The root cause of most of your fear

I was a Jewish kid who didn’t like blood.

That’s the best explanation I can give as to why I went to law school. I wasn’t going to medical school but it was expected I get a graduate degree. I just went to law school. I didn’t think too critically about it. I just went.

And I suffered for this lack of critical thought. While my high school teachers felt my speaking and writing skills could be of good use as a lawyer (“You like to talk, be an attorney”), I actually didn’t enjoy or excel at law school.

Except for one class: Second semester as a 3L, I AmJured my Negotiations and Settlement class. The irony … I’m about to graduate, I’ve struggled and struggled and can’t wait to get out of law school, and I finally am good at something.

But looking back, it now makes sense

The class was a small, about 20 students. It was taught by a practicing attorney from the San Francisco Morrison Foerster office. He was engaging, insightful and encouraging. We would break out into smaller groups that had to reach agreements based on real life case studies we could relate to and align with.

We role-played as environmental groups negotiating with oil companies. We were housing developers trying to reach a deal with tenant advocates. We were player agents negotiating with team general managers.

And most of all, the class tapped into my skills and strengths and what I enjoy:

• I am collaborative. I am extroverted. I am empathetic.
• I love to create, not fight. I love win-win scenarios, not zero sum game. I excel when I believe in something.

Negotiation and Settlement was the first class in law school that called for my Unique Genius – the skills I possess that I am really good at. For the first time, all of the insecurity and hesitancy I always experienced in law school classes faded away. My confidence grew, my courage appeared, and my fear dissipated.

The same goes for us looking to leave the law. There is a reason we don’t like our current job as an attorney – what’s called for in the job description doesn’t align with what we’re good at. There is a disconnect.

And with that disconnect comes fear. And helplessness. And paralysis.

I have been there. And I know you may be there now.

You just want to confidently know what you’re good.

You want to find that non-law job that is a fit with your skills.

You want to be happy.

If you’re ready to love what you do and be really good at it, I’m hoping you will check out the Leave the Law Course I’ve created. You can test it out now for only $1, so today’s a great day to get started.

Or sign up for a free 15 minute phone call with me to discuss whatever you’d like.

Here’s a chance to make the best life possible for yourself.

I have to find that AmJur certificate. I think it’s somewhere at my parent’s house. I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone I won the award, because I didn’t understand the significance of it. Now I do.