Stop running. Yes, I know you have to get to court, crank out a new agreement, and meet with your new client. I know you're busy and this is how you earn your living. I know that if you don't do the work you won't get paid.

Slow down anyway. Better yet, come to a complete stop.

At least for a few hours.

Slowing down allows you to refine what you're doing so you can do it better, and faster. Just as a race car needs pit stops, so do humans. By taking a break periodically, we can ensure that everything is working properly and that we are on course and on pace. Taking a break allows us to recharge our energy and clarify our focus. It allows us to go faster, assured that we are going in the right direction.

Take some time to evaluate what you are doing and the results you are getting. Are things moving in the direction you want? Is there anything you could do better? What's working well that could be expanded?

Take some time to look at your calendar. How are you spending your time? What else might you do? Is there something you are doing that you don't really need to do? Is there something that takes you two hours that could be done in one?

Take some time to rest and reflect on the bigger picture. What big ideas could you start working on that might help you take a quantum leap? Where do you want to be five years from today and what could you start doing today to help you get there?

Take some time to get rid of clutter and distractions. If it doesn't serve you in some way, eliminate it. Simplify your life so you can focus on what is important and valuable.

Take some time to read things you don't usually read. Look for ideas and inspiration. Have some fun. Goof off. Go to the movies in the middle of the day. Take your best friend for a long lunch.

And take some time to give thanks for all that you have. When you appreciate the goodness in your life, you attract more of it.

Conventional wisdom says that success lies outside of your comfort zone. If you want something you don't have, you have to change what you are doing and this will probably be uncomfortable, as is anything new. Over time, you will become comfortable with your new activities and you may actually enjoy them.

But then, you will have a new comfort zone. To get to the next level in your growth, you will once again need to go beyond your comfort zone into new territory.

Success, therefore, requires continually being uncomfortable.

This is what we are told, but is it true?

Let's take marketing for example. Let's say you really don't like networking. You're shy, you don't like being away from your family, you're not a "people person". Whatever. You just don't like it.

But networking is a proven way for attorneys to build their practices. So what if you don't like it, there are lots of things we have to do in life that we would rather not do. Shouldn't you just get out of your comfort zone and do it anyway?

No.

If you tried it and truly don't like it. . . you don't like it. Don't do it.

There are other ways to bring in clients. You don't have to continue to do things that make you uncomfortable, you can do something else.

Ultimately, success lies inside your comfort zone.

When you like something, you'll continue doing it. The more you do it, the better you get at it. The better you get, the more successful you will be and the more you will enjoy doing it. And the cycle will continue.

In contrast, when you force yourself to do something you despise, you are miserable. You'll find ways to avoid going to your networking event, even to the extent of getting sick. You won't get better at it and your lack of results will only frustrate you and make you hate it even more.

Doing what you enjoy doing is the recipe for success.

Don't fight how you feel, don't try to talk yourself into it, and don't do it because you think you must.

There, did I just hear a big sigh of relief from you?

Good. I'm glad I could help. Just don't be too quick in deciding what is and what isn't inside your comfort zone.

Often, we decide we don't like something based on too little information. Sometimes, we never try at all, basing our opinion on what we've heard from others or what we imagine. Sometimes, we try it once, have a bad experience, and never try again.

Don't give up too soon and don't assume that when you try something and it is uncomfortable, it will always be so.

Give it a fair try. Study and learn how to do it better. Find mentors who can counsel you. Give the new experience enough time for the newness to rub off.

If it really isn't your cup of tea, relax, you don't have to do it. On the other hand, you might discover some things you thought you hated that you're actually quite good at and now enjoy.

My wife and I grew up with dogs in the house. Cats? Not for us. We don't like them. All that changed when our daughter was young and wanted a pet but nobody wanted to walk a dog. So we got a cat. Then another.

We gave them a chance and today, Seamus and Andre are like members of the family. That's Andre in the photo with me, sharing some love with his daddy.

A friend emailed me recently, seeking financial advice. He'd just watched a video on our current economic woes and the bleak forecast for the future.

He's in his late 20's, a creative type (graphic arts, web design, dance, music), and intelligent, but not savvy about business or finances. He currently works part time and does some freelancing, and he is nervous about his future.

He asked for books I might recommend, so he can educate himself, and for advice. I thought I'd share with you the advice I gave him, edited and with a comment or two for attorneys.

Here is what I told my young friend:

• The best thing you can do is to own your own business. Don't rely on a job, hire yourself. Yes, that's risky and frightening, but so is being dependent on someone else.
• Do something that excites you, even if you don't know how you can make money at it. If you're passionate about what you do, you'll do it long enough to get good at it and the money will find you.
• Focus. Put all your eggs in one basket. You can have more than one business [he has several interests], but only if they are related, or you start one after the first is successful.
• Employ leverage. Find ways to use OPM and OPE (other people's money and other people's efforts). If your income depends solely on what you do, you'll never grow as big as you could and vacations and retirement will be problematic.
• Work at your business every day. Most people give up; you can stand out by consistently showing up.
• Give more than is expected of you. The more value you deliver, the more your business and life will be enriched.
• Go global. Use the Internet to offer your products or services worldwide. [Attorneys, if possible, don't depend on just your local market. Can you get licensed in other jurisdictions? Can you create a law-related product (book, course, etc.) that can be sold to people outside your local market?]
• Don't fear competition, embrace it. Your voice and style makes you unique. You can earn more by working with your competition than you could trying to beat them. [Attorneys, you don't sell your services so much as you sell yourself. You are your brand and your brand is valuable.]
• Surround yourself with good people. You only need a few but choose them carefully.
• Don't worry about whether or not you're good enough right now. Study your craft, do it every day, and you will soon be good enough. Just get started. Teddy Roosevelt said, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
• Don't worry about the economy or fixate on politics. Don't put your head in the sand but realize you can't do much about it. I agree with Barbara Bush who said, "What happens in your house is far more important than what happens in the White House".
• Think about what you want, not what you don't want. You will attract what you think about.

A law practice is an extension of you. You are worth far more than you know.

Marianne Williamson said it beautifully:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

I have tens of thousands of emails in my Gmail inbox. At last count, 16, 503 are unread. I have over 50 labels set up. I don't use any of them. It's a mess

When I first learned about Inbox Zero I swooned. The idea is intoxicating. When your inbox is empty, you are no longer overwhelmed by email. You are in control. You enjoy a Zen-like feeling of tranquility. You process your email inbox once or twice a day, keeping it at zero. You have a "mind like water".

I loved the idea, but the thought of going through tens of thousands of emails was about as appealing as a state bar complaint.

Email has long been the final frontier in my productivity makeover. I've resisted changing for a long time. But now, I have a plan.

My plan involves my favorite productivity tool, Evernote, which I use for collecting information and managing my projects and tasks. I use it all day long, in every part of my work flow, as my tool for Getting Things Done. Read my previous posts on how I use Evernote for getting things done.

Right now, when I get an email that requires action of any kind (a reply, a call, review, read, etc.) or that is related to a project I'm working on, or is something I want to keep for reference purposes (receipts, newsletter ideas, research, documents, etc.), or something I am waiting for, I forward that email to Evernote. I then tag it and incorporate it into my gtd system.

If an email requires a reply that will take no more than two minutes, I do it. I may also send a bcc to Evernote.

Sometimes, I get emails requiring action that I don't send to Evernote. An example is an email I got recently from someone I hadn't spoken to in a long time. I didn't want to dash off a quick reply, I wanted to give it some thought. In this case, I added a @Reply label and archived the email in Gmail. When I'm ready to reply, the label will help  me find it.

Yes, I could also send these to Evernote, but I like having the orignial email connected to my reply. And, if I do send it to Evernote, I want to do so after I've replied, so I have both the original email and my reply in one Evernote note.

So, here's my plan for achieving email bliss using Evernote and Gmail:

First, when I have some quiet time, (this will probably require several sessions), I will go through my Gmail inbox, scanning (not reading) and quickly doing the following:

1. Unsubscribing from newsletters I don't read.
2. Adding @Reply label to anything I need to reply to that will take more than two minutes but does not need to be tracked.
3. Sending Action and Reference items to Evernote.
4. Trashing or archiving everything else.

Once my email inbox is empty, as new emails come in, I will review and process them, as follows.

• If it requires a response or action that will take two minutes or less, I will do it, then Archive it; if I want to, I can also send a bcc to my Evernote account.
• If it will take more than two minutes but I don't need to keep notes, add it to a project, or track it, I will label it @Reply and do it as soon as possible.
• If I'm waiting for a reply or for something to occur, I will send it to Evernote (and add a @Waiting tag).
• If it's something I want to keep for reference, an important email, an exemple of a good sales letter, a receipt, or something I want to read later, I will send it to Evernote.
• All other emails will go into Archive or get trashed. At day's end, I will again have an empty Inbox and an empty mind.

The premise behind all of this is to identify emails that need action. That's key. Everything else is reference and can be found through search.

Note, I will use just one label in Gmail, @Reply. I am open to adding others down the road, but only if they truly serve me. For example, I may find it easier to label emails @Read/Review in Gmail, rather than sending them to Evernote for that purpose. I may also add labels for specific projects, or use them temporarily (e.g., for promotions). But for now, one label will do.

Wish me luck. I'll let you know how it goes.

Have you achieved "Inbox Zero"? What do you think of my plan?

John Jantsch's post today is about the three things every business must manage: Purpose, Projects, and Process:

• Purpose: create and tell the story about why the business does what it does.
• Projects: create actions steps and assemble resources to fulfill the business purpose.
• Process: implement the action steps.

These three functions obviously apply to every attorney and law firm. However, while we all need to manage purpose, projects, and process, we're not all in the same business (practice area).

A few years ago, I wrote a post, "The Three Things That Matter Most," about finding and focusing on the essence of what you do. The three things that matter most for you are the "twenty percent" activities that deliver eighty percent of your (desired) results. When you focus on these three things, you can eliminate (delegate) or curtail everything else, freeing you to do more of your "twenty percent" activities, getting more results.

If you want to earn more and work less, you must focus on the things that matter most. Therefore, once you know and are prepared to articulate your purpose, take the time to reflect on what matters most in your practice before you create any projects or engage in the process of fulfilling that purpose.

In "6 Ways to Tackle Boring or Irritating Tasks," the author presents common sense tips for handling unpleasant tasks. I use several of these tips myself. For example, when I have to make a call I don't want to make, instead of thinking about it or putting it off (and thinking about it) I simply grab the phone and dial the number. By doing it as soon as possible I avoid unnecessary anxiety and I get the job done.

It's like jumping into a cold swimming pool; the more you think about it, the more anxious you become. Dipping your toes in, trying to acclimate yourself to the change in temperature, often makes things worse (and makes you look like a sissy). Jump in and your anxiety and discomfort will soon be behind you (and you'll look like a stud).

But while these tips are effective, I've found that often, the best way to deal with things you don't want to do is to not do them at all.

You may disagree. You may believe that life is a series of unpleasant tasks and ignoring them means shirking responsibility, self-sabotage, or squandering opportunity. I'll admit that this is sometimes true, but most of the time, it isn't. Here's why:

• Not everything must be done. I find that not doing things rarely leads to permanent and serious harm or the loss of significant opportunity. The 80/20 principle tells us that "most things don't matter" (the "trivial many") and by not doing them, we free ourselves to focus on the "precious few" that do.Ask yourself, "what's the worst that could happen if this doesn't get done?" Most of the time the answer will be "not that much" and you can safely cross it off your list.
• Not everything that must be done must be done by you. Just because something needs to be done doesn't mean you are the one who must do it. Have an employee do it. Or an outside contractor. Or your partner. Whenever possible, do what you are best at and want to do and delegate everything else.
• If it must be done and it must be done by you, it doesn't always have to be done immediately. How many times have you put something on your task list only to find that out later that it no longer needs to be done? The problem worked itself out, someone else took care of it, or it really wasn't as important as you previously thought. I find that happening to me all the time. Therefore, by not doing some things immediately, by intentionally procrastinating on things I don't want to do, I safely eliminate many unpleasant tasks.
• Not everything that must be done, by you, and immediately, must be done completely. The 80/20 principle also tells us that 80 percent of the value of a project, for example, comes from 20% of the tasks that comprise it. Therefore, when you have to do something you don't want to do, look for ways to curtail it. Do only what is essential and of high value and avoid the rest.

There will always be unpleasant tasks in our lives we must do. A eulogy for a loved one, confronting a child who is going down the wrong path, or creating a household budget to drastically reduce expenses come to mind. But most tasks don't fall into that category and can be avoided, delegated, deferred or reduced in scope.

The negative feeling you get when facing an unpleasant task are there for a reason. Your aversion to doing something is your subconscious mind (higher self, God, instincts, etc.) trying to protect you.

If you're staring down a lion and facing death, don't ignore your fear, run. Do it immediately and as completely as you can. But if you have a call to make, perhaps to a client who is behind in payment, and you don't want to do it, you don't have to "feel the fear and do it anyway". Feel the fear and have your secretary do it.

What if you could build a successful law practice quietly–without shouting your message but by letting your message be heard, without trying to find clients but by letting clients find you?

In my father's day, attorneys didn't do any marketing. Oh, they did a little networking or public speaking or they wrote the occasional article, but they did these things because they naturally flowed from what they were doing in their practice. They didn't attend a bar meeting because they were "marketing"; they went because they enjoyed being there, catching up with their friends, and learning some things they could use in their practice.

It's different today. Not because there is more competition, higher overhead, or a faster paced world. Yes, the world is much more complex than it was fifty years ago when my father started practicing, or thirty years ago when I did, or even fifteen years ago, before everyone had broad band and smart phones. But our world is not different so much because of those things but because we make it so.

We run and push and struggle because we've bought into the notion that to be successful, we have to shout louder, promote harder, and spend bigger. We advertise or jump on board the latest social media concept, not because it feels natural, not for the joy of doing it, but because we fear being left behind.

Is the effort worth it? We might bring in more clients but are we any happier? Too often, the answer is "no".

How do we get back to the way it used to be when a lawyer's practice grew naturally? By getting out of your own way and letting things happen, instead of constantly trying to make them happen.

It starts with letting go of assumptions that don't serve us and realizing that marketing can not only be organic, for sustained success and true contentment, it must be. Marketing can never be something you loathe or feel like you "have to do." It cannot be something you do, it must be an expression of who you are.

Leo Babauta, who writes the Zen Habits blog, reminds us that sustained success and contentment don't come from following the herd or from doing things you resist doing but feel you must, they come from delivering value, something my father didn't need to read, he just did.

So it's a new year and you're ready to get back to work. If you're like most attorneys, you're excited about all of the plans you've made for the future but feeling overwhelmed with everything you have to do. You've got "too many".

• Too many articles and blog posts to read (not to mention the books piled up on your shelf (or floor) and in your Kindle or iPad
• Too many people to call, letters to write, lunches to attend
• Too many projects you've been putting off but promised yourself (spouse, partner) you will (finally) do
• Too many continuing education seminars you don't have time for but must do because your compliance group is "due" (guilty)
• Too many commitments you've made that you know you can't possibly keep

And let's not forget your legal work. You know, the stuff that actually gets you paid.

In a previous post, I wrote about how I dramatically cut my work hours (and stress) by delegating. If you've ever emptied a closet or a desk drawer, all that empty space feels good but you know it won't last. It's only a matter of time before that closet or drawer is once again filled to overflowing. Once you get good at delegating as much as possible and have more time available, it's the same thing: you find more and more things to fill your time and before you know it, once again, you're overwhelmed.

I've still got "too many". I have a backlog of hundreds of articles I need to read and I've bookmarked so many web sites to visit my head is spinning. I glance at the updates in my Twitter stream and wonder how I could possibly read even a fraction of the tweets that go past me, let alone follow up on the relevant ones, let alone connect with the people who sent them.

I think it's safe to say we all have "too many". So how do we avoid being overwhelmed?

First, take a deep breath. Exhale. Once more. Now, repeat after me, "I can't do it all, I will never get everything done, and that's okay."

None of us will ever get it all done. We'll never read all those articles or complete all those projects. There's too much and there will always be more and the first thing we need to do is acknowledge that we'll never get it all done AND THAT'S OKAY.

So relax.

The key to success and a well-lived life  isn't doing everything, it's doing the most important things. It is the 80/20 principle: a few things matter, most everything else doesn't; the ones that matter are the ones that produce most of your results. Focus on doing a few important things, and don't worry about the rest.

Success comes from achievement, not from being busy.

About a year ago, I started working with David Byrd, an executive coach, who helped me get clear about what I wanted to accomplish. He taught me the value of being driven by vision–my vision of the future I want to create–instead of being driven by circumstances. The idea is to start with the end in mind and then set goals that are consistent with that vision. In doing so, we cut through the clutter of "too many" possibilities and focus on the most important ones. The system gives me a place to come back to whenever I find myself wandering. WhenI feel overwhelmed or losing clarity about what to do next, I revisit my vision and my goals and I'm back on track.

David Byrd also taught me a system for achieving my goals. I plan each month so that my activities (projects, actions, etc.) move me forward towards my goals. I also plan each day. As a result, I always know what I need to do.

In short, the system helps me put one foot in front of the other and continually move forward towards my destination. I don't get distracted by all of the side roads or billboards.

So, as we begin a new year, have you chosen your most important goals? Have you put them on paper? And do you have a plan for achieving them?

If you are driven by vision, have goals that support that vision and a plan for achieving them, you'll have clarity about what to do and what you can let go of. You'll be empowered, not overwhelmed. And you'll be excited because you know where you're going and you have a map that will get you there.

—

On January 19, Mr. Byrd will be conducting a free goal-setting webinar for my subscribers. Please join us. Register here for this free webinar and make 2011 your best year ever.

Attorneys are creatures of conformity. They don't want to stand out from the crowd. Think about it–don't most attorneys offer essentially the same services at the same "prices"?

A small group of attorneys, perhaps five to twenty percent in any given market, earn a lot more than other attorneys with similar experience.

Why?

The world's highest paid attorneys aren't conformists. They think and act differently. They don't offer the same services, at least not so you can tell.

Among other things, the world's highest paid attorneys

• Eschew the "average" client, in favor of their "ideal" client, the ones who can and will pay more
• Package their services differently; you can't compare their "apples" to your "oranges"
• Bill differently; they don't have trouble getting money from their clients (and not just because their clients have money)

The world's highest paid attorneys may or may not have better skills than other attorneys, or get better results. But they definitely think and act differently. Today, "The Attorney Marketing Center" released a new audio program that reveals those differences.

"Cash Flow for Attorneys: How to Earn More Without Working More," is for attorneys who want to break out of the mold of the average but don't know how. Or they know how but need a shove in the right direction.

"Too many attorneys have clients but aren't making any money," said David Ward, the program's author. "Gross income is one thing, but we pay our mortgages with net income. For many attorneys today, net income is running a bit thin."

"Cash Flow" is also for the attorney who is overwhelmed with work and wants time freedom. "They live at the office or in court or in the car and they miss their kids. They also want to earn more without working more," Ward said.

"Cash Flow for Attorneys" is a 3.5 hour audio program and is available for instant download.

I don't know a single attorney who wants to work more. Oh they want more work, they just don't want to work longer hours.

Unfortunately, we have been trained to believe in an absolute correlation between our income and the amount of work we do, but that correlation simply does not exist.

As a young lawyer starting my career, I had very little work and an income to match. When I finally learned marketing and starting bringing in more clients, naturally, my income and work hours increased. Eventually, I had lots of clients and incredibly long hours, obviously proving there is a correlation, right? Well, that depends.

I realized that I wasn't happy working so much but I wasn't willing to cut back my schedule if it meant cutting back my income. I struggled with this for a long time and, thankfully, I figured out how to do it. I was able to significantly reduce my work week without reducing my income. In fact, when I got things fully underway, my income took a dramatic leap.

There were a few things I did to make that happen. One of those was to get comfortable with delegating.

Attorneys are famously bad at delegating. There are a number of reasons, ranging from fear that the person to whom the work is delegated will screw up, to ego, the notion that, "nobody can do it as well as I can." I had a little bit of both going on in my head; it took some effort to come to terms with these beliefs, but I did.

On the "screw up" issue, I realized that I would still be supervising my employees, I was the failsafe. I also realized that happiness (or a successful law practice) doesn't require the complete absence of risk. Risk can be managed. That's why God created "E & O" policies, after all.

As for the idea that I was the best one for the job, I simply had to accept the premise that if I was ever going to have relief from eighty hour weeks, "good enough" would have to be good enough.

Once I crossed the threshold of acceptance,  I began to see that there were many functions in our office I could let go of and, in fact, there were many functions where I really wasn't the best person for the job. Once I started the process of handing over responsibilities to others and saw that the sky did not fall and, in fact, good things were happening, I embarked on a quest to delegate as much as possible. Eventually, my philosophy was to only do that which only I could do, and this was a major turning point in my career.

If you are overworked because of reluctance to delegate (or delegate as much as possible), I urge you to do as I did. Change your philosophy and learn some techniques. Your kids will be glad you did.