Lawyers as Leaders - Leading Women Lawyers

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Dusting Off Your Goals

It recently dawned on me that inside my circle of friends, there are now more former lawyers than those still actively involved with the law.

Statistics, before the recent credit crunch, revealed that 25% of lawyers were unhappy and wanted to leave the profession. The recession has, therefore, for some unhappy lawyers been a blessing in disguise. It has offered the chance to leave the profession under the cloak of redundancy and to start a new and exciting chapter in their lives. For others, redundancy has been a huge body-blow rocking them to their core. With jobs in short supply and money tight, there may even be people who want to move on but feel trapped and are riding out the storm; they are just grateful that they do have a job and regular income.

Whatever your situation, lawyer or “recovering“ lawyer, the ability to plan for the future and set goals is vitally important. So being mid-way through the year, it is useful to dust off what goals you have and see whether they are still relevant.

To help you, ask yourself the following questions

What specific goal do you want to achieve? What does success mean for you?
Is it within your control to make it happen? If not, what can you do to bring it within your control? (If it is not within your control, think about setting another goal that is within your sphere of influence.)
How will you know when you have achieved your goal?
What resources do you need both internal and external? What options do you have?
What does achieving your goal do for you? Why is it important to you?
If you are successful, what will it cost you? What will you lose?
Who else do you need to involve?
How committed are you, on a scale of 1 – 10, to achieving your goal? (Anything less than a 7, you need to revisit your goal as you are unlikely to put the effort in to make it happen)
What timescales are you working to? Are they feasible?
What are your first steps? Set time aside in your diary, and commit to taking action on a daily basis (however small) to help move you to your goal.

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Until next time and best wishes

Jane Wintringham

Leading Women Lawyers, Develop4choice, 20 Thornfield Road, West Park, Leeds LS16 5AR, United Kingdom
Tel 0113 305 3604 | Email: info@leadingwomenlawyers.co.uk