also been attending to all the things it takes to run a law business. Things like troubleshooting your technology, learning how to Zoom, paying bills, taking care of staff and vendors, and unjamming the copy machine.

It’s been a struggle to survive and adapt – especially in recent times. Here’s the problem. So many attorneys have been so focused on working IN their practice, that they haven’t worked ON their practice the way they should.

Working IN your business without working ON it is like:

• Running the car at high speed for many years without new tires, brakes, or an oil change, or
• Not giving your house the new roof, windows, or furnace it needs until the storm is upon you, or
• Waiting until you need the snowblower or generator to see if it will start. 
• Relying on that old saw to cut your way through the forest – and wondering why it gets more and more difficult to cut as the teeth wear off the blade.

Enough analogies. I might have gone a bit too far – but I hope you get the point.

Here are the things you should be doing now to work ON your practice:

• Actually create the plan you’ve been thinking about
• Creating a system to make repetitive tasks much easier
• Figuring out what you can delegate so you can make more time for legal work (or yourself)
• Caring for your most important client and referral relationships
• Making sure your technology and infrastructure is set for the new year
• Creating content to get your unique value out in the world
• Deciding how you need to adapt to take advantage of market opportunities.

Luckily there are formulas, routines, and processes that make each of these steps easy and clear. We are past the time when lawyers can get by without these business disciplines. You may need to get out of the CLE box to find the programs and the teachers you need.

The most important thing you can do to work ON your practice is to learn the right way to do the work – which will give you the results you seek. That means you’ll need someone who knows what to do, and also knows how to teach. After all, who has the time and attention to learn all of this by trial and error?

Here’s a first step … 

Take control of your time and create the time to make your plan.

Block out 45 minutes on your calendar at your most energetic time of day. Treat it like a court appointment or a meeting with your best client. First, learn about the planning process – and create a plan to create your plan.  Yes, I actually said that.  The first block of time is to decide what you are going to do and set the blocks of time you’ll need to get it done. Then create those blocks and get to work.

If you are not sure what you should be doing or how to do it, you can check out our new-and-improved planning template. Click here to read about how to make a plan. And if you have a question just reach out and ask in the comments section, below.

Or, maybe your practice is ready for the business equivalent of a personal trainer. An expert who is there with you every step of the way – showing you what to do, how to do it, and making sure you actually do it.  That’s what I do. And I have a few openings left for the next quarter, so if you’d like to see if it would be a fit for you just drop me a message mailto:doug@summit-success.com and let’s talk.

No matter what you decide, remember to sharpen your saw. You’re going to need it for the year ahead.

What will you do to sharpen your saw, today?

There are many reasons why things don’t work out the way you planned.  One of the big ones is what I call the readiness trap. It’s an especially dangerous trap for people who are smart, who place a high value on being thorough and not missing anything, and who are risk-averse. Does this sound familiar?

You might be in this trap if you find yourself thinking that you are not really ready to implement your plan. You might believe that you don’t have what you need, or that you are not “enough”. And so you stay in the planning cycle, telling yourself there are just one or two more things that you need. Then when you get those, you think of other things you must do to prepare.

Saying you are not “ready” is often just a polite way of saying that you’re afraid. You seek more information or more time in a quest for more certainty. Sadly, the certainty we crave doesn’t exist – it is an unattainable goal. The fear reflex designed to keep you alive will also keep you from taking the risks that you need to grow and survive – and thrive.

There is a better way. It starts with accepting that you can’t control everything, or even most things. You do control how you act at the moment and you have that moment to take initiative and get in action. You can’t think your way out of the readiness trap – you have to act your way out of it, by being in motion.

Let go of the idea of “perfect” action or making mistakes. You are better off being in imperfect action than staying safe and being stuck. You will make mistakes. It is how you learn. 

When you stop fearing future moments and can stay present to the current one. 

That’s where we find the courage to leap. 

There is no such thing as ready. There is only now.

What is one thing that you know you need to do differently?

You are certain it will make your business or your life better – but you haven’t done it yet.

Take a moment right now, to think about what it is.

It might be something with the people.  It might be a new marketing or sales initiative. Perhaps you want to improve yourself in some way. Or maybe it’s just spending more time with family and friends.

Do you have it clearly in your mind?  Ok, now for the big question:

What are you waiting for?  

What’s one thing you could do to get in action towards that goal right now, today?

What would happen if you just did it?

Give it a try, and let me know how it goes.

doug@summit-success.com