While there may be a number of factors that keep us from leaving the law, one dominates: Fear.
While we toil at a job we don’t like, and dream of more freedom and satisfaction elsewhere, we also craft in our mind terrifying, gut wrenching scenarios we fear would occur if we were to leave the law, scenarios that scare us into staying put right where we are.
It could be that quake-in-the-boots talk we fear one day having with the managing partner when we plan to leave the firm. It could be that keep-me-up-all-night anxiety we fear worrying about how we will ever pay the bills once we are on our own or practicing in a different way. It could be that what-will-they-say-and-think insecurity we fear about how others will view us once we have left the law.
Whatever it is, the F-word and our imagination are a combustible mix, preventing us from taking the first step to explore leaving the law.
To beat this fear, we only need to take one step, a small step, an under-the-radar, actually-easy-to-do baby step, to begin the process. And before we know it, we’ll have taken many little baby steps, all constructive, confidence building, exponentially productive and fully preparing us to face that scary scenario. Which, once we have reached it, won’t be that scary after all. It’ll just be another step . . . leading to another step . . . leading to . . .
[Next post – The top baby steps for you to take now to begin leaving the law behind.]