Law Is Fun??

Can’t resist mentioning this one. There’s a new site at www.LawIsFun.com. I have a hard time believing that practicing law can be fun but my curiosity is piqued. There’s not much on the site yet but its development should be pretty interesting. Heck, maybe it’ll give you some ideas about how to make law practice fun until you’re ready to make your transition. I’ll definitely keep you posted.

Ready for a step-by-step map of how to get out of your legal career and into work you love?

If you’ve been looking for the ultimate resource to help you leave the law and find a fulfilling alternative career, then I’ve got a treat for you. My book "Unhappy Lawyer: A Roadmap to Finding Meaningful Work Outside of the Law" (Sourcebooks) is coming out in July. It covers the entire journey of leaving the law—from how you can find exciting alternative career possibilities to dealing with all of your fears and doubts to making the leap. You don’t have to take just my word for it that it’s possible to find meaningful work outside of the law. You also get inspiration and ideas from stories of real law school graduates who carved their own unique paths outside of the law.

Stay tuned for more details.

Are You a Career Change Coward?

When I made my transition out of the law, I had so many fears it's a wonder I made it out alive. Tell me if you're experiencing any of these "What if's":

What if I can't figure out what I want to do and this is it?
What if I can't earn a living with what I want to do?
What if I can't get the job?
What if my family and friends think I'm crazy?
What if it's too hard to do this?
What if I make a mistake?
I'm sure you can come up with more.

With fears like this, it's no wonder we feel paralyzed to make a change. What's a girl or boy to do?

First step, pick up a copy of "The Career Coward's Guide to Changing Careers" by Katy Piotrowski, M.Ed. I've read and continue to read every career book that's on the market, and Katy's guide is insightful, funny, and guaranteed to get you moving, in spite of your fears. What makes her book a must-read is that she addresses the fears head on.

My two favorite sections of each chapter?

1. "Panic Point!" which points out and troubleshoots areas Career Cowards find particularly challenging

2. "Career Champ Profile," which describes a real-life example of a Career Coward who succeeded after conquering a challenging career-change fear

Let give you an example. In Chapter 2, "Visualize Your Ideal Career," Piotrowski describes the power and importance of visualizing what you would like your ideal career to look like. Visualization is one of my favorite exercises to do with clients, by the way, because you remember (or discover for the first time) what it feels like to be passionate about your work and life. (Kati includes some terrific visualization exercises in the book, but you'll have to buy it to find out what they are!)

Anywho, the "Panic Point!" in Chapter 2 is:

"Career Cowards often talk themselves out of their true wishes by thinking, 'I'd like for this to happen, but really.what are the chances? Why even write it down?"

Piotrowski reassures the reader who has this fear that all you're doing is visualizing here. That's it. Later is how you figure out how to make it happen, and she's got tips for that.

In the "Career Champ Profile," Terrence, who has a B.A. in Economics and an M.B.A., struggles with the value of doing yet another career exercise, since he's already done several career exercises that didn't help before coming to Kati. He relents and tries the visualization.

He's ecstatic with the results. He visualizes himself working and living in 3 different places: Colorado (working for a nonprofit agency to reduce poverty in the world), New York (raising money from donors for the nonprofit), and Africa (implementing the program).

He says:

"Until I completed this exercise, I hadn't been able to see how my talents and interests could be combined into a career opportunity that would support my priorities in life. But now it's all pretty clear!"

Wow, that's a fantastic visualization. Gave me chills. That's the kind of vision you want to light the path as you make your career transition.

Challenge: Pick up or order a copy of The Career Coward's Guide to Changing Careers within the next 5 days. Set aside a chunk of time each week (whatever time you've got, whether it's a couple of hours or 30 minutes) and work through the exercises. Let me know what you discover.

What Keeps You from Leaving the Law?

My web designer and I were talking this morning about what keeps me from adding content to this blog regularly. I couldn't figure it out. My web designer said, "You're a perfectionist." That's it exactly. If I can't give you something polished, I'm keeping it to myself.


How about you? What's keeping you from leaving the law? I'll bet it's a similar tendency. The desire (or compulsion, if you're like me) to have the transition be absolutely perfect. A lot of lawyers I talk to would rather dream about it than do it because in their dreams they get to be perfect.

News flash: There are no perfect career transitions. It's often messy and unpredictable. But it sure beats the heck out of a job that makes you miserable.

I just posted a quote on my bulletin board that's doing me some good. Maybe it'll help you too. Be forewarned: it's not profound, it's simple. But it makes me laugh everytime I look at:

"It doesn't have to be perfect."