It is not magic, it is hard work
If we did a poll on the most popular idiom, one of the most referenced would be “if wishes were horses, beggars would ride”. Ignore the mobbed use, this statement is the truth. If life was easy-peasy and things were wished to existence, we all would wish away!
However, many of us unconsciously handle our career like it would be built on a wish, we ease in and out of our wishes and we leave no footprints to our thoughts. You can trust that we all are guilty, at different times, we enter that zone and have little will to do anything, but we hope that without fail, we escape the consequence of the failure to show commitment or act.
All successful lawyers list consistent, persistent hard work as a core stimulant of their success and the describe the best time to begin to put in the work consistently as day one. Is this easy to adhere to? I would say no, as it requires total mindfulness and intentionality to achieve this and the best of us struggle to meet this standard.
Nonetheless, as another work year wraps up, it is a good time to evaluate your approach to work in the course of the year. I have learnt that stock taking is critical and the best time to do this is now. It is important to evaluate personally the progress (if at all) made and strategize for the next cycle. Please note that this evaluation is not only with respect to performance appraisals done in the context of work as these are typically limited to the period of review and may distract you from a more holistic view of your input and output.
I must clarify that hard work is not synonymous with gruelling lengthy time doing tasks that give you no traction when you have better options or could have worked smarter. Hard work is smart work, deploying resources optimally. Whether the resource is time, research, access and opportunity, when you are taking stock, the question is not only what you did but how you did it and the level of productivity that resulted from the act.
Whatever the result is, it is important that you outline it honestly, without excuses and internal justifications. If it was not done right, it may be that you missed several hoops, so I would say, be brutal to yourself and hold yourself to higher expectations than others will. Where reviewed against this paradigm, you will easily identify what you need to change.
After this review is undertaken, you should outline the corrective action. This should not be done alone, you should find someone more senior, a mentor, guide, work buddie or trusted friend who understands the challenges at your level to discuss your proposed action and get their input. You will be surprised at the leverage that this gives to your actions.
In outlining your goals, you must again beware of wishes and ensure that with every desire, there is clear, smart and predictable action outlined. Vision boarding is a very common and efficient way for dealing with this plan. It involves the creation of pictorial images of your goals and the actions that you would take to achieve them, and it should not be downplayed.
OYEYEMI ADERIBIGBE
OYEYEMI ADERIBIGBE is a Senior Associate at Templars. She is also the current Vice-Chairman of the Young Lawyers’ Forum of the Nigerian Bar Association -Section on Business Law and the Young Lawyers’ Committee Liaison Officer of the African Regional Forum of the International Bar Association.
Feedback – Oyeyemi.aderibigbe@templars-law.com; yemiimmanuel@yahoo.com.