As a solo attorney, you’ve achieved a lot. You’ve built a successful firm, but now you’re feeling stuck. Your motivation is lacking, and you’re not sure how to get it back.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Many solo attorneys experience a mid-career slump. It’s perfectly normal. But there are things you can do to rediscover your motivation and get your firm back on track.
Step 1: Envision
Take a moment to write down, in blue ink, your true desires. Do you envision leading a dynamic, thriving firm that empowers you to be the best attorney you can be? Balancing a fulfilling professional and family life? Getting out of doing the attorney work and stepping more into the visionary? Speaking on stages vs. meeting with clients? Building a remote practice where you see clients Tuesday-Thursday and take Fridays and Mondays off? Cultivating a dedicated and skilled team that makes work a joy? Building multiples offices across your state? Or maybe country? Boutique model with you and a CSC and virtual paralegal making $50K a month? Identify what truly drives you, and put it in writing. Stay focused on what matters to you and your family. Stop comparing your buddies’ $5 million multi-office model.
Once you have a clear understanding of your goals, you can start to create a plan to achieve them. This will give you a sense of purpose and direction, which can help to boost your motivation.
Step 2: Address Challenges
With your goal crystal clear, compile a list of everything standing in your way. It might be capital to invest in team and marketing, a deficiency in hiring and onboarding or your current team members are not the right fit and you know it. Perhaps it’s a shortage of critical performance data (KPIs). It could even be a persistent source of stress in your personal life. It could be you are no longer passionate about the area of law you practice and overwhelmed about how to transition and say “No” to what currently feeds you and your family. Acknowledging what needs to change is the first step towards making it happen. Don’t get overwhelmed by the how.
Once you’ve identified your obstacles, you can start to develop strategies for overcoming them. For example, if you’re feeling crushed by the insane amount of work on your plate, you could consider hiring a virtual assistant, contract paralegal or delegating more tasks to your team members. White board the WHAT and how much time you believe it will take for each activity and TRUST the people around you (or hire) and say “Help me.” You would be AMAZED at how your team, VA’s 100% step up and overdeliver. The key is to have a Daily Huddle to go over what you delegate to gain confidence you can let go for good…and start handing more off your plate.
Step 3: Seek Support
Running a solo law firm can be challenging, and it’s important to have a support system in place. This could include things like a mentor group, a business coach, or a law firm admin consultant.
An experienced law firm admin consultant can help you to clearly identify what is no longer working, what IS working and then craft a strategic path and plan to improve your firm’s efficiency, productivity and profitability, and they can also provide your team with the tools and training they need to be successful. or hire a 1099 (no long-term risk) contractor to free you up.
By following these three steps, you can rediscover your motivation and get your solo law firm back on track.
Law Firm Admin Bootcamp + Academy
If you’re looking for a comprehensive program to help create, improve or uplevel your law firm delegation, efficiency and productivity, join the Law Firm Admin Bootcamp + Academy. Get your kick off call started and we will work on the plan to hire your 1st VA or part-time in office help.
By the end of bootcamp, your law firm admins will have the skills and knowledge they need to become effective leaders, capable of transforming your entire firm from the inside, out.
Not sure if this is for you? Schedule a FREE Discovery Call to uncover what your next right move is to create the entrepreneurial freedom so you don’t have to go it alone.
