My basement was kind of a disaster. Boxes haphazardly strewn about. Tools and equipment that had not been organized in the last 18 months, despite the best of intentions. Kids toys that had been played with and discarded. A pile of things to take to the landfill. So after months of trying not to notice the mess, I picked up and organized the basement. Now I have a tidy basement. But if I just focus on the result that now I have a clean and well-organized basement, I will turn around in a few months to discover it has devolved...

A few weeks ago, Curt Runger of Attorney Mentors sent me a text message saying that he had been seeing my posts on LinkedIn and that if I would do one thing differently, LinkedIn's algorithm would like me better and increase my visibility. I've known Curt for a while now and trust that when he tells me something, he knows what he's talking about. So I implemented the change. Over the past three years, I have never had particularly good results from sharing my blog posts on LinkedIn. Usually about 140 folks see the post on LinkedIn and a few...

I am near-sighted, which is really only useful for tying knots with fishing line or doing anything else that can be done within 18 inches of my face. I didn’t always know I was near-sighted. It wasn’t until I started driving that we discovered it. My mother was riding with me while I had my learner’s permit. She abruptly turned to me and asked, “Why didn’t you stop at that stop sign?” I replied earnestly, “What stop sign?” She didn’t miss a beat before announcing, “We are going to make you an eye appointment.” It wasn’t until I walked out...

Over the last couple of years, I’ve written a good bit about the importance of lawyers engaging and exploring their creativity. In fact, I've gone so far as to say that when we take time away from work to devote to family, hobbies, and exercise, we will be better lawyers. I can’t understate the importance of using all our gifts, rather than suppressing them for the sake of the billable hour. Your creative expression may take the form of cooking, writing, photography, knitting, or singing; whatever it is, do not forsake it. For a decade, through high school and into...