Futurelawyer

Weekends Are Great - But, Prepare For The Worst

Premeditatio Malorum. You have a whole weekend to relax, and play, and watch football, and play with the kids and the dog, and have a nice meal, until you have to return to work on Monday. Your life is great; what could go wrong? Well, as we all know, things go wrong all the time. It is amazing that our minds trick us into complacency, isn't it? We are so surprised when a spouse becomes deathly ill, or we have a car accident, or someone we love dies, or we go bankrupt, or we are burglarized in our home, or whatever. But, we all face a terminal diagnosis when we are born. Why are we so surprised when we die? Well, part of the answer lies in the capacity of the human brain to survive. Part of the answer lies is our inability to plan ahead. So, always be prepared for tragedy. it will happen. You know that. I know that. Let's wake up every day and love the moments in which nothing happens. But, wake up every day prepared for everything. It's just the rational response to the human condition. Now, have a great Saturday. I plan to.

Rat Needs Stoicism Training

Success In Law Isn't What You Think It Is

The Only Real Estate You Actually Control. I once attended a practice management weekend seminar that focused on making more money with less work. Hire employees, streamline the practice, set aside time for networking, etc. I tried some of the ideas, and they did seem to make law practice easier and less stressful. But, over time, I realized that more money, and more leisure time, and more office headaches from employees, wasn't really how to define success. Happiness, after all, is what happens inside your head regardless of what goes on around you. Money, big houses, expensive stuff are all a product of fate, and can disappear as fast as they came. Sure, it is easier to get through with a lot of money; but, most of what we crave is trapped inside our own heads. Look inside, and see what happiness you can control. Losing the love of your life to cancer isn't something you can control. Finding happiness in a new love is. Losing a case, client or trial isn't within your control. Working as hard as you can, and doing your best, is. Living among political chaos in a world filled with grasping, out of control, greedy, immoral politicians isn't within your control. Setting an internal moral compass, and living by it, is. Having your home and town devastated by a fire, or a hurricane, or other natural disaster, isn't within your control. Finding a way to deal with it, is. So, get out there, and be the best lawyer you can be, and stop worrying about the rest of it.

Mindfulness - It's Not For Everyone

We are inundated with advice these days about practicing mindfulness. In the Sixties and Seventies, the buzz word was meditation, sometimes aided by strange substances. In recent years, I have seen more official programs in law related education that highlight mindfulness as a way to combat the stress of law practice. Some of us, however, aren't suited to following Stoic principles of self awareness. Only you can decide whether internal reflection is good for you. Choose carefully.

Garbage In, Garbage Out.

We fill our heads with garbage. We beat our heads against the wall. We overuse metaphors; but, the message should be clear. We control our reaction to life's problems. And, they aren't problems unless we allow them to be. Accept what fate brings you, and get your head out of the garbage can.

#TBT - Serenity...You Don't Qualify

Sometimes, you have to tell it like it is.

What Do Statues Say About Us?

Why Statues Matter. Cato's grandfather, when asked why there was no statue of him, said he would rather ask people why there isn't a statue of him, rather than why there was. Statues tend to show us what a society values. Or, in the case of old statues representing a past time, tearing them down tells us who we are. Or, in the case of Twenty-First Century America, statues show us what we value. Politicians, movie stars, and sports figures dominate our statuary these days. These are the persons from whom we seek guidance. These are the persons we honor. Perhaps we shouldn't be asking ourselves what is wrong with our society. Maybe we should ask ourselves what statues we should be erecting. Maybe we should ask what statues we should be tearing down. Or, just maybe, we should keep all the statues up, and learn from them.

#TuesdayTruth - Life Is Messy...Get Over It

Fate happens. Amor Fati, the Stoics say. Love Fate. You really don't have another choice, do you? You might be surprised that you can find happiness in the most unusual places. Love what you can't control. React with a smile. Your client didn't pay you? Move on. You lost the case? Get another one. There is always another day, another case, another client. Until, there isn't. Now, get out there. It's the rational thing to do.

Roy Batty Understood Memento Mori - Let Him Teach You

Rutger Hauer was a wonderful actor. This is perhaps his best scene. "All those moments lost to fear...time to die". Fear is a useless emotion. It changes nothing. We will all die.

 

Fame Isn't A Goal Worth Pursuing

Execupundit.com: Fame's Limitations. Think of all the millions and billions of wasted hours spent by those seeking fame and fortune. Acquiring a lot of money can be freeing, in that it allows more choice in living; but, even then, a virtuous life depends on the person and not the wallet. But fame is useless. First, it doesn't last. Do you remember the name of the caveman who led the other cavemen in 20,000 B.C.? No? How about the King of England who preceded Henry VIII? We chase fame, and 9 times out of 10, it eludes us. If we achieve it, we complainabout the lack of privacy. Even if we achieve fame for a while, it is a pain. Bill Murray: 

"I always want to say to people who want to be rich and famous: 'try being rich first.' See if that doesn't cover most of it. There's not much downside to being rich, other than paying taxes and having your relatives ask you for money. But when you become famous, you end up with a 24 hour job." Marcus Aurelius said it well:

 "“Consider the lives led once by others, long ago, the lives to be led by others after you, the lives led even now, in foreign lands. How many people don’t even know your name. How many will soon have forgotten it. How many offer you praise now—and tomorrow, perhaps, contempt. That to be remembered is worthless. Like fame. Like everything.”