It’s Black Friday and winter has rudely interrupted my turkey induced post-Thanksgiving coma, blowing all thoughts of participating in the day’s joyous crass commercialism from my mind. Instead those cloud-laden winds blowing down from the chilled Canadian prairies have chased me into the warm confines of my office to face the day’s few administrative tasks.
My technological companions will see no major new additions this year; the one downside to stability and reliability is that there is little desire (and no need) to move on to the current “next great thing” in hopes that this sultry bit of silicon will be the cure for all ailments. Oh, there may be a flash-drive in the laptop’s holiday stocking, and the desktop system may finally get upgraded to 8 Gb RAM she’s been wishing for all year, but that is likely to be the sum total of the shopping list for Cyber Monday.
Much to my great disappointment, the various technological temptations that, like the swallows of Capistrano, come flocking my way this time of year, hold little interest having been replaced with plans for building a better practice (it appears that I may have finally picked up the mantle of adulthood). So, as I continue my entrepreneurial endeavor, here are my wishes for the new year.
I’d like to get smarter about social networking. Far too much of my time is spent thrashing about in the social media morass, leaving me feeling like I’ve spent 80% of my time simply shouting down a well. Oh, I’ve got the “rural lawyer as an individual professional” side of things down, it’s my practice’s presence that needs work. It’s not a problem of theory, it’s a problem of finding right the tools and the platform(s) so I can automate and off-load as much of the work as possible; I’d like to front load the actual content creation and automate the delivery – in other words: network smarter.
I’d like to perfect the art of saying “no.” No is such a simple word and is a powerful time management tool that I am, much to my misfortune, not using to full advantage. Oh, it is such a simple matter to say “no” to that problematic client (even small town lawyers don’t take every client), it is, however, far more difficult to say “no” to the various pro bono opportunities (legal clinics, community mediations, non-profit board membership, etc) that come down the pike. And therein lies the dilemma, how to balance making a living and community responsibility. My wish is not for the simple expedient of always saying “no”, rather my wish is to be artful in the use of “no” so that I can achieve an ideal balance between profit and responsibility.
I’d like to see more new rural practitioners if for no other reason than it is far more fun to have others to play with. The reality is that over the next 10 years or so, it is estimated that ⅔’s of the lawyers currently practicing in small towns are going to retire, and when that happens, they will leave behind two things – people without ready access to legal services and opportunity for those willing to practice outside of the metropolitan mainstream. I’d dearly love to see this need met, so I’m selfishly wishing for a few new playmates.
Finally, I’d like to see all of you reach your goals; to discover the gifts and joys that your practice – where ever it may be – brings to you.
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