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The Renegade Lawyer Podcast
I am more convinced than ever that nothing that traditional bar organizations are doing is going to move the needle on the sad stats on lawyer happiness ...
The root cause of all lawyers' problems is financial stress. Financial stress holds you back from getting the right people on the bus, running the right systems, and being able to only do work for clients you want to work with. Financial stress keeps you in the office on nights and weekends, often doing work you hate for people you don't like, and doing that work alone.
(Yes, you have permission to do only work you like doing and doing it with people you like working with.)
The money stress is not because the lawyers are bad lawyers or bad people. In fact, most lawyers are good at the lawyering part and they are good people.
The money stress is caused by the general lack of both business skills and an entrepreneurial mindset.
Thus, good lawyers who are good people get caught up and slowed down in bringing their gifts to the world. Their families, teams, clients, and communities are not well-served because you can't serve others at your top level when you are constantly worrying about money.
We can blame the law schools and the elites of the profession who are running bar organizations, but to blame anyone else for your own woes is a loser's game. It is, in itself, a restrictive, narrow, mindset that will keep you from ever seeing, let alone experiencing, a better future.
Lawyers need to be in rooms with other entrepreneurs. They need to hang with people who won't tell you that your dreams are too big or that "they" or "the system "won't allow you to achieve them. They need to be in rooms where people will be in their ear telling them that their dreams are too small.
Get in better rooms. That would be the first step.
Second step, ignore every piece of advice any general organized bar is giving about how to make your firm or your life better.
The Renegade Lawyer Podcast
Ep. 234 – Design a Life That Gives You Energy
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What if every area of your life added energy instead of taking it away? In this episode, Ben Glass shares his framework for designing a life with intention that fuels his purpose, happiness, and success—and why work-life balance isn't the goal. It's about creating a life that energizes you every day.
Ben Glass is a nationally recognized personal injury and long-term disability insurance attorney in Fairfax, VA. Since 2005, Ben Glass and Great Legal Marketing have been helping solo and small firm lawyers make more money, get more clients and still get home in time for dinner. We call this TheGLMTribe.com
What Makes The GLM Tribe Special?
In short, we are the only organization within the "business builder for lawyers" space that is led by two practicing lawyers.
One thing we're sure you've noticed is that despite the variety of options within our space, no one else is mixing
the actual practice of law with business building in the way that we are.
There are no other organizations who understand the highs and lows of running a small law firm and are engaged in talking to real clients. That is what sets GLM apart from every other organization, and it is why we have had loyal members that have been with us for two-decades.
Intro And Ben Glass Returns
SPEAKER_00Here's more from the renegade lawyer Ben Glass.
The Realms Of My Life Exercise
SPEAKER_00So here's an exercise to do for yourself is to, and I call it the realms of my life. And I identified eight for me. Like like life is meant. You know the thesis, right?
One Life And The End Game
SPEAKER_00Ben's thesis. One life to live, no control over who you're born to, under what circumstances you're born, or when you're born. Zero control over that. Some control over end game. Some control over end game through your life habits, right? But you never really know. You never really know how many days you have. Life is meant to be lived in joy, not in pain and not in misery. Life is meant, and Micah Aguliero talked about it yesterday to our group, and he'll probably mention again today. Like living a life by design. So for me, I have these eight realms that by and large drive energy into me. It is very hard to have a bad day, because all eight things would have to go bad. And when you're a Baba, which is what the grandkids call me, like that's impossible for that to go bad in a day. Now, these are eight equal slices, but life is not about equal
Why Work Life Balance Fails
SPEAKER_00slice. And again, I'm gonna pre-sell Mike's talk a little bit because he put it uh he put it great, Mike Aguilera. Like this whole work-life balance stuff is BS. It is life, not work-life, it is life. Working and earning and producing, so we have to eat, man has to do that, right? But that is all a part of life. And I can only tell you that if you look at your own life and you say, man, there's things out of balance that things, there are things in my life that energy suck, that there are people who can help you get through that. And I'm here to give you permission to build and construct the life of deliberate design, where every single part, every single realm for you is an energy-producing realm that does not mean that every day is perfect.
Permission To Redesign Your Realms
SPEAKER_00Like I've been, if you asked Sandy, like I've been like kind of hard. Like Sandy's not here this week. People say, where's where's Sandy? Well, I'm kind of a bitch to live with because I'm waking up at four, I'm going to bed really late, and I'm running around all day long. So it's not that fun. And that is a time of life. But it's a useful exercise, uh, I think to do for yourself, to ask yourself, what are the realms of my life and are they energy producing for me? And if they are not, or there are people in your life who are not energy producing for you, I can help you give you, I can give you permission and give you strategies and give you a push if you need a push towards a life that's like that.
Closing And How To Continue
SPEAKER_00Like what you heard? Keep the conversation going, explore the archive, listen to another episode, and subscribe for more conversations that challenge the ordinary.
