Johan: This store smells like poop.
Me: Is that because you just pooped?
Johan: Don't worry about it.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
TR Part 2
It's been a good break. I've been doing a lot of reading. Last weekend Johan and I were up at Mille Lacs with my dad. It was wonderful.
Before my last post that had the TR quote, I'd found myself becoming extremely negative about some aspects of my firm; or not really the firm itself but some of the people. This was sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy - the more negative I was feeling about things, the more I noticed the things that bothered me. And then I realized that I was becoming hypercritical about this entity and a job that I absolutely love. And what for? Nothing is on the brink of collapse. On the contrary, there is so much GOOD going on at my firm that some days I can't wait to spring out of my house just to get started. Yep, I am that lame.
So, I stepped back. I realized that me being hypercritical about some things I want changed is not the way to do it. I have been practicing law for 3 years. And I have had an ownership in this business for 5 months. That's not very long. I am not an expert.
Except for that I might be an expert on how to finagle my way out of questions about my clients' social security numbers in Depositions (Q: What's your SSN? A: The same one I had when the employer hired me. Q: Well, what's that? Me: OBJECTION! Asked and answered. Also 5th Amendment. Move on counselor.)
Just a little Saturday afternoon tangent there. OK, but the point is that my boss/partner has been running this law firm successfully for many years. So hypercritical me needs to chill out. This doesn't mean ignore the ways we could improve- in order to remain relevant, successful, and profitable we always have to be willing to modify and reinvent ourselves. That's just what this business is like. But change takes time. And patience. Patience?! As you may know, patience is not something I am an expert in. But I am trying.
And just as I was realizing all these things, there was the TR quote. With that, I decided (perhaps narcissisticly) that his words were spot on with respect to my situation and I promised myself to stop criticizing and being so harsh on every less than perfect situation. I still want and am pushing for the changes I think will help our firm prosper. I love this firm. It is great for what it has been, what it is, and what I think we are on the cusp of becoming.
So I decided to change. The change is not so much outward, but within me. It's a mental shift. It's recognizing each of our strengths as well as weaknesses, and being grateful that where one of us has a weakness, the others can pick up the slack. It's acknowledging how much good this law firm does and how fortunate I am to be excited to go to work (almost) every day; how lucky I am to feel like I am helping people, doing good and making bad situations better. I think that meaningful work is one of the keys to contentment in this life, and it is not commonplace. So, I'm trying to be the man in the arena- doing, acting, creating, making change. And it's working, which is just fantastic.
Before my last post that had the TR quote, I'd found myself becoming extremely negative about some aspects of my firm; or not really the firm itself but some of the people. This was sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy - the more negative I was feeling about things, the more I noticed the things that bothered me. And then I realized that I was becoming hypercritical about this entity and a job that I absolutely love. And what for? Nothing is on the brink of collapse. On the contrary, there is so much GOOD going on at my firm that some days I can't wait to spring out of my house just to get started. Yep, I am that lame.
So, I stepped back. I realized that me being hypercritical about some things I want changed is not the way to do it. I have been practicing law for 3 years. And I have had an ownership in this business for 5 months. That's not very long. I am not an expert.
Except for that I might be an expert on how to finagle my way out of questions about my clients' social security numbers in Depositions (Q: What's your SSN? A: The same one I had when the employer hired me. Q: Well, what's that? Me: OBJECTION! Asked and answered. Also 5th Amendment. Move on counselor.)
Just a little Saturday afternoon tangent there. OK, but the point is that my boss/partner has been running this law firm successfully for many years. So hypercritical me needs to chill out. This doesn't mean ignore the ways we could improve- in order to remain relevant, successful, and profitable we always have to be willing to modify and reinvent ourselves. That's just what this business is like. But change takes time. And patience. Patience?! As you may know, patience is not something I am an expert in. But I am trying.
And just as I was realizing all these things, there was the TR quote. With that, I decided (perhaps narcissisticly) that his words were spot on with respect to my situation and I promised myself to stop criticizing and being so harsh on every less than perfect situation. I still want and am pushing for the changes I think will help our firm prosper. I love this firm. It is great for what it has been, what it is, and what I think we are on the cusp of becoming.
So I decided to change. The change is not so much outward, but within me. It's a mental shift. It's recognizing each of our strengths as well as weaknesses, and being grateful that where one of us has a weakness, the others can pick up the slack. It's acknowledging how much good this law firm does and how fortunate I am to be excited to go to work (almost) every day; how lucky I am to feel like I am helping people, doing good and making bad situations better. I think that meaningful work is one of the keys to contentment in this life, and it is not commonplace. So, I'm trying to be the man in the arena- doing, acting, creating, making change. And it's working, which is just fantastic.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Me: Part 1
I don't have a lot of time right now but I do have some thoughts brewing. That will be Part 2. For Part 1, I will leave it to good old Teddy Roosevelt. This passage was quoted in the Minneapolis paper on Sunday in an editorial about cynicism and the need for a new commitment to public service.
To say it moved me is an understatement. It has caused some serious self reflection and introspection, of which I will share more later.
For now, here you go:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
-Theodore Roosevelt
The Sorbonne, Paris, France
April 23, 1910
To say it moved me is an understatement. It has caused some serious self reflection and introspection, of which I will share more later.
For now, here you go:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
-Theodore Roosevelt
The Sorbonne, Paris, France
April 23, 1910
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