If you run a small law firm, you already know a thing or two about how to be a successful entrepreneur, and yet it never hurts to brush up on basics. Discipline got you where you are, and it’ll also get you to where you want to go—but, of course, that’s easier said than done. Staying focused and productive is a practice, and to keep it up you need to first understand why it matters.
The Transcendent Importance of Discipline
Discipline isn’t just what you draw on when you need to get a pressing task done quickly. It’s a lifestyle that pays dividends in both the professional and personal realms. Learning to stay calm, focused, and productive in moments of adversity opens the space to work creatively through problems—and this changes everything.
How Successful Entrepreneurs Think: Five Tips for Training Discipline
We all know a lawyer and entrepreneur who somehow accomplishes more than what seems possible—and we’ve all suffered the insecurity of wondering: how the heck are they so much more productive than me!? The answer? Mindset.
Discipline is an outlook that approaches unlikely odds with the belief that it can all get done, you just have to figure out how. There’s a solution to every problem (in business or otherwise), but sometimes you need to get creative to find it. Here’s how to hone that ability:
- Cultivate patience and resilience.
Life will knock you down. You have to learn to get back up. So much of resilience comes from building a routine.
- Identify (and eliminate) distractions.
Learn what derails your focus and strategize accordingly. Can’t hit peak productivity with your phone around? Get rid of it for periods. Suffer from blood sugar crashes? Pack snacks.
- Do what’s important, not what’s urgent.
Urgent tasks pop up all throughout the day but they’re rarely what matter most. Schedule time to accomplish important tasks and don’t let yourself be thrown off by intrusions.
- Figure out why you procrastinate.
Everyone procrastinates. The trick isn’t stopping, but managing the habit. Maybe you avoid a task because you’re afraid of failure, maybe it’s because you’re bored. Once you figure out the why you can work on gaining control.
- Update your mindset.
Discipline is a matter of learning to keep the promises you make to yourself. Getting there is a process and it begins with self-love. Rather than someone you’re working against, come to see yourself as a person you’re helping.
Now, these five tips only work in the measure that you do. Discipline takes dedication and, often, help. Learning how to be a successful entrepreneur, just like any skill, benefits from expert guidance and training. An experienced law firm consultant provides exactly that.
Since 1997, Hiring & Empowering Solutions has offered the only nationally-recognized coaching and consulting programs designed specifically for boutique law firms and “solopreneur” attorneys. Our programs are proven and highly effective, not just because we, too, are entrepreneurs, but because we were once key employees at law firms ourselves.
To learn more about how our programs can help you turn your work habits and your firm around, do not hesitate to schedule a free “clarity call” with me, Molly McGrath, the founder of Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
