Is Fear Slowing Down Growth in Your Legal Practice?

Business growth goals are a funny thing.

We know we should set goals for our law fi rm or legal practice. You've probably heard about studies that show if we set a specifi c goal and write it down we're much more likely to achieve it.

But when we think about setting a specifi c goal, that’s often when the nagging thoughts creep in.

"What if I set a specifi c goal and don't achieve it?"

"Isn't it better just to try to generally 'get more clients' or 'increase profi ts' and see what happens?"

These nagging thoughts are based on fear.

Fear is not a topic we like to talk about very often. But the fear of failing (by not achieving a goal we’ve set) is a major reason why many of us don't set goals in the fi rst place.

At the end of one of my recent growth workshops for lawyers, one of the attendees said how much they'd appreciated a video I’d shared about why we should embrace failure, not fear it.

The video featured Michael Jordan (the superstar basketball player) discussing how his many, many 'failures' enabled him to succeed. (If you search “Michael Jordan Fear of Failure” on YouTube you’ll be able to watch it for yourself).

HOW TO STOP FEAR SLOWING YOU DOWN

To stop the fear of failure holding you back, here’s what I recommend: make the decision to let go of your fear of failure, and aim high. Set yourself the growth goal you'd really love to achieve in the next 12 months, rather than the goal you think you can easily achieve.

Remember, if you aim for the stars, you might just hit the moon (not such a failure in my book). Whereas if you only aim for the moon, you might never get off the ground.

MAKE THE DECISION TO LET GO OF YOUR FEAR OF FAILURE, AND AIM HIGH

With this in mind, take action now by writing down your specifi c growth goal for the next 6-12 months. Use specifi c numbers, for example “increase fee income from £300,000 to £350,000”.

Now cross it out and write down what that goal would be if you truly embraced the idea of failure rather than fearing it. (Maybe now your goal is to increase to £500,000.)

By writing down your real goal, you've just taken the fi rst step towards achieving it.

You can make your growth goal more specifi c – and make it easier to plan out the steps to achieving it – by adding the following criteria to the goal you’ve just written down: 1. Which practice areas or work types does this goal apply to, and what’s your specifi c goal in each area (for example, “add £50,000 fee

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

income to conveyancing and £150,000 fee income to private client” rather than just “add £200,000 overall”). 2. Your target date for achieving this goal. 3. Any help or support (internal or external) that would increase the likelihood of achieving this goal by the target date. 4. The fi rst step you’ll take towards this goal and the deadline for that step.

Even a long journey starts with just a single step. But for that fi rst step to be in the right direction, you must fi rst decide on the destination you want to reach. So your fi rst step must actually be to set the goal (destination) you want to achieve.

If you want to discover the true growth potential of your fi rm (so you can set signifi cant yet achievable goals) then my online workshop

‘Profi table Practice Growth Secrets For Small Law

Firms’ will help you do just that. At this workshop you'll analyse the true growth potential for your fi rm or practice, set your goals for growth in the next 12 months, and create a specifi c plan to get you there. Plus you'll develop skills and strategies to attract and convert your ideal clients, and to maximise the profi tability of the clients you already have, without working more hours.

Find out more at

www.thebusinessinstructor.com/workshop

Michelle Peters (The Business Instructor) is a former practising solicitor and the creator of the Profi table Practice Programme for sole practitioners and small fi rm owners who want more clients and to increase their profi ts without working more hours. In addition to working privately with lawyer clients, Michelle frequently runs webinars and workshops to help lawyers identify what is slowing them down from having more of their ideal clients and higher profi ts, and what to do about it.

Michelle is also the author of the No.1 Best-Selling Book ‘The Client Magnet Strategy for Lawyers’ which is available on Amazon, or you can download the fi rst four chapters FREE at: www.thebusinessinstructor.com/book