Latest / Wealthy Woman Lawyer Podcast, Helping you create a profitable, sustainable law firm you love / 190: Changes I’m Making to Avoid Burnout … Again

Transcript

190: Changes I’m Making to Avoid Burnout … Again · Wealthy Woman Lawyer Podcast, Helping you create a profitable, sustainable law firm you love

• 0:00
  Davina: I've also grown as a manager because I've drawn some firm boundaries and I've set higher expectations and I require my team to be accountable. If they can't do the job, they're replaced for both my peace of mind and perhaps for their peace of mind. But most importantly, for my peace of mind, because I'm responsible for how I feel and my mission is to feel good all the time if I can. So if somebody's causing me a headache and they're not working out, there are almost 8,000,000,000 people in the world. I'll find somebody else who's, you know, on the same vibe that I am.
• 0:34
  Intro: Welcome to the Wealthy Woman Lawyer Podcast. What if you could hang out with successful women lawyers, ask them about growing their firms, managing resources like time, team, and systems, mastering money issues, and more? Then take an insight or two to help you build a wealth generating law firm. Each week, your host, Devina Frederick, takes an in-depth look at how to think like a CEO, attract clients who you love to serve and will pay you on time, and create a profitable, sustainable firm you love. Devina is founder and CEO of Wealthy Woman Lawyer, and her goal is to give you the information you need to scale your law firm business from 6 to 7 figures in gross annual revenue so you can fully fund and still have time to enjoy the lifestyle of your dreams.
• 1:20
  Now here's Davina.
• 1:22
  Davina: Today, I want to introduce our sponsor, Noble Marketing. Over the last four years, Noble Marketing has tracked more than two fifty law firms and discovered 60 to 80% of new client calls were generated through Google my business and Google ads. Basically, you need to be on Google and noble marketing can help. I recommend them because they have an incredible guarantee. Your campaign will be profitable in three months or less, or they will work for free for an additional three months.
• 1:52
  If they fail after a total of six months, they'll refund your entire investment, including ad spend. If you could use more qualified leads, I encourage you to reach out to ronnie dievernoblemarketing dot co. Mention you heard about them here on the Wealthy Woman Lawyer Podcast and Noble Marketing will waive your setup fee instantly saving you up to $2,500 or more. And now on with our show.
• 2:20
  Davina: Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Wealthy Woman Lawyer Podcast. I'm your host, Davina Frederick. And today's episode is going to be a little different and a little personal. If you followed me for any length of time or watched any of my free trainings, you may remember that a huge factor for me in leaving my first successful law firm business and eventually starting another one, a smaller virtual law firm was because I quickly felt burnt out from the first venture. For those of you who don't know the story, I'm going give you a quick recap.
• 2:52
  I started my own law firm right out of law school in 2007, and it had been my intention to do so all along because I was about 40 when I graduated from law school and I had lots of prior business experience, especially in marketing professional service businesses. And I naively thought starting and growing my own law firm would be a breeze. And it was kind of because I had no trouble getting business and I grew it very quickly. And I hadn't thought about what it would be like to hire, train, and manage people and to make all the other millions of decisions that need to be made if you're growing a profitable, sustainable business. So in that regard, I was very surprised.
• 3:35
  It was not as easy as I thought it was going to be. And after only a few years of it, I felt really stressed. I felt really overwhelmed and overworked. And quite frankly, I was burnt out. I had gained quite a bit of weight and at night I just wanted to go home, pour a glass of wine and sit in front of the TV and eat.
• 3:55
  I really had nothing left for nobody. Right? As my physical health declined, so did my mental health, or maybe it was the opposite. But either way, both my mental and physical health declined. And unfortunately, some changes in my personal life added to the stress big time.
• 4:13
  And at the time I felt the only solution for me was to walk away from my law firm business. Even though I was very proud of what I accomplished, it just wasn't serving me in the way that I hoped it would. And I really had to rethink my life and start again. I spent a lot of time in therapy. I hired several coaches and business advisors.
• 4:32
  I got educated on what I didn't know. I didn't even know the first time around. And I committed to a newer, healthier, low stress lifestyle so much so that hubby and I even open a gym because you have to stay in shape and work out consistently if you're coaching other people in fitness as well, or at least that's our philosophy. After some time had passed, I did start a new law firm and one that fit my low stress goals. It was just me.
• 5:03
  It was part time. It was virtual. It was work from home, WFH long before anybody else was doing that type of thing, 2011. And we had a lot of naysayers telling me that that wouldn't work. One attorney colleague said, your clients are not going to like that.
• 5:20
  Little did he know, right? All that I learned as a result of these experiences led me to want to share my story with other women lawyers so that they didn't make the same mistakes that I did. So in 2013, so it's about a decade ago now, I started this business. At the time, it had a different name, but the mission has always been the same to encourage, help, and support other women in growing a wealth generating business without burning themselves out in the process. So Wealthy Woman Lawyer came about a few years ago when we rebranded, but the mission has always been the same.
• 5:57
  So fast forward to this year. Number one is that we've accomplished our goal and we have helped hundreds of women business owners over the last ten years, mostly women law firm owners create wealth generating businesses and carve out more time and space for themselves in the process so they could live happier, more fulfilled lives. And I'm super proud of that for myself and my team. In the process, we've also built a successful business for ourselves that allows us to do the same. But lately, I've been finding myself slipping back into some old habits that led me to burnout in the first place.
• 6:35
  So maybe you can relate to some of these. I certainly hear a lot of this from other women, business owners as well. But number one is not prioritizing my physical and mental well-being and putting myself on the calendar first. I love to work, probably a workaholic. I have a passion for what we do and our mission.
• 6:54
  So there are times that I go without prioritizing my mental and physical well-being. And that always impacts me negatively. Number two is trying to do too much myself instead of asking for help and trusting other people to do what they say they're gonna do in the time and manner that we said that they were going to do it. So showing integrity in how they work. So I still tend to wanna take things back.
• 7:19
  Everything on my to do list is of equal importance when it is not. Not everything on my to do list is a high value activity that's gonna create more for me. And so I'm rethinking what I put on my to do list. Number four is feeling like I need to accommodate everyone else's needs instead of taking care of my own needs first. And number five is watching and worrying about what others are doing instead of keeping my focus on my own paper.
• 7:48
  Right? There are a few other things, but those things give you an idea of some habits that I find myself slipping back into. And I'm having conversations with other people who have similar behaviors of slipping back into old habits and old patterns that don't serve us any longer in this life that we're living. So since I wanna go forward and I don't wanna go back to burnout, here are some things that I have been changing in 2023. I already have all of these things in progress in the works.
• 8:19
  These are the changes that I've been making and the results so far have been really wonderful. So number one is I've moved my daily start time for work to a little bit later time in the day. So I can devote as much time as I want in the morning to working out and to meditation, both of which really help me stay feeling good. This one change alone has had a major positive impact not only on me personally, but also on my relationships and on my business. So really putting myself on the calendar first and allowing time to take care of my body and my mind have been incredibly helpful.
• 8:56
  Number two is I've hired more and better support to take some projects off my plate. I've also grown as a manager because I've drawn some firm boundaries and I've set higher expectations and I require my team to be accountable. If they can't do the job, they're replaced for both my peace of mind and perhaps for their peace of mind. But most importantly for my peace of mind, because I'm responsible for how I feel and my mission is to feel good all the time if I can. So if somebody's causing me a headache and they're not working out, there are almost 8,000,000,000 people in the world.
• 9:30
  I'll find somebody else who's, you know, on the same vibe that I am. Number three is I've eliminated projects that seem like a good idea at the time, but they turn out not to be what I really want to focus on in my business and have it operate successfully If it's not contributing to my pocketbook or my piece, then I don't need it or want it. So I am cutting it out and there may be some good ideas in there. But if they're not great ideas and things that are going to further my mission and my goals, then I'm eliminating them. Number four is I'm reminding myself daily to put on my own oxygen mask first.
• 10:09
  As much as I love my spouse, my family, my clients, my community, I know that I deserve peace and prosperity and to feel good too. And I'm remembering that sometimes the best gift you can give someone is the opportunity to solve their own problems. And that I don't need to step in or get sucked into other people's drama even if I care about them. Number five is I'm shutting out the noise and distraction. I'm ignoring the creepers and the copiers who apparently don't have an original thought in their own heads so they have to copy others.
• 10:43
  I'm only allowing more time for my own creativity and pleasure. I'm surrounding myself with encouragers instead of detractors and naysayers. I know what is meant for me will be for me. And then when I sit quietly with my own thoughts, I am an attraction magnet for everything that I desire. I'm tuned in, tapped in, and turned on as Abraham Hicks would say.
• 11:06
  And I hope today's episode resonated with you and that you will maybe be encouraged to stop and take a look at some old habits that may have crept back into your life that are not serving you well. This might be inspiration for you to make some changes as well in your own life and draw some boundaries, create lines in the sand that you don't want other people to cross, and really protecting your own peace and your own prosperity. If this episode didn't resonate with you, that's okay too, man. But I do hope you enjoy the Wealthy Woman Lawyer Podcast. And if you do, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast and let us know what you liked and why.
• 11:47
  Thank you for listening to another episode of the Wealthy Woman Lawyer Podcast.
• 11:52
  Intro: If you're ready to create more of what you truly desire in your business and your life, then you'll want to visit us at wealthywomanlawyer.com to learn more about how we help clients create wealth generating law firms with ease.