How to Get to Where You Need to Go!

I recently read a good article on what successful people learned when they pushed through adversity. What worked for them:

1. Make the time to work at your goal. If you don’t, it means you don’t want it enough. I meet lawyers who say they want to switch from litigation to transactional or from corporate to crypto BUT have not done anything concrete in these new spaces. Employers want to see actual work in that space and do not want to train. So if you have a goal, you need to put in the time.
2. Get a mentor. It’s not that hard if you start with a small but enticing ask, e.g., offer to buy prospective mentors coffee before a meeting to chat about something they would care about. Build the relationship, and don’t make it seem tiresome/too time-consuming.
3. Pay for what you need. Sign up for classes (export compliance, privacy/IAPP, coding, etc.). Consider hiring a coach.
4. Learn from rejection. For perfectionists (and I know many lawyers are), rejection can be tough. But it’s part of your career path – it’s rarely a straight line to the top. When you get rejected, use anger to push yourself forward. As one successful person put it: “You just keep using the no to fuel you to keep going.”