It’s hard to believe that we’re already halfway through August. This year feels like it has flown by in an instant! Within the next couple of weeks, the kids in our community will return to school to start the next stage of their education. In years past, the beginning of the school year seemed like it always occurred in September, but now, the first day of school comes earlier and earlier each year. With this upcoming school year, my family will experience plenty of change, and it’s all for the better!
In a previous newsletter, I talked about my daughter’s graduation, but now, she’s getting ready to start an exciting job in her field. She’s going to teach the third grade, giving back-to-school season a brand-new meaning for her and my family. She’s flipping the script and will now be the educator instead of the student. Hopefully, the kids will be respectful and pay attention to what she tries to teach them instead of ignoring her lessons!
As we went through the process of vetting her interview opportunities and trying to discern her path, it renewed my sensitivity about how difficult it is to make that first choice when starting a new career. When she asked for my guidance, I provided her with the same philosophy that I would give to any other young adult going through the same situation. You’re going to change careers, industries, and just about everything else many times in your life as you get older. Remain flexible and be inquisitive in trying to improve yourself. This is just a starting point! Don’t stop learning and growing.
My daughter decided to take a job working with Columbus Public Schools as a third-grade teacher. This position was originally low on her list when we first started the process since it would be a big city school, but it ended up being the best fit. Now, I’m officially an empty nester, as she has moved into her own house and is starting her teaching career this month. It’s just another example of how quickly time flies!
Lifelong Learning
Remember when you decided on your first career job. How much different is your life now than when you made that decision? What drove you to your career? How much will your current business change in the next few years with the continued impact of technology?
As we proceed through back-to-school season, I think this is a great time for all of us to remember that learning is a lifelong journey. We can’t stop learning new things about ourselves, the world around us, and our industries once we start our careers. The ability to be agile and to change with the times is a key to on-going success and happiness.
As we enter this new era of technology where not only is the knowledge of mankind available in your palm, the wisdom, of mankind will be there as well through the evolution of large language models (commonly referred as Ai) we must adapt and evolve as well. No profession is safe from this transformative development. Imagine your client being able to ask an Ai to prepare an estate plan. Can a computer be sanctioned for the unauthorized practice of law? It is coming. We need to evolve and compete. The way all business need to compete is by using Ai to their advantage (which is why we are developing WSN.ai) and leverage our strengths, the ability to make human connections.
One of the things that drew me to the law practice in the first place was the potential to continue to learn and grow. The idea of intellectual stagnation was repulsive to me. While at the same time, I never fell in love with the idea of studying the law. I found reading case law and statues to be draining.
One of the reasons that I decided 20 years ago that adding financial planning to my business was that desire to continue to learn and grow. At the time, my law practice was approaching that level of stagnation. I found myself doing the same estate plan with just a few minor tweaks here and there over and over again. The intellectual challenge of learning a new set of tools excited me.
'Interesting Times' for the Legal and Financial Industries
Reportedly there is a Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Well, no doubt we do and they are only going to get more interesting over the next years. We can be worried, or we can be excited. I choose to be excited.
Well, I was definitely born into interesting times. Have you ever heard of the “knowledge doubling curve”? It was first popularized by Buckminster Fuller who noted that until the year 1900, human knowledge doubled approximately every century. By the end of WWII it was doubling every 25 years. Now, it is estimated that total human knowledge is doubling every 12-13 months. Medical knowledge is estimated to be doubling every 18 months and technical knowledge (AI, etc.) is also doubling every 12-18 months.
The pace of change over the next few years will be mind boggling.
One of the blessings that we have as attorneys in private practice is the ability to be agile in building our business. We can choose new areas of the law to focus on, check out other business opportunities, etc. I have always had a passion for building a business which led me to the small law firm space right out of law school. Once I started digging in, I developed as similar passion for financial planning and the problem-solving elements of that discipline. This journey has caused me to “go back to school” in many different ways.
I spend plenty of time and money each year on personal development and growth to learn and grow. I now gladly spend annual “tuition” for the various coaches, consultants, and mastermind groups an amount that greatly exceeds my law school tuition. I do this so I can continue to grow to serve my clients, my family, and I can be a better teacher and mentor to the members of WSN.
I do this to try to keep pace with change, what are you doing to keep pace with change?
We do not have to scrap our chosen profession and start from scratch (although I did take a sabbatical from my practice when I joined a national financial planning and mutual fund company during my early years). In a private practice, you can use the practice of law as a foundation and build from there. My journey has led to the development of several businesses while maintaining my law practice.
As technology continues to evolve, there will always be new things to learn. School and learning never really stop for us; it just becomes a lot less formal! When we stop learning, we stop growing. And if you’re not growing, life will pass you by. Don’t let life leave you in the dust!
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