Want to know how lawyers maintain work-life balance and what it’s like to hang around the most successful lawyers on the planet?
Remarkably similar to high-performance individuals in other walks of life.
On the surface, these lawyers are expert litigators who have sophisticated techniques to win against the insurance companies, whether through settlement or going to a jury trial.
But underneath, you see humans who have learned how to systematize their businesses— to be CEOs that don’t file claims, talk to clients, write checks, or go to court unless they have to.
They are stewards of people— since, ultimately, it’s a people game.
Mike Morse did $160 million this year in creating a “fireproof” law firm. And he has applied principles to give him time freedom, so he never misses his kids’ games or things in life we want to savor.
Jesse Itzler sold his private jet company for billions to Warren Buffett and is married to the billionaire founder of Spanx. And he plans his entire year out in advance— blocking out time for adventure, new experiences, and date night.
Put in the big rocks first, or else the pebbles and sand fill up your jar— leaving no room for the big rocks later.
I witnessed tender moments with Ali Awad, his wife, his brother, and his father— a close-knit family that spends time together. And I felt welcomed, like part of the family.
This struck me more than the powerful opening keynote Ali gave on how he scaled his law firm to 8 figures via social media. I admire the CEO Lawyer more for how he treats people than for his ability to convince billionaires to speak on his stage.
No matter what you do, you’re in the people business, so these same principles apply.
I’m also grateful for Mark Lack, who taught our private group at the same time I was on stage, which happened to be during our weekly Office Hours call.
Mark shared his techniques on how to partner with ultra-successful people— and I noticed how Mark and Ali have a huge overlap in their circle of friends.
And that’s not a coincidence, since many of the attendees I met, even though I’ve never met them before— feel like long-time friends because we have so many friends in common.
I wasn’t expecting to do any deals- my focus was teaching the dollar-a-day strategy so well that even the not-so-young adults would be comfortable making one-minute selfie videos and boosting them on TikTok and Facebook.
I gave away all our training for free, as this felt like the right place— so these CEO lawyers could build a Content Factory using our processes and hire VAs for $5 an hour to edit videos.
And doing so yielded some new partnerships, where some ads and analytics support from us (not as a traditional agency) will create massive growth for these firms while advancing our cause to create a million jobs to implement these techniques.
There is always another level up that you haven’t seen if you are willing to humble yourself— and these folks have such an abundance mindset that they openly share and decisively take action.
If you haven’t been to a high-end event like this, you don’t know what you’re missing.
I’ve seen so many young adults, so bright and well-meaning, crash and burn their careers.
One simple reason and one simple fix….
The fix—put in a solid day of work, then play.
Playing bitcoin slots, for instance, is the perfect alternative to manage and overcome stress after a long day.
When you face got to-do list head on, instead of procrastinating, you’ll be surprised how fast you get work done.
But if you live in excuse land— waste time complaining, blaming, and otherwise not working— your clients, teammates, and boss will notice you create problems instead of solve them.
Wouldn’t you rather be celebrating success instead of trying to put up flimsy defenses.
I’m proud of the folks on our team who are clearly kicking butt. Such a good feeling to be there!
Help others who are struggling to see this— they simply working before playing will solve their issue.
What you see on social media is only 1% of the picture, when the cameras are out.
The other 99% of the time is mundane– responding to emails, tuning ad campaigns, organizing my schedule, reading books, waiting at baggage claim, showering, and hopefully– sleeping.
There are 1,440 minutes in a day– and if someone posts 14 one minute videos, that’s only 1% of their day.
Learn from people who are honest about what happens in that 99%.
Don’t trust the people who claim to have struggled mightily at first (to show they’re “human like you”), now live the life of carefree luxury, and now want to sell you a program.
The most successful people I know are super humble– they continue to have struggles….
Their challenges instead of shrinking, grow BIGGER– but their power to deal with these grows even faster.
#1 question people ask me– how do you not get tired from all this travel?
#2 question is– how are you able to manage your agency with so many people and clients?
They think the answer is that I don’t sleep– or that if someone were to cut my skin, they’d see exposed metal underneath.
But here is the real answer– while I might physically be on a plane right now at 40,000 feet somewhere between Dallas and New York, mentally I’m somewhere else.
I’m looking at events over the next year– planning out exactly where projects need to be, intersecting to hit larger goals.
I’m thinking about key team members– not just their current issues, but charting their path over the next 5 years, based on their Goals Sheet.
I’m writing software requirements for 10 iterations ahead of our current development– because I see where the education system inevitably is heading and the opportunity for the Uber of marketing.
Because of this, you may think I’m absent-minded, since I appear to be looking out in space.
And when I’m in that state, I will often forget about current realities– forgetting my electric toothbrush in the hotel bathroom or forgetting to eat (some would argue I never forget that).
When I’m in an Uber, I’m in that same state– so I can trade money for more time to think, instead of worrying about parking or filling up the rental car to not get charged $6 a gallon.
I’ve not spent time on my appearance, though I probably should– since I’d rather put it into training up young and not-so-young adults at scale.
A mentor who is far wiser and more successful than me told me that I could have ANYTHING I wanted– as long as I was insensitive to the price I have to pay for it.
He also said that everyone gets exactly what they want, since where they put their time is a vote for what’s actually important to them.
I don’t count the costs of travel or see what I’m doing as work– I count it all joy.
What is so important to you that you’d give your life for it and aren’t counting the costs?
This is what you say when your friends hit you up for free consulting.
After all, you’re a social media marketing pro, and social media is free– so your help is free, too, right?
You and I spend all day long just hanging out on Twitter and Facebook doing teenager-type stuff– not anything important.
So naturally, they can “pick your brain” for “only a minute” to help them with their ads, a strategy question, or whatnot.
Here is the phrase I learned from a mentor of mine:
“You know I do this for a living, right?”
You’d not expect them to offer their services for free to you, either— free meals if they own a restaurant, free homes if they build houses, free tax advice if they are a CPA, and so forth.
So why should digital marketing services be any different?
If it’s a quick question you can answer right there– do it. But if it’s more, you can use that magic phrase to wake them up.
They’re not consciously trying to take advantage of you– they just don’t know any better.
You can also send them to a link to an article that you wrote or one I wrote– maybe a video.
So give away your content for free– shared transparently via videos, articles, and podcasts you’ve made. Just don’t give away your time.
And if you know it’s more than “just 5 minutes”, say “I’d be happy to help you. This is going to be more than 5 minutes to do it right, so you can book time with me at [link].”
Which sends them to your Power Hour page to buy a consulting slot— not to your calendy to give away time for free.
Time is your most valuable asset– it’s so precious that you must charge for it and ensure others respect your experience.
Otherwise, your entire day will be filled with distractions from people who don’t value your time, yet are the most demanding.
And if you find yourself “too busy” to pay your bills and pursue your priorities, this is likely why.
