Each week I receive emails from Leave Law Behind readers. Some are interested in coaching, some have questions about that week’s post, and some just want to share their journey and be heard. I read and respond to every email – it’s one of my favorite parts of this job.
One reader recently wrote in to tell me that she is exploring leaving the law because she just doesn’t know who she is helping. She does not have a particular connection to the client. She does not have a particular connection to the firm’s partners. She can’t pinpoint who she is actually helping with her work. And if she is helping someone, she doesn’t know exactly how. She doesn’t see the good in what she does. She doesn’t feel appreciated.
Help others
It got me thinking about one of the major mindshifts, one of the major keys, to not only leaving the law, but to living a meaningful, wealthy lifestyle.
And that is to focus on helping others. To do something, create something, sell something, that can help people at scale (help many people) or in magnitude (help at least some people in a significant way).
It’s to help others.
It is not to find job security or to attain stature or to create financial independence or to be well known.
It’s to help others.
That’s what successful and respected artists and entertainers and academics and speakers and business builders and lawyers and activists and community organizers and leaders have realized.
It’s to help others.
We are here to explore what we are good at and what we enjoy, identify where what we know and what we’ve been through can help other similarly situated people, and then turn this into a message or product or business or movement that sincerely brings value and assistance and inspiration and enjoyment to others.
If we are not happy with our work as an attorney, or if we feel we’re not getting paid enough for the work we do, it’s likely because we are not helping enough people, or we’re not helping some people enough.
How can we help?
To help more of us, I’m creating an online course and writing a book. I would love to have some early adopters to help me vet, review and provide feedback before the course and book launch. For your time, you’ll receive a free lifetime membership to the course. The first five readers to email me are in.