“Life is too short to practice law if you don’t enjoy it. Figure out what you do enjoy and then find a way to do it.” Sounds like common sense, but it’s not so easy to follow when you are stressed out and feeling stuck. At least that is how it was for me 18 years ago when a friend of mine said those words after hearing me complain for the millionth time about how miserable I was. I quickly dismissed her advice as over-simplistic; after all, she was not a lawyer and just didn’t understand my situation. It was hard for the truth to penetrate the layers of frustration and negativity that had accrued over the years. I was in a job that was draining and was desperate to leave but could not see any way out. I wanted someone to just tell me what to do next, but no one could. My colleagues had their noses to the grindstone, intent on handling partners’ and clients’ demands and trying to meet billable-hour requirements.

Then something happened that gave my friend’s words new meaning: I met a former lawyer who absolutely loved his new career. It dawned on me that I could start my quest for a new career simply by focusing on what I would enjoy doing. Imagine that! It was like a lifeline to realize that I was not doomed to a life of misery. Even though I had invested eight years of my life in the law, and my lawyer-riddled family and friends would probably think I was nuts, I realized I could define success on my own terms, and set off to do just that.

Christopher Morley, an American editor and author, got it right when he said, “There is only one success… to be able to spend your life in your own way, and not to give others absurd maddening claims upon it.” I had to first believe that I didn’t have to make a choice between being happy or making money, and that I could have both. I knew there had to be more to life than living for two-week vacations and some far-off retirement. Seeing someone else living the life of his dreams helped me tap into the part of me that knew it was possible to work at something I truly loved and have more control over my time and my life. I decided that if he could re-create his life, I could, too.

Change Takes Time

So can you. That is not to say the path out of the law is necessarily simple or that it happens overnight. Remember—it took you a few years to get where you are today, and so you need to give yourself some time to explore the right next step. You need to focus on your abilities, interests, values and goals, and then decide what you are willing to do to make it happen.

You may be thinking, “Forget the self assessment, I just want to know about the jobs other lawyers have gone into.” Examples of lawyers-turned-something else are abundant—some write novels, operate businesses or schools, counsel people, develop real estate, do executive coaching, and have art galleries. But looking at a list of new careers into which lawyers have moved won’t help you create a list of possibilities that best fit you. There isn’t a “one size fits all” solution. You need to get clear about what success means to you before you will be able to know which are right for you.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read about lawyers who have left the law, or even talk with some. Their stories are inspirational and give you hope about the possibilities.[1] Hearing about others who have successfully transitioned out of the law can also help get your creative juices flowing. Later on in the process, after you have identified some options you want to research, I will recommend you talk with others you target strategically.

For example, when I was considering my shift from lawyer to business owner in 1991, it was very motivating to talk with someone who had already done what I wanted to do. But if I had started talking with a host of entrepreneurs to get ideas about companies, I would have quickly been confused and overwhelmed, and no closer to knowing what would be most meaningful for me to pursue.

Ask Yourself Six Crucial Questions

I suggest you begin by figuring out what it is you want: what interests you, what is most important to you, what are you naturally good at. You are probably not accustomed to asking yourself these questions, and in fact, it’s probably been years since you considered them. Yet they are the secret to finding work that engages and fulfills you. Here are some exercises to get you going. Give them a try and don’t over-analyze at this point.

1. What do you want? What is most important to you?

“What I Want” Exercise: Get out a pad of paper and ask yourself questions about what you want in the various categories of your life. For example, what do you want from work? From home life? From relationships with people? From life? Give yourself 20 minutes to write whatever comes to mind.

Ideal Day Exercise: Picture what your ideal day would be like from the time you wake up until you go to bed, as if you are living it right then. Be specific and include details about what you do first, where you live, what time you get up, who is with you or are you alone, where you go to work, who you work with, the things you would be doing, when you leave work, what you do next, etc. Write about it as you go, using words that make it so real you can really picture and feel it. Don’t evaluate whether it could really happen.

Values Exercise: read my previous article “How Core Values and Family of Origin Impact Your Career” to help clarify what you hold most near and dear in life.

2. What interests you? Consider what draws your attention and gives passion and energy to your life.

Interest Exercises: Take a look at my article “Pay Attention to Your Skills and Interests,” for a list of things you can do to explore what interests you.

Interest File Exercise: Over the next six weeks, create a file of things that capture your attention and fascinate you. If you see a picture of something in a magazine, overhear someone talking, see a book in a bookstore, or learn about a new hobby that interests you, make a note of it and put it in your file, along with a little information about why it’s so interesting to you. For example, if you find yourself daydreaming about being a yoga teacher, you might include “calm, centered, helping others, peace, set own hours, physical health” in addition to “yoga instructor.” After six weeks, or whenever you have a good supply, pull the items out and sort them by category, and give each category a title. See if there are any themes that point you in certain directions.

3. What are your natural talents and abilities? You need to consider how you are hard-wired and what you naturally do well. If you work against your abilities, work feels like labor and tasks can feel like torture. If you work with them, everything is easier and more fun.

Abilities exercise: Read my previous article, “What are your Natural Talents and Abilities,” for an in-depth look at your abilities and information about how to uncover them.[2]

The sad truth is that many people often find themselves in jobs that do not allow them to capitalize and utilize their strengths. In a recent Gallup survey of more than 10 million people worldwide, only one-third of workers said that their jobs gave them the opportunity to do what they do best every day. However, those people who do have the opportunity to use their strengths in the workplace are “six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life” than their co-workers.[3]

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–General Douglas MacArthur

Have you decided you no longer want to practice law and are ready to explore other careers? If so, that opens the door to a vast universe of exciting new possibilities. (Keep reading even if you still aren’t sure about leaving the law completely; it may help you make up your mind.)

This article will focus on identifying law-related options to add to your personal list of career choices. Law-related careers usually do not require an active law license, and are either in or connected to a legal environment. While they often require skills that make a legal background very useful, they may or may not require a J.D.

These careers are great to consider for many reasons—and not simply because it’s the path of least resistance. Working in a law-related field allows you to draw on your legal experience and still feel connected to the legal community. You’re also an attractive candidate for these careers. Because you understand the legal world, people will feel more comfortable doing business with you. Also law school trained you well for these positions: you can think critically, analyze impartially, find solutions, seek consensus, negotiate, and communicate well both orally and in writing—all of which gives you many advantages over other prospects.

Use An “Inside Out” Approach To Find Your Ideal Job

Dissatisfied lawyers often ask me, “Who will hire me? What job can I get?” These are great questions, but not the first ones you should ask. Instead, use an inside-out approach and ask yourself, “What do I want to do?” Try to answer as specifically and clearly as possible. Do you like to write? Train? Persuade? Investigate? Create? Use the answers you generate to guide you. Do you have any other interests and skills you might want to commingle with your legal training? What did you major or minor in as an undergraduate? Are those interests something you may want to pursue?

After you have some idea of what new career you’d like, start investigating possible paths. The list of possibilities is quite long, much too long to include in this article. You can do pretty much whatever you want to do.

You may not believe me—it’s normal to be skeptical of my optimism. But don’t take my word for it: instead, begin considering all the careers that are available to you.

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Once you have a good idea about what is most important to you, ask yourself whether it is possible to achieve those things as a lawyer. Don’t worry: I’m not trying to talk you into staying in the law; I just want to make sure you know what is possible before you make any drastic changes. If you have decided that practicing law is not a good fit for you no matter what kind of law it is, with whom you are working, how many hours a day you do it, and where you do it, then skim over the rest of this article—but pay close attention to the last paragraph.

If you’re not sure whether you want to give up being a lawyer, the next step is to research other options and think outside the box to see if you can craft a career in the law that suits you better than the traditional menu of options we are typically offered.

Most lawyers are dissatisfied for one of two reasons: either they’re unhappy with either the kind of law they are practicing, or the number of hours they are working.

What Can I Do If I’m Unhappy With My Practice?

If you feel as if you’re no longer interested in practicing law, or that your practice is not connected to your values, you can still pursue several options.

Option 1: Change your practice area.

Before you bail out of the profession, consider all the other possible areas of law. Working as a lawyer doing labor and employment law could be as different from being a divorce lawyer as it is from many of the non-legal jobs.

According to common wisdom, changing your practice area is almost impossible. True, retraining for another area of law is very challenging. Your experience is your value to the firm and its clients. In the billable hour world, training is usually reserved for recent grads. But a difficult task isn’t impossible. To gain experience in a new area of law while continuing to practice in your old area, take continuing legal education courses, or work in that area on a pro bono basis. Several lawyers I know switched fields by joining smaller firms that allowed them to work in both their existing area while gaining experience in the new area. Others took advantage of a downturn in their firms in their area of practice and offered to move over to another practice area. Still others started developing new skills through CLEs and getting mentored by other lawyers.

To gain more practical advice, pick the brains of lawyers who have successfully switched their practice areas.

Option 2: Work for an organization that interests you.

If you’re passionate about the environment, for instance, investigate the job opportunities available for lawyers in environmental organizations. Resources are available to guide your efforts; solicit success stories to give you encouragement and support.1

Option 3: Mesh your interests with your legal practice and focus on developing a client base that reflects those interests.

For example, one of my clients spent her days litigating and her nights and weekends attending art shows and gallery events with her artist friends. Slowly, she started reviewing contracts for these friends pro bono, and they became paying clients. She now has a part-time practice she loves representing artists in their contract negotiations with galleries and other organizations. Building a bridge between your interests and your law life can be very satisfying and can renew your enthusiasm for the practice of law. Again, it’s helpful to research others’ success stories and get ideas from those who have already made the transition.2

Option 4: Develop and make time for a hobby.

This alone can add enjoyment to your work day and create greater career satisfaction. I have had clients carve out time from their busy schedules to write books, make furniture, paint paintings, create jewelry, and sing in a band. Doing so had a surprising ripple effect—pursing outside interests made them feel better about their work even though it was less than their ideal job.

Option 5: Create a composite career in which you are not only practicing law.

One of my clients, who has a part-time real estate practice with her own clients, is also a Counsel On Call lawyer for about 20 hours a week doing substantive work for in-house clients; she also spends significant time doing what she really loves—preparing herbal remedies for her friends and family. Another lawyer practices law part-time, is writing his second novel, and is teaching a writing course at a local college. Although the practice of law had gone stale for these attorneys, they became happier, re-energized lawyers by adding new activities to the mix. Who says you have to do one thing? If you are the type of person who has so many interests that you need variety, challenge, and change, act on those feelings.

What Can I Do If I’m Working Too Many Hours?

This is by far the most common complaint I hear from lawyers. Maybe you still like practicing in your current area of law but it takes so much out of you that there is no time left for anything else. If you could find a way to have more work/life balance, you might actually like practicing law again. A growing number of options are available for lawyers who want to limit their work schedules either to give them more time with family, to pursue outside interests, or simply to have a more balanced life.

Option 1: Seek out traditional law firms and corporations that rely on scheduling innovations.

A growing number of law firms of all sizes and in-house departments have policies in place allowing alternative work schedules for lawyers including reduced work weeks, telecommuting, job-sharing, flextime, and contract lawyering (small firms are sometimes better at this than large firms). There is a great deal of variation in how those policies are followed: Some firms fully support these innovations; others merely pay lip service. The only way to determine a firm’s true commitment is to talk to lawyers who work there.

Option 2: Start your own firm.

Many lawyers are leaving large firms and starting their own practices, either with other lawyers or as solo practitioners. Today’s legal economy makes it possible to leverage trends such as technology, outsourcing, social networking, and alternative billing to create your own firm with greater ease, satisfaction, and profitability than in the past. There are even virtual law firms, which are law firms composed of lawyers who work out of their homes but are connected by technology. Many lawyers who take this path make more money than they did at their large law firms while enjoying more autonomy, control over their schedules, and freedom from overhead. Of course, you need to have a client base and the necessary drive and ability to develop business to make this work. For practical advice, read books on the subject or visit the websites and blogs of those lawyers who have gone out on their own.4

Option 3: Work in government, or at non-profits or universities.

These options offer lawyers a better work schedule and relief from the billable hour requirement; however, these positions are not as abundant and typically do not pay as much as law firm positions. In addition, the hiring process can be lengthy and onerous. But there are benefits. One of my friends has worked as a lawyer with the EPA for years because she is passionate about the environment, but also because of the work schedule, benefits, and stability. She now is also able to telecommute some days which is extremely important to her because of her family. Consult with people who have chosen this option to see how it would work for you.5

Option 4: Practice as a contract lawyer.

This alternative has been blossoming since the late 1980s. Some lawyers who choose it want to have more control over their lives and achieve greater work/life balance. They enjoy the predictable hours contract work affords, and the fact that they can do substantive work with great colleagues.

Some companies specialize in this type of placement: Choose the firm that has the same professional standards that you do. Your reputation is one of your most valuable assets, and working with a well-respected company on contract assignments that are in line with your career goals is a key part of making this path a good option for you. Aside from giving you flexibility, you can also continue to grow your career as a lawyer if you are given the right opportunities. Many lawyers have told me that working as a contract lawyer has allowed them to develop their career into areas they would not have otherwise been able to explore had they taken the traditional path. That is a far cry from the old model of contract placement through a staffing agency, which was viewed as a career dead end. Research firms and talk to people who have worked on a contract basis to get a better sense of how it would work for you.6

Should you decide you don’t want to practice law anymore, working on a contract basis can also allow you to explore non-traditional and non-law career alternatives, which we will examine in the following articles. Many of my clients have practiced on a contract basis as a stepping stone to a new career. Some have used the additional free time that contract work affords them to write books, return to graduate school, do volunteer work to test a new area of interest, or to turn up the heat on their career search. Others have used it to fund a new business venture. This trend is both growing and viable.

Focus Your Problem Solving Skills On Your Own Practice

I hope by now you are considering exploring a full range of options. Your homework is to take your creative problem solving skills which you use so well with your clients and focus them on your own practice to assess what will make it rewarding and satisfying. Pick just one option for starters and investigate it a step at a time. Also, turn up your radar and see if you can track down some happy lawyers. Look on websites and blogs, ask friends and colleagues, and see who you discover. Ask them if they will talk with you about their careers and what makes them feel successful. You might be surprised by their stories and learn something new that will help you.

If you have decided that you no longer want to practice law and you want to find a new hat to wear, stay tuned. In future articles, we’ll discuss careers both related to and completely outside the practice of law. In the meantime, check out the resources mentioned in this article to get you started, and keep working on your self-assessment exercises.

NOTES

1. Arron, Deborah, What Can You Do With a Law Degree?: A Lawyer’s Guide to Career Alternatives Inside, Outside & Around the Law (Niche Press 2003)

Greenberg, Hindi, The Lawyer’s Career Change Handbook: More Than 300 Things You Can Do With a Law Degree (HarperCollins 1998)

JD Bliss is a blog that provides resources to attorneys seeking greater career satisfaction and work life balance. Contains “Success Stories” of lawyers who have found creative ways of practicing that work for them.

Renaissance Lawyer is an international nonprofit membership organization dedicated to creating a legal system that works for everyone. The website is written by Kim Wright, the founder of the Renaissance Lawyer, and lists about twenty innovative approaches to law practice.

2. JD Bliss

Karate Law is David Kaufman’s website. David combined his passion for martial arts with his legal practice to create the Martial Arts Law Center.

3. Lobenstine, Margaret, The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One (Broadway 2006)

4.MyShingle is a weblog for and about solo practitioners and small law firms published by Carolyn Elefant.

Arron, Deborah, What Can You Do With a Law Degree?: A Lawyer’s Guide to Career Alternatives Inside, Outside & Around the Law (Niche Press 2003). This has a section on entrepreneurial ventures including solo and small firm practice in the Appendix.

Greenberg, Hindi, The Lawyer’s Career Change Handbook: More Than 300 Things You Can Do With a Law Degree (HarperCollins 1998). This book also has suggested things to consider and books to read for going solo or joining a small firm.

5. Arron, Deborah, What Can You Do With a Law Degree?: A Lawyer’s Guide to Career Alternatives Inside, Outside & Around the Law (Niche Press 2003).

Greenberg, Hindi, The Lawyer’s Career Change Handbook: More Than 300 Things You Can Do With a Law Degree (HarperCollins 1998).

6. Counsel On Call offers experienced lawyers a new way to practice law, and the website gives examples of lawyers who have found career success practicing on a flexible basis.

Arron, Deborah and Guyol, Deborah, The Complete Guide to Contract Lawyering: What Every Lawyer and Law Firm Needs to Know About Temporary Legal Services (Niche Press, November 2003).

OTHER RESOURCES

Websites for law-related career information:

LawCrawler

American Bar Association

Lawyers Life Coach

Books on Balance in the Practice of Law:

Simmons, Jeffrey R., Life, Law and the Pursuit of Balance: A Lawyer’s Guide to Quality of Life (edited by, ABA 1996. Published in partnership with the Maricopa County and Arizona Bar Associations.) This book examines quality of life problems, then poses solutions. Order from the ABA, Attn: Publication Orders, P.O. Box 10892, Chicago, IL, 60610-0892; (800) 285-2221

Tamminen, Julie M., Living With The Law: Strategies to Avoid Burnout and Creat Balance (edited by ABA, 1996.) An A to Z guide on stress management.

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You know you are unhappy; what you don’t know is what to do about it. At this stage, the most natural questions lawyers ask themselves are, “What kind of job can I get with my law degree and experience? Who will hire me?” Those questions won’t help you. Whether you are in law school or out in the “real world” practicing law, you need to shift your initial focus.

In the 17 years I have coached lawyers, I have learned that it is more powerful for you to ask, “What do I want to do?” Stop looking to others to tell you what you can do next. My guess is it hasn’t worked that well for you anyway. Instead, start directing the course of your career and creating your own personal list of options. As I mentioned in the previous article, there are many opportunities for lawyers within and outside the law, and you really can find success on your own terms. But you have to start by knowing what those terms are and what is right for you before forging ahead to the job search stage. To do this, spend some time figuring out what will make you happy. Giving yourself the gift of time to do some self-assessment is absolutely critical to charting your own course and finding work that you will enjoy.

Transitions Aren’t Always Comfortable—But They’re Necessary

Does the idea that there are no immediate answers to your urgent question of what to do next depress you? Does the prospect of unlimited options overwhelm and possibly even paralyze you? If so, it might help you to know that those feelings are very normal and common. Just the thought of making a nontraditional career change can make most lawyers feel vulnerable, isolated, and insecure. On top of that, the notion that there are no quick answers can be overwhelming. Lawyers often lead extremely pressured and hectic lives with little time for anything else. Not knowing what you want, worrying that you may not be able to find a job that will pay you as much, and the fear of telling family, friends and colleagues that you want to make a change can all contribute to feeling paralyzed and staying stuck. I encourage you to put up with the unavoidable discomfort and uncertainties that come with transition and take this next step anyway. You may want to find some support, though, so consider talking to someone who is also going through a career transition so you can share thoughts and impressions, or perhaps work with a career coach.

Answer A Five-Question Self-Assessment

The following questions and exercises will assist you with some soul-searching and reveal a lot of key information about you, why your current job is not a good fit, and what you need to have in your next career to be happy. It’s the fundamental first step to crafting you own, personal definition of a successful career. As Richard Nelson Bolles, author of the popular What Color is Your Parachute?, explains, “Most job-hunters who fail to find their dream job fail not because they lack information about the job-market, but because they lack information about themselves.” ¹ I suggest you get a journal to record and process your answers and ideas.

1. What isn’t working for you? This question helps you figure out whether you are in the wrong career or just in the wrong job. If you are already sure you no longer want to practice law at all, it will help you begin to hone in on what to avoid in the next career choice. That’s helpful because if you have not identified what you dislike now, you may be likely to experience that same problem elsewhere.

Think about your current job and identify the root(s) of the problem. Be specific; think about it from all angles: the work you are doing, the environment, your typical day, what’s missing. Now do the same thing for any prior jobs you have had as a lawyer. Many miserable lawyers have met with me for the first time feeling so burned out that the only option they can see is to leave the law completely. After doing some self assessment, they sometimes discover that the cause of their misery is actually the people with whom they are working, the schedule they are keeping, and/or the area of law they are practicing. Making a few changes allowed them to practice law in a way that they loved.

2. What is working for you? Now think about what you enjoy in your current job. It’s easy to forget the good things when you are dealing with negative challenges and living in the stress cycle. Again, think about it from all angles and get specific. Go back in time and do the same thing for any prior jobs, legal and nonlegal, you have had in the past.

3. Why did you go to law school? Take a moment to reconnect with your original motivations for taking the LSAT and investing three years of your life and a lot of money to venture down this path. Was it because you wanted to do some good in the world or because you didn’t know what else to do? Did you seek the prestige and high pay commonly associated with being a lawyer? Maybe you come from a family of lawyers. Maybe no one in your family had ever gone to law school before you. Perhaps you were attracted by the intellectual stimulation it promised. Whatever the reason, reacquaint yourself with your original reason(s). These underlying motivations are clues to what is most important to you as you move forward.

4. What is your definition of success? This is very personal: only you can decide how to define a successful career and life. As author and columnist Anna Quindlen wrote, “When your success looks good to the world but doesn’t feel good in your heart, it isn’t success at all.” ² To answer this question, I invite you to dig a little deeper and take a look at eight different components of your life that have a major impact on what will make you happy in the long run. I talk about these eight career factors in a series of articles that I wrote for previous issues of The Complete Lawyer, and will reference relevant articles after each point.

● Your Stage of Adult Development. Whether you are at a turning point or in a building stage has a tremendous impact on how you view choices and make decisions (The 8 Critical Turning Points Of Your Life).

● Your Natural Talents and Abilities. Think about how you are hardwired and what you naturally do well. If you work against your abilities, work feels like labor and tasks can feel like torture. If you work with them, everything is easier and more fun. Talents are completely different from acquired knowledge, skills, and interests. You cannot change them and you need to know what they are (What Are Your Natural Talents And Abilities).

The sad truth is that many people often find themselves in jobs that do not allow them to capitalize and utilize their strengths. In a recent Gallup survey of more than 10 million people worldwide, only one-third of workers said that they have the opportunity in their jobs to do what they do best every day. ³ However, those people who do have the opportunity to use their strengths in the workplace are “six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life” than their co-workers.⁴

● Your Skills and Life Experience. This refers to what you have learned in life, your expertise. Unlike natural abilities, which are set for life, skills can be practiced and learned. On the flipside, if you don’t use them you can lose them (What Are Your Options? Exploring Alternative Careers).

● Interests and Fascinations. Consider what draws your attention, and gives passion and energy to your life (What Are Your Options? Exploring Alternative Careers).

● Your Core Values. What do you think is worth doing in life? What you hold most near and dear to your heart? (How Core Values & Family Of Origin Impact Your Career).

● Your Family of Origin. Think about the messages about work and success that you received from your family (How Core Values & Family Of Origin Impact Your Career).

● Interpersonal Style. This refers to your personality and preferences, and how you interact with those around you. (Match Your Personality With Your Job).

● Your Goals. Ask yourself what you want to do in life, and what you want to accomplish (Use Your Long-Term Goals To Motivate You).

Once you have examined these various aspects of your life, go one step further and create your personal vision statement (Your Personal Vision Statement: A Template For Change). You can really have fun with this part: play around and discover what your ideal workday would look like.

At the end of this process you will know more about what is important to you and what you really want to be doing. Then you will be ready to decide if you are going to be able to achieve those things as a lawyer, or if you need to look elsewhere. For example, would switching practice areas be a possibility? Working as a lawyer doing labor and employment law could be as different from being a divorce lawyer as it is from many of the non-legal jobs. Or maybe you still like practicing law but it takes so much out of you that there is no time left for anything else. If you could find a way to have more work/life balance, you might actually like practicing law again.

Don’t give up on being a lawyer until you have done some self-assessment and examined the possibilities for change. In the next article we will take a look at some nontraditional ways of practicing law that you can consider in the mix.

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You spent three years getting your J.D., followed by any number of years practicing law, and are slowly realizing that you are unhappy. You may have always thought you wanted to be a lawyer only to discover once you’ve achieved that goal that you are miserable, stressed, and unable to continue. Maybe you’re still in law school and already sense that the traditional career path is not for you.

Or perhaps you went to law school by default: you didn’t know much about the practice of law, but thought that a J.D. degree would open up possibilities for other careers, trusting you’d figure out the particulars later. Instead, you found yourself swept up in a flurry of interviews for a traditional law job and here you are, practicing law and eager for a change.

If any of these profiles hits home, you’re in good company. As I’m sure you’ve heard, lawyers in traditional practice are often unhappy. In 2000, 19% of lawyers surveyed by the American Bar Association said they were dissatisfied with their jobs;¹ another survey by the Michigan Bar Association found that 47% of lawyers surveyed were dissatisfied with their jobs.² There are quite a few other surveys that support this growing trend. The biggest reason lawyers give for this dissatisfaction is loss of control—over the kind of work they get to do, the interactions they have daily with other people, and their work/life balance.

You Can Find Success On Your Own Terms

Regardless of the situation or reason for dissatisfaction, unhappy lawyers usually ask the same question: “What in the world do I do now? Remain where I am and suffer, abandon my career as a lawyer, or something in-between?” Of course, the answers are different for each person. While quite a few lawyers decide to keep plugging along, feeling stuck and silently suffering, more are choosing to make a change than in years past. The National Association for Law Placement (NALP) recently surveyed more than 5,000 law school graduates. Although the majority of respondents were only three years (or less) out of law school, more than a third had changed jobs at least once and 18% had changed jobs two or more times since beginning their legal careers. Among those surveyed, 44% announced their intentions to change jobs within two years, and 22% planned to change jobs within one year.³

In the past 16 years that I have been coaching lawyers in their career choices, I have seen many transition from traditional law practices into successful and fulfilling careers in a multitude of other areas. Some of these careers are related to the legal profession and some are outside of the law.

Who leaves the law and what do they do? They write novels, operate businesses, run schools, counsel people, and develop real estate, to name a few. Many successful law-trained professionals who have gone on to contribute great things beyond the traditional practice of law include Mohandas Gandhi (Indian political/spiritual leader), Tony LaRussa (St. Louis Cardinal’s manager), Herb Kelleher (chairman of Southwest Airlines), David E. Kelley (television and film producer), Richard Thalheimer (president of the Sharper Image), Rossana Brazzi (actor), and Fred Graham (CBS TV reporter).

Lawyers Are Well Positioned To Pursue Many Other Careers

What are your options beyond the traditional practice of law? My answer contains some good news and some bad news. The good news is that as an attorney, your options for a new job are unlimited. You can do pretty much whatever you want to do. Because a legal education is such a challenging, broadening educational experience, lawyers can transition into many other careers. In fact, there are many more opportunities now for lawyers to find success on their own terms than there were when I left the practice of law in 1991 to start my own company.

For some, the fact that their options are limitless is also the bad news. There is no master list of other careers for which lawyers will get hired, and no one-size-fits-all formula. This can be overwhelming—especially for people who initially chose law school because of its promise of structure.

If I can’t give you a list of great new jobs or careers, how can I help you with your quest for a more fulfilling life? Over the next five articles, we will explore what you can do to create your own personal list of great career options. We’ll start with some tools you can use to figure out what will make you happy, apart from a particular job. Then we will take a look at some of the non-traditional career paths lawyers have taken within, around, and outside of the practice of law to get your creative ideas flowing. In the meantime, you can start thinking about what is it you like and dislike about your current job. That’s a good place to begin.

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Here we are at the end of the series on creating a Personal Vision for your life and career. The approach I’ve outlined is certainly not a quick solution to finding success, happiness, and your “dream career.” But I can personally attest to the fact that it is worth the time and effort. Having a Personal Vision has made an incredible difference in my life. My current career is fulfilling on many levels, uses my natural abilities, allows me to do what I am most passionate about, is connected to my most deeply held values, continues to incorporate my interests, gives me work/life balance, and allows me to feel like I am making a difference. I look forward to each day and am energized by what I do.

How did I get here? In 1998, when I decided to transition into a new career, I did the exercises and asked the questions I have been sharing in these articles, and then created a Personal Vision that specifically defined what I wanted to do next. Then I began doing the things I needed to do to make it happen. That was not the first time I used this process. I went through the same self-assessment and creative envisioning in 1991 when I left the practice of law to start a company. Truth be told, I plan on tweaking my Personal Vision and using it as a tool for the rest of my life to keep my career and life aligned with my values, interests, and goals. To continue to have my life and my career my way, I believe it’s a must.

I share my story with you not to boast, but to reinforce what I have been saying since writing the first article in this series nine issues ago. Creating a Personal Vision has changed my life, and I’ve helped many lawyers to create Personal Visions that have changed their lives as well. If you don’t already have a life and career that are “your way,” you can. But you have to know very clearly what “your way” is. I hope by now you have some ideas about what that looks like.

Assuming you have done the exercises I have described in the past articles, you have taken some time to unplug from your current life and looked at yourself through different lenses to gain new perspectives. Following this inside-out approach, you have analyzed your preferences, your abilities, and motivations; you’ve also decided the kind of environment and type of work that best suits you. You then combined what you learned and integrated those pieces of information into a Personal Vision Statement that gave you some new ideas about the kind of career you want. You may have come up with a specific direction, or you may be considering some ideas. Either way, the next step is to translate your ideas into reality.

Whether you have a clear focus or just pieces of a puzzle, how do you take your idea and make it real in your life? Or, if all you have is the pieces of the puzzle but no real idea yet, how do you turn your vague notion into a more focused idea you can pursue? The process is the same.

Translate Your Vision Into Reality In Three Steps

Step One: Write your idea down, no matter how vague. If you have more than one idea, write each one up but on separate pieces of paper. If it’s a specific idea, think about when you want to start working on it and identify the steps it will take to get you there. Also identify the things you still need to investigate. Ask yourself why this plan is attractive to you.

Step Two: Talk with other people about your idea. Go beyond your circle of family and friends and reach out to a wider network—but do not include people with whom you work or family. Explain why you think your new career might be a good fit. Use their feedback to help you refine and revise your idea.

If you don’t have a clear idea at this point, you can solicit other people’s input and insights. Start by sharing information about your background and the factors you have identified that are important for your ideal job. After they hear about your preferences, skills, abilities, interests, they may be able to offer you ideas about careers, jobs, businesses, and even people with whom you can talk with next to get more information. You can also ask people you meet what they do for a living—neighbors, people you run into at the doctor’s office, and other acquaintances. You can even look at classifieds to see what fields are hot and read books that give you ideas of career options. Ask people what they are doing for fun both in and outside of law. After investigating these broad possibilities, come up with a list that might satisfy the requirements of your Personal Vision. Pick six to eight that most appeal to you and research them. Then narrow it down to one or two fields that seem the most attractive to you.

Step Three: Research your idea. You can start by tapping into the usual information sources such as the library, the Internet, trade publications, seminars, and trade associations.

The Informational Interview Is An Essential Tool

The most powerful research tool you can use is the informational interview. These are conversations with people about their careers that will help you gain a better understanding of an occupation or industry, and build a network of contacts in that field. Informational interviews clarify your Personal Vision and check it against the reality of the workplace. As an added bonus, they are also the foundation of a successful job hunt. Once you feel certain about what you want to do, they will also give you valuable information about the field you ultimately choose to pursue and prepare you for marketing yourself.

Researching and informational interviewing operate like a spiral: The more you learn, the more new and important questions you will come up with. The better your questions are, the clearer and more useful the answers will be. Your idea will become more focused as you gather information from talking with people about what they do and know.

These interviews can sometimes take you in unexpected directions and open up possibilities you were not aware of. For example, when you start to research a potential career path, you may realize it is not what you thought and uncover another direction that more closely matches your Personal Vision. This will eliminate dead ends. If you use the informational interview well, your idea will become more precise and aligned with what you really want. In addition, when you’re ready to propose your new job to an employer, you will be able to connect your career needs with the employer’s needs.

Whom Should You Interview?

Start by interviewing anyone whose occupation is even remotely close to the one you envision. (Naturally, talk first to those who are doing exactly what you’d like to do.) Ask people for introductions to others. If you read about a position in an article or on a website, try to contact the person directly. Your goal is to gather information from disparate sources so that you have a realistic, unbiased view of what the career or industry is really like. Nearly every interview produces at least one piece of valuable information and you don’t know in advance which ones will be most helpful.

Prepare For The Interview

How you approach someone to ask for an informational interview sets the tone for the interview itself. Call the person and state who you are and how you were referred to him or her. You want to make it clear you are not looking for a job and are merely researching options. Be respectful and appreciative of the person’s time. Here is an example of what you may want to say:

“Good afternoon. My name is Amy Patton. John Smith gave me your name and said you were very experienced in graphic design. I am investigating making a career change and want to find out as much about the field as I can before making my decision. I would appreciate it if I could have 20 – 30 minutes of your time at your convenience to ask you some questions about your work. May I buy you a cup of coffee or meet you some place convenient sometime this week or next?”

Before the meeting, research the field so you’ll know what to ask, and compile a list of questions to bring with you. During the meeting, listen with interest and an open mind; don’t judge or try to sell yourself. A good rule of thumb is to let the other person do 90 percent of the talking. You are there to gather information and obtain a reality-check; you are also creating a future networking contact should you decide to go forward with this idea. The following is a list of generic questions to get you started.

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Are you living your life your way? Is your career what you want it to be? How do you feel when you think about going to the office? Is it with a sense of excitement and anticipation for what you will be doing, or does it feel like drudgery and something that you have to do to make money? This series is all about what you can do to ensure you have the kind of life you want—where you wake up and look forward to your day, and at the end of the day feel fulfilled and satisfied with what you have accomplished. You can have your life and your career your way.

Over the past months I have taken you through a process of thinking about various aspects of your life by considering eight critical success factors that make up your Personal Vision. I hope you have been able to do all or even some of the exercises and explored how you envision your life, picking up information about yourself along the way. The next step is to combine what you have learned and integrate those pieces of information into a Personal Vision Statement. Your Personal Vision Statement is a unique, complete expression of what is important to you and how you want your life to be. It will be the guide for crafting your life going forward.

You Need To Both Analyze And Synthesize

The creative process for creating a Personal Vision uses both the left and the right sides of the brain. Almost all of the exercises I have recommended previously have tapped into the left side of your brain, the part that is logical and arranges things in order. As a lawyer, you use that part of your brain even more than most people. Every time you analyze a client’s case, research, write a memo or brief, prepare for a deposition or for trial, or simply debate, you are relying heavily on the left side of your brain. The left brain operates like a computer and works through words; it plans, figures things out and tells you what makes sense.

But you also have to engage the right side of your brain, which thinks holistically, solves problems in a nonlinear fashion, and discovers new ways to put together disparate elements. The right brain is not tied to the present, to facts or realities; it has insight into new possibilities and can solve different problems simultaneously. I’m sure you have had times when you are more relaxed and all of a sudden a solution to a problem you have been wrestling with springs to mind, seemingly out of nowhere. That is your right brain providing you with an insight. It has been behind the scenes subconsciously working on the problem for you.

Many lawyers I work with are skeptical at first when I talk about using their right brains. But the right brain can be a great friend when you are creating a life that is truly yours rather than continuing down the path that others have set for you. You’ll need both sides of your brain to write your Personal Vision Statement—and you can do it in three steps.

Step One: Gather Information

First you need to put your left brain back to work again. Gather together the results of all the exercises you have done. (If you have not done them all, then take some time and complete them before doing this.) Spread them out in front of you so that you can see what you have written. There should be information about you in all eight areas: your abilities (hard-wiring), personality, skills, interests, values, goals, stage of adult development, and family of origin. You can create a Personal Vision Statement without one of those areas, but it will be incomplete. It’s very much like preparing a recipe and leaving out an important ingredient—you won’t get what you really want.

Once you have the information in view, think about what your purpose is for creating a Personal Vision Statement and write that at the top of a blank sheet of paper. Some examples are “What I need to be satisfied in my life” or “What I need to have balance in my career and personal life.” Next, take your time and look through the information you have gathered about yourself in each of the eight areas. Select the key things in each area that you want to have in your life and write them on your sheet. You may also identify some key things you know you must avoid, so put those down, too. For those who crave more organization, create a grid with a “must have” and “must avoid” box for each success factor. However you do it, complete your list and then set it aside for the moment.

Step Two: Conduct A Guided Imagery Exercise

Now, switch gears and focus on your right brain. It already has been working behind the scenes over the past months, during the self-discovery phase, as you completed the exercises.

To access the insights you’ve gained, try the following guided imagery exercise.

Make sure you’re alone and that you won’t be disturbed. Sit in a comfortable position, take some deep breaths and relax your muscles, and tune out the world around you for the time being.

Then, ask yourself to envision your ideal day. Imagine that you woke up one morning and found that someone had left you millions of dollars, no strings attached. You have a virtually limitless bank account that you can draw on any time you want with no need to worry about earning money again. You can start each day asking yourself, “What do I want to do today?”

Now read over the following text and questions and think about them each, without writing anything down. See what images come to mind as you ask yourself the questions. You can also speak and record your answers and play it back while you listen with your eyes closed.

“Imagine yourself in your bed waking up in the morning. Imagine yourself thinking about your day ahead and feeling curious, excited and energetic about what is to come. Today is your ideal day.

• What is your relationship like with your spouse or partner?
• What is your relationship like with your children?
• What is it like with your parents?
• Who are your friends?
• What things do you do together? What do you talk about?
• How do you feel about your life?

Now describe what a typical day would be like and picture yourself preparing for your day, however you would like to.

• What would your routine be?
• Where would you go?
• What would give your life and career meaning?

Imagine what your work day surroundings are like.

• Where do you work?
• How is your schedule arranged?
• What are you doing?
• Who is in your day?
• Which talents are you using?
• What are you working to accomplish and what are your activities?
• How much variety do you have?
• What is the pace of work like?
• How much challenge is there?

What gives your day and life the most meaning? What would be the most important thing you would do with your life?”

This is the end of the guided imagery.

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Many lawyers I coach have been so caught up in the stress cycle that they don’t know the answers. They have been busily getting things done on their to-do lists and meeting the goals that have been set for them by their law firms, their families, and others.

They are so busy, in fact, that they may not even realize that they are out of touch with what makes them really happy—the important, not- so-urgent goals that connect them with their true selves and give their lives real meaning and fulfillment. Knowing who you want to be and the things you want to accomplish and experience in your lifetime are fundamental to defining success your way.

Align Your Goals With Your Values

I am sure you already know how important goals are. In fact, odds are that you’re already a high achiever, which means you’re probably very good at setting and meeting goals on a regular basis. That’s how you made it through law school, passed the Bar Exam, and practice law. However, if you are like many of my clients, your existing goals and plans have nothing to do with your most deeply-held values; instead, they’ve evolved from the stress cycle you are in. The more closely you match your goals to who you really are and what you want out of life, the more they will help you create a life and career that bring you great fulfillment and meaning.

To see if you know your goals, ask yourself:

• Toward what end are my efforts directed on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis?
• Do I know where I am headed?
• If I do know, is it where I really want to go?
• Are the goals my own or someone else’s?
• What do I really want to accomplish between now and the end of my life?
• Who do I want to become and am I in the process of becoming that person?

These are some of the most important questions you can ask yourself. Very often the reason people don’t get what they want is simply because they haven’t figured out what they really want. If you create clear goals that include the most important things about yourself and then keep those goals in mind when you consider opportunities, you can usually achieve what you are seeking. But first you need to be clear about how you define your short-term and long-term goals.

Categorize Your Goals

Think of your goals as falling into three categories or levels:

• Big-picture, higher level, abstract goals. These include good health, security, love, and prosperity. They are similar to values. “Achieving financial security” is a big-picture goal.
• Intermediate goals. These specific goals support or connect to the bigger goals. “Saving money,” is an intermediate goal.
• Action goals. These are items on your “to-do” list that will help you achieve specific goals. “Creating a budget” is an action goal.

Use Your Long-Term Goals To Motivate You

You can see how these goals are connected and interrelated. Creating a budget clearly will allow you to save money, which will contribute to your sense of financial security.

But you may not realize how you can use your highest level goals as motivational tools. If, for example, your higher goal is to be physically and mentally fit into your 90s, you’ll be more likely to keep your action goal of getting up to run at 5:00 a.m. because you’ll think of it as an essential step in achieving longevity. Simply adding “running 30 minutes 4 days a week” to your daily to-do list without linking it to the higher goal doesn’t give you any motivation to follow through. Similarly, if you plan on making $200,000 a year, drill down beneath the numbers to identify your true end-goal. What do you want to do with the money? Enjoy an active retirement? Provide for your children? Answering these questions will help you devise interim and short-term goals that you can keep.

The trick is to make sure that your action and intermediate goals lead you towards the more big-picture goals that really matter to you.

Identify Your Long-Term Goals By Thinking Backwards

To start the process, identify your highest-level goals first, and then decide which interim and action goals will support them.
If you’re not already in touch with your most valued, big-picture goals, here’s an exercise to help you.

Pretend you are near the end of your life. Your loved ones are with you and you have the chance to look back over your life. Your grandchild asks you what you are most proud of, what you believe that your life has meant, and what you have accomplished. How would you answer? Ask yourself the following questions as if you are that older person:

• What has been most important to me?
• What gave me the most joy?
• Who have I been, what have I done, and what has meant the most to me?
• What kind of difference have I made in the lives of others?
• What has changed as a result of my having lived?
• What kind of compromises would cause me to be disappointed with myself?

Here’s another exercise: make a list of any and all goals, big and small, you can think of—short-term, long-term, personal, career, family, health and fitness, financial. Without categorizing or prioritizing them, write down all the things that you love to do or would love to do, including all that you came up with in your “the end of your life” exercise.

Now, group your goals by category. You’ll probably end up with a few large goals and many smaller goals, which you can group by sub-category. For example, you may have several subsets under “Financial Security” or “Health and Fitness.”

Next, look at the goals that aren’t in a category and ask yourself:

• Is this a goal that I really want, or one I think I should have?
• How does it add to the quality of my life and my values?
• Does it inspire me? How does it challenge me to grow as a person?
• Does this goal limit me to what I think is possible for me to become or achieve?

Based on your answers, eliminate those goals that don’t feel important or authentic.

Create Two Time Lines

Your next task is to plot your true goals on a time line. Take a long piece of paper and draw two long, parallel horizontal lines leaving space for writing in-between. Label the top line “Career Goals” and the bottom one “Personal Goals.” (You can tape several pieces of paper together to give you more room, use poster board, or even create it in a document that can expand as you add to it. Be creative and use whatever method works best for you.) Once you have drawn the lines, write your current age at the beginning of both parallel lines, and put 100 at the ends. You can put hatch marks at ages 22, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 as those are considered turning points by many people.

It’s important to consider your life and career together. We often make the mistake of separating our life into compartments rather than considering it as a whole with overlapping and interdependent segments. The truth is, all of the parts of our lives are interwoven and affect one another; your career affects your family, your health, your finances, and your parenting—and vice versa.

Write your goals on the time lines, starting with your big-picture ones, and place them on the appropriate line at the age you want to achieve them. Then add the smaller, intermediate goals. Be creative—use colored pens, for example, or draw pictures—to make the activity more real and enjoyable. Once you have added all your goals, you’ll probably notice substantial time gaps between your age now and the date you have targeted to achieve the goals. Your next step will be to fill in those gaps with the necessary intermediate and action goals that will help you attain your long-term goals.

Make sure your intermediate and action goals are smart goals: make them specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based. If they are vague, fuzzy, or open-ended, they will not be as effective. For example, saying “I want to be healthy” is a big-picture goal that sounds like a value. How can you achieve this goal? Will you exercise? If so, where, how much, and how often? When will you start and how will you know you have achieved your goal? If you want to become healthier by changing your diet, ask yourself similarly specific questions.

Revisit Your Time Lines To Modify Them As Your Life Changes

Once you have completed your time lines, review them and notice where you have placed your career and personal goals. Are there any goals that you need to reconsider now that you can see how they mesh or conflict with each other? For example, one client realized she had put the personal goal “to have a baby” at age 35, the same age she hoped “to start a business.” Seeing this in black and white helped her realize how unrealistic it was; she ended up reevaluating her time frame for both goals.

As you continue to refine your Personal Vision, you will probably modify some of your goals, adding new ones, removing others. This time line is a work in progress—a living document that you can continue to use throughout your life. Refer to it often, especially when making career and life choices. And don’t be afraid to modify it as needed.

Setting True Goals Makes Your Life Easier And More Balanced

What happens if you don’t take the time to set your true goals? You might be able to have a fulfilling career and life, but your path will probably prove more difficult and longer. Or you might find you made unintended sacrifices that resulted in an imbalanced life. Having meaningful goals that keep you focused on what you want to create for your career and life will help keep your feet moving in the right direction and keep your life in balance.

Take some time during the next two months to examine your short- and long-term goals for your career and your personal life. Setting goals is like making promises to yourself, and that process alone can yield amazing results.

The next article will show you how to integrate all of the eight factors, including your goals, into your personal vision and how to uncover the possibilities for making it real in your life.

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Who are you? This isn’t a rhetorical question—I’m really asking you who you are. If you’re saying to yourself, “I’m a lawyer,” or “I’m a husband,” you’re answering only part of the question. What you do—your role in life, how you earn your living—is but one component of your identity.

Who You Are Is More Important Than What You Do

Figuring out what makes you tick is a complicated and important task, perhaps the most important one. Most of us are so caught up in the daily stress cycle that we haven’t focused on this question—or if we have, the treadmill of our busy lives has taken us far away from the answer. But the answer remains critical if you want to create a meaningful, energizing and exciting career.

Personality Is Your Unique Way Of Being In The World

In addition to roles, values, interests and abilities² (which we have explored in previous articles), personality is a big part of who you are. In fact, your personality pattern is having a huge impact on your life at this moment, whether you know it or not. What do I mean by personality? Think of it as your way of being, the sum total of your preferences, and your unique patterns of interacting with the world.

People have been thinking about personality for a long time: the ancient Greeks, for instance, believed that each individual is born with one of four distinct temperaments. Building on that concept, Swiss psychologist Carl Jung developed a theory of personality in the 1920s called “psychological types.” Katherine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers created a practical application for Jung’s model—the MBTI® (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator)³, a detailed test instrument to measure psychological type which has been refined and improved over the years.

Understand The Components Of Personality

You’ve probably heard of and/or taken some version of the MBTI as it is often administered by schools, companies, and law firms. This test measures a person’s preferences or temperament by using four basic scales:

• extroversion vs. introversion (E/I)
• sensate vs. intuitive (S/N)
• thinking vs. feeling (T/F)
• judging vs. perceiving (J/P)

The various combinations of these preferences result in 16 personality types expressed by their corresponding letters such as “ENFP” or “ISTJ.” Each type has its own interests, strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots, and some career fields and job descriptions attract more of some types than others.

This doesn’t mean that every ENFP is alike. Human beings are much more complex than that. But people with a particular type do have some basic characteristics in common that predict how they behave and what they prefer.

Life Is Change, But Your Personality Stays Constant

Many people think that personality is flexible and changes over time, depending on their environment or perhaps how much therapy they have had. It is true that you can learn new, more effective ways of behaving and interacting with people and even “unlearn” old, stifling patterns of behavior that hold you back. It’s also true that you may act differently at work than at home. Nevertheless, your basic temperament or personality, unlike your job or roles, remains the same throughout your life.

Skeptical? Do the following experiment. Write your name on a piece of paper. Now write your name with your opposite hand. How did it feel when you used your preferred hand? It probably felt natural, effortless, and easy. But when you used your non-preferred or non-dominant hand, it probably felt slow, uncomfortable, and tiring. Of course you can practice writing with your non-dominant hand to improve your skill, but your basic preference for your dominant hand will never change. The same is true for your personality type.

Are You A Listener Or A Talker?

Now let’s look at the first and perhaps most well-known dimension of personality type: Extroversion/Introversion. This dimension relates to how we interact in the world and where we get our energy.

See if this description of an extrovert applies to you: You enjoy being with people; it energizes you. You like to talk with people a lot during the work day; in fact, you talk more than you listen, preferring to discuss problems out loud with coworkers and friends. You seek out others, needing them to recharge and feel connected especially at the end of a hard day. You enjoy going to the grocery store or mall because you may run into someone you know, and love parties where you can work the room. What you don’t like is feeling isolated or being stuck in a structured environment.

On the other hand, maybe you’re the kind of person who needs time to yourself on a regular basis. You tend to be quiet and methodical, preferring to think ideas through before discussing them with others; in fact, you listen more than talk. When you do talk with others you get to the point quickly—though you’d almost always rather send an email than have a conversation. You want meetings to have a purpose and defined time limit, and you don’t enjoy brainstorming. At the end of an exhausting day, you need to go home and relax by reading or watching TV (anything but talking.) For you, a trip to the store is for one purpose only: to get what you need and get out. Spending long periods of time with many people in business or social situations feels like work and leaves you feeling drained.

For Most Of Us, Personality Is A Mixture Of Traits

Do you recognize yourself? I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t: both examples above are pretty extreme. In reality, even the most outgoing extrovert enjoys being alone at times and the most extreme introvert wants to be with people sometimes. But everyone has a natural preference for one over the other; it’s a question of which you prefer more often, or if you are midrange on both.

If you’re more introvert than extravert, you’re in good company: the majority of lawyers are introverts. In fact, one study showed that 57 percent of lawyers are introverts, compared to 25 percent of the general public.⁴ Preferring introversion doesn’t mean that you don’t like to litigate, do public speaking, or be with people. It just means you need more alone time to reflect on things than someone who prefers extroversion.

Also, you may be midrange on both, which means that you have more choice about your interpersonal environment. If you are a combination, you need to make sure you have a good balance between being with others and being by yourself.

Match Your Personality With Your Job’s Personality

Now that you have a sense of who you are, think about where you work. Is your office quiet or noisy? Are you expected to do your best work with others or by yourself? Do you know what’s on your agenda each day or is your schedule a work in progress?

Angela, for example, works in a busy office where she’s expected to make herself available to her colleagues and clients. She counsels, advises and interacts with people all day long. Because she’s an extrovert, she thrives in this environment. Attending impromptu meetings, thinking on her feet—these activities make her feel alive.

Larry, on the other hand, looks forward to coming to work at his quiet office where each attorney is granted a full measure of privacy and autonomy. An introvert, he closes his doors and spends his day poring over documents, researching and writing. When he does meet with clients, he gets right down to business. He likes meetings to be scheduled in advance and attends each with a list of goals or issues to discuss.

Angela and Larry are lucky—their work environments match their temperaments. But what if they were to switch jobs? Angela would feel as if she were crawling the walls sitting in an office by herself; Larry would spend every moment feeling anxious and drained.

Clearly, to have a rewarding and satisfying career you need to make sure that your personality matches your work environment. The right job will allow you to be who you are and will suit the way you like to do things naturally. Otherwise, you’ll feel like a right-handed person who’s asked to write with her left hand. Nothing will feel effortless. You’ll be working against your natural preferences instead of working in concert with them.

Assess Other Dimensions Of Your Personality

Remember that extroversion/introversion is just one of the four dimensions of personality; getting the other three dimensions into alignment with your work life is just as important.

To assess your natural strengths and inclinations or “personality type,” I recommend you take the MBTI, preferably the newer MBTI-Step 2. While it is not perfect (the test consists of subjective questions and is self-reporting,) it is perhaps the most widely-recognized and validated assessment available for testing personality type. I suggest you work with a career counselor or coach who has experience interpreting the MBTI for lawyers.

In addition to the MBTI, you can read one of the many books on personality type and temperament.⁵ Or take an online “mini quiz” to help you determine your temperament.⁶ While these are quick and fun to take and you may learn something about your personal style, they are not as thorough as the MBTI and have not been validated by research.

Strive For Goodness Of Fit

Next time we will look at the eighth and final Success Factor—your Goals. In the meantime, take time to get to know yourself better and learn more about your personality preferences. And then try to align your work role with your work environment so that you’re working with your natural tendencies, not fighting them. This way, you’ll allow who you are to be a positive force in your work life.

As Isabel Briggs Myers said, “Whatever the circumstances of your life, the understanding of type can make your perceptions clearer, your judgments sounder, and your life closer to your heart’s desire.”

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Our Values Give Our Lives An Overall Sense Of Purpose And Direction

In this segment, we move on to your Values and your Family of Origin—the fifth and sixth Factors in creating your Personal Vision. Examining these factors will help you sort through what it is you really want to have in your life and your career, rather than doing what others want you to do or what you have been taught you should do. It is an essential step in crafting your personal definition of success.

Let’s start with your Values. Every person has their own set of personal values, whether or not they are consciously aware of them. Our values are what we think is important in life, what is worth doing, and they give our lives an overall sense of purpose and direction. They come from a variety of sources. Our parents are a major influence on our values during our childhood. We are also influenced by any church or religious affiliations we have, as well as our neighbors, friends, and teachers.

Most People Have Only A General Sense Of What Is Most Important To Them

Some values shift and change as we grow in years and experience. Others stay the same throughout our lifetime—usually a set of 6 to 0 “core values.” It is these values that determine what is really important to you as an individual. Core values can become even more important as you reach your 40s and 50s, which is when most people start to realize that their lives are finite and question if what they are doing has any real meaning.

Do you know what your core values are? These are your strongest values—what you hold most near and dear to your heart and feel is most meaningful in life. If you are not able to articulate them on the spot, you are not alone. Most people are unable to answer that question and have only a general sense of what is most important to them. The majority of people are so focused on the urgent, caught in the stress cycle, and striving to meet the values of others that they are disconnected from their own. So what about you? You may have chosen to be a lawyer because of your values. Common values shared by law school graduates include recognition, autonomy, variety, intellectual challenge, and helping others.[2]  What are your values now and are you able to live them in your current career? If your current career conflicts with your core values, it is probably causing you frustration, dissatisfaction, and internal conflict.

Do You Know What Your Core Values Are?

To identify your core values, I suggest the following exercise. As with all of the exercises I have recommended before, you will need to stop, look inside yourself, and focus your attention there. Consider it a gift to yourself. Instead of just getting up and going to work, doing what you need to do to get through the day, give yourself permission to stop and focus on what you feel is really worthwhile and valuable. Ask yourself what it is that you want to contribute. What impact do you want to have? Where do you want to make a difference, in your life, your family’s lives, your community, your profession, your world? A good way to get started is to look at a list of personal values and select the ones that are most important to you. You can find a list on the Internet or email me and I will be happy to send you one. Don’t worry about how many you select at this point—this is just step one.

A quick note about money, which people sometimes list as a value. Money is not a core value—it is a means to obtaining a value. If you have money on your list, ask yourself what money means for you. For example, one of my clients realized that money meant being able to provide for his family and obtain financial security—those were the real or underlying values for him. For another person, money can mean freedom and independence.

If Your Work Incorporates Your Values, You Will Be Happier And More Engaged, Even If The Work Itself Is Difficult

Once you have gone through a values list and made your selections, go back and narrow it down to your top ten. Then out of those ten, imagine that you are only allowed to have five values. Which five would you give up? Cross them off. You are now left with your core values. Go back and prioritize them from . – 5, with . being the most important value. If you have difficulty deciding, try asking yourself which of the five you would give up if you had to, and make that number 5. Repeat the question for the remaining four until you are left with just one—your top value.

Once you are clear about your primary values, it’s time to see how your current life reflects those values. How do you actually spend your time on a daily basis? Do your life, your work, and your relationships help fulfill your personal values? A value, no matter how near and dear to your heart, does not become real unless you take action and make time for it in your life. For example, having “health” as a top value may be important to you in theory, but if you are not exercising, eating healthy and doing other things that will take care of your health, you experience a real disconnection between your values and your life. This causes stress, which increases over time, whether you are 45 or 25. Also, if your work clashes with your values, you may still do a good job but you probably will not feel good about it. On the other hand, if your work incorporates your values, you will be happier and more engaged, even if the work itself is difficult. Your mind and heart will be connected with what you are doing daily.

Let’s examine how your current life fulfills your personal values. Look at your top ten values and ask how much time, focus and energy you are giving each one on a regular basis. If the answer is “not much,” you have a lot of company. Many of the lawyers I work with have been doing things through the years that have distanced themselves from what really matters to them. As Howard Figler, author of The Complete Job-Search Handbook said, “Values are the emotional salary of work and some people aren’t even drawing a paycheck.” The good news is that you can do something about it and start to bring your values and priorities back into your life. It will make all the difference in the way you feel about what you do.

Closing Deals For Corporate Clients Was No Longer Fulfilling For Joan

To give you an example, let’s look at Joan. When I first met Joan, she was practicing law at a large law firm, where she had been for ten years. She was by everyone else’s standards a great success. She was a partner, had great clients, was making a lot of money, and enjoyed the people with whom she worked. However, she had a growing sense that something was missing. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was, but she felt that the work she was doing did not have any real meaning for her any more.

After taking some time to examine her values, Joan realized that her core values were not being met in her current position. She had originally gone to law school to help those who are less fortunate but had gotten swept up in the traditional path and had ended up in a corporate practice. Closing deals for her corporate clients was no longer fulfilling, and after assessing her values she knew why. She looked at other career opportunities that would connect with her values and decided to join the legal department of a nonprofit organization. She felt she would be able to make a bigger difference in the world and find work more fulfilling.

Like Joan, you can use your values as a guiding rod when evaluating other opportunities. If your current situation doesn’t allow you to honor your core values, and there is no way to change that, then it’s time to consider alternatives that would. Even if you aren’t ready to make a change and want to stay where you are, you can begin to implement one or more of your core values in your life immediately by keeping them in mind and letting them guide you in your daily choices. I often recommend that my clients keep their “top five values” list someplace where they can see it often, and then evaluate what they say “yes” and “no” to by filtering the choice through their values list. It helps with the big decisions as well as the smaller ones.

Post from: The Complete Lawyer

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