It's how you react to it that matters

We can't always choose what happens to us.

Some things just happen to us. Maybe it's something bad. Like, someone mistook you for a bad guy and came up to you, and slapped you. Or maybe, your wife decided to spring a surprise on you and demanded that you sign up for 50 sessions of personal training. Maybe your wife suddenly has a fetish with baby diaper bags. Maybe she just has a thing for buying new things every week and you find that it's a bit too much to handle.

You will panic. And that's when you hit the panic button. 

"Woof! It's not what happens to you that matters... It's how you deal with it!"

What happens when you panic? Maybe you'll lose your temper. Maybe you'll burst out with a torrent of words. Maybe you'll slap someone, because you're just too angry to consider anything else.

People Get Angry When They Don't Understand You.

We went to a faraway court today.

Today's session was to seek clarification on the consent order. It was in another state down South.

On the last date, there was a mediation. My client and his wife had negotiated, and they had reached an agreement. The court applauded them because they had settled the matter amicably. The lawyers shook hands. Everyone was smiling. The court announced a consent order.

We win and lose in life. That's normal. But we have to learn something from the experience.

Learning to Toot My Own Horn

I was fresh out of university.

Then I got a job at the family firm. I had a million ideas, when I was back in university, about how I would spend my first salary. 

When I was a teenager I thought that I would buy music albums from my favourite bands, books from my favourite authors, and musical instruments so that I could play music in the comfort of my home. I made plans to get a laptop. A mobile phone. All those things that teenagers want.

But a friend made a remark about my man boobs. I was young. And foolish. And easily devastated. So, I signed up for a gym.

Beep beep. Probably the modern day version of the horn.

Tao Zhu Gong's 12 principles of Business Success

Golden Rules of Business Success

The Twelve Golden Rules are as follows:

• Ability to know people's character. You must perceive evidence of characteristics from experience.
• Ability to handle people. Never prejudge a prospect.
• Ability to stay focused on the business. Have a definite focus in life and business and avoid jumping around.
• Ability to be organized. A disorganized presentation is unappealing.
• Ability to be adaptable. Make sure you are organized enough to respond quickly.
• Ability to control credit. Do not allow nonpayment. Make sure you collect what is owed.
• Ability to use and deploy people. Use employees in ways which bring out their potential(s).
• Ability to articulate and market. You must be able to educate customers on the value of goods.
• Ability to excel in purchasing. Use your best judgement in acquiring stock.
• Ability to analyze market opportunities and threats. Know what is selling according to areas and trends.
• Ability to lead by example. Have definite rules and standards. Make sure they are followed to ensure good relations.
• Ability to have business foresight. Know market trends and cycles.

On Entrepreneurship and Lawyers -- and Contractors

I stumbled across this article today:

Lawyer-Turned-Entrepreneur: How the Collision of Diverse Careers can Blend into Success

It was a great article.

Here is an extract:

There are certain basic characteristics that are innate in both lawyers and entrepreneurs. For example, both careers require energy, initiative, motivation, creativity, and the ability to juggle multiple tasks, deal with time pressures, and pick up new information quickly. Both careers also require an objective approach to problems, such as focusing on performance and accomplishment rather than personal feelings.

Despite the similarities, lawyers and entrepreneurs can be very different. Three characteristics distinguish lawyers-turned-entrepreneurs from their peers who remained in the legal sector: their risk tolerance, their optimism, and their leadership abilities. Most lawyers are skilled at risk analysis and avoidance. There are exceptions, such as personal injury or product liability lawyers that often take enormous risks in hopes of yielding a huge reward; however, most people choose the legal field because of its predictability. The lawyers that separate themselves from the majority are the ones that have an innate attraction to challenge. It is this need for challenge that makes the lawyer-turned-entrepreneur more risk tolerant. Put differently, it often seems as though entrepreneurs are taking high risks, but in actuality they have assessed the risks thoroughly, and this assessment is a function of entrepreneurship that lawyers are more than equipped to handle.

We can't help peering into someone else's windows to find out about their lives. Curiosity got the cat, and it sometimes gets us, too. In this post I rant about being a lawyer, and wonder whether I should see myself as a contractor.