Last Week on LinkedIn
June 7-13
Taking the first step in change is by far the hardest part., It’s true the possibilities for your future can be endless, but you have to make choices. Whether it’s changing jobs or making a new family purchase (i.e. an RV) the feeling of commitment is daunting. BUT once you define your goals and your vision for your future, financially or otherwise, putting one foot in front of the other becomes a whole lot easier.
In case you missed my LinkedIn posts from this past week, check them out below including comments from the crowd.
Connect with me anytime Jessica Medina LinkedIn
Tuesday, June 7, 2021 - Opening Up Possibilities
Sometimes you have to take an actual step forward before you can really see the possibilities. I joke that my services should come with a warning -- you may be seriously compelled to leave your job once we’re working together! (Some clients leave after our first call!) I have that effect on unhappy lawyers.
And I just recently experienced this myself (not with my work, but with my time.)
After much discussion, we had decided August 2022 was the ideal time to get an RV.
There’d be more RVs to choose from.
We’d have more time to spend in it.
The kids would be more settled in their lives.
But as many of you know we just got our rig a few weeks ago...more than a year ahead of schedule.
And we’re already planning on taking it out a couple times a month!
Not until we had the RV did we see how we could rearrange our lives so we could use it more.
We see the opportunities because we made the decision to be RV owners NOW.
The same goes for your money.
Once you make the decision to figure out the financial piece of pursuing your passions, those dreams arrive even faster than anticipated.
You see opportunities that were hidden before.
Your energy changes.
And so does everything else you need to make it all happen.
It can be so hard to imagine what’s possible, until we actually move toward it. But once we do, everything opens up and the possibilities become endless.
Ask me how I know :)
Wednesday, June 8, 2021 - New Found Freedom
When I became an Accredited Financial Counselor I assumed most of my clients would be in financial stress. Especially during a pandemic! But that’s not actually true. The majority of my clients come to me right after they’ve “turned a corner” with their finances -- maybe for the first time they’re really doing ok -- and they just don’t want to waste this new opportunity.
One lawyer had just paid off all his student loans, and wanted to make sure he and his partner were putting those newfound dollars to good use (i.e., not Amazon).
Another couple had just started working again after a period of underemployment during the pandemic, and wanted to make sure their new surplus was being prioritized appropriately.
Another lawyer was just starting in Biglaw, but knew it wasn’t her forever job, and wanted to make sure she had a plan to get out (possibly more quickly than expected!).
None of these folks were “struggling” but there was a sense of unease nonetheless.
There’s just something about wanting to make the most out of a good situation.
We want to take full advantage of the good times, to try to make sure we remain in good times as much as possible.
And when you’re juggling jobs, kids, competing financial priorities, and potentially huge career shifts, that can be a little overwhelming.
So even though many of my clients aren’t on the verge of bankruptcy, they know they could be doing better.
And that’s where I can help.
We look at your entire financial picture, taking into account all the upcoming changes on the horizon for you and your family, your vision for your future, and your goals, and then we optimize what you’re doing now to prepare.
And then you get to move forward knowing your good times will help with whatever comes next.
Thursday, June 10, 2021 - Playing Pretend
How many of us never wanted to make partner, but kept it a secret until the day we gave notice at our firm? Everyone was pretty shocked when I left for the SEC rather than put myself up when the time came. I was a top contender (at least that’s what they told me!) and everyone just assumed I’d wanted it all along. Because I never let them think otherwise.
There’s an unwritten rule that if you don’t want to make partner, then that will affect your success as an associate. (Even though the firm structure is designed to allow something like 1% of associates to actually make partner.)
You have to want to go all the way so the firm knows you’re invested.
You have to want to go all the way so the firm wants to invest in you.
And if you let anyone know your true desires, then you won’t get the plumb assignments.
You won’t get enough hours to make your billables.
And you won’t get that Biglaw experience that prepares you for the rest of your legal career.
I didn’t tell many of my closest friends my true desire.
I always let them think that I wanted to go all the way.
And most of that was out of fear.
Fear that I’d be blacklisted.
Fear that I’d be passed over.
Fear that I’d be asked to leave and have to take a job that didn’t serve my family.
So I didn’t say anything until I had to. I didn’t say anything until I had my next gig lined up.
And I spent eight years bending over backwards to give everyone the impression that I wanted it all.
Sometimes I wonder if I had been more honest, earlier, whether I would have had a different experience.
Been able to set better boundaries.
Been able to make the balance work better.
Or at least been less exhausted keeping up the facade.
Is it just me or are we still pretending we want to make partner up until the moment we leave?
