Finding Evidence That Your Future Self’s Thoughts Are Already True

I'm Melissa Shanahan and this is the Velocity Work. podcast Episode #159.

This podcast is for attorneys who are running their own firms. We explore tactics, tools, and stories related to pushing past simply lawyering well and into building a successful firm. Working in your firm and working on your business are two very different things. This podcast focuses on the latter.

Hi, everyone, how are you? I have been thinking so much about the listeners of this podcast lately. Because it's the turn of the quarter, I get to dig in with clients and members on helping them review the quarter they just had, and in planning for the upcoming quarter, as well as the rest of the year.

Not just planning with numbers and deciding what the key priorities are to focus on for the quarter, but that's sort of the undercurrent behind that; it’s very focused on over here. You can set out the best numbers in the world, you can have the best laid plans, but if you don't anticipate the barriers, you're going to experience both externally and internally, you're going to hit problems. You're probably going to flake out on yourself because things get busy. And you will be able to justify it because things are busy and you're doing the work that brings in money.

Really staying committed to the plans that you're making as an owner, that's not easy to do when you are juggling all that you're juggling, as a law firm owner, but it's important. And so, that's something that we focus on pretty heavily over here. It's like, okay, you have these great plans. Now what? Now what? How are you going to hold your own feet to the fire for these things? We help do that, obviously, but also helping people set themselves up to win at this game, that they've set up for themselves.

Now, in the work with Master Group members… So, I did their virtual retreat, that they have the option to attend a couple days ago. And yesterday, we just did day one of a two-day strategic planning session specifically for Master Group members.

This is been a blast. Just day one was so awesome, because I've always worked virtually with these people. This really started gelling and taking form during COVID. And so now, here we are, COVID’s lifted, we can make some plans. I offered if people wanted to come, we had 14 desks available inside of my workspace that people could use, and all 14 are taken, which is pretty remarkable.

So, 14 Master members decided to do it in-person, this time, instead of virtual; what a treat for me and for them to get to meet one another and really connect. You know, one of the favorite parts of the day was… Everything that's in that room really stays confidential, in terms of information.

One of the things that everyone shared, was the revenue that they are at currently, what their goal is, what their team size is, the barriers that they're experiencing. And that, just opening up and them hearing one another's answers to those questions, was powerful. They all felt connected; understood. We had some that just crossed their first 100k last year, and then we had some that were over a million.

We had some really good conversations about the fact that revenue doesn't necessarily mean that there's health. Even if you have high revenue, doesn't mean the business is healthy. It doesn't mean your stress levels are lower. It doesn't mean that you don't have problems.

In some cases, where the growth hasn't really been intentional, it's just happened, that's painful; it's a painful place to be where you're making a ton of revenue… I mean, there's good parts, too. Right? For sure. But there's a lot of really serious challenges that the owner has to look at, and has to get their hands around.

I think it was great for everyone to connect and realize that we are all in here just doing the same thing. People want to separate out law firm owners based on revenue. Sometimes, in very rare instances, that makes sense because there are specific challenges that those members want to hash through. And so then, they can get together in a room and offer advice and do masterminding. But for the most part, and it's so funny how true this was proven yesterday, everyone is there to do their own work and connect with one another.

And so, through the connection, everyone is stepping into this next version of themselves. Everyone is focused on growing themselves to the next level, no matter where they are. And because of that, that commonality really brings everyone together in a way that is pretty special.

I pride myself on this because I think this is unique to Master Group. I don't pride myself on it because I made this connection happen. I pride myself on it because I did a lot of hard work listening to clients, putting together something that I thought would be really useful for them, tweaking, reiterating as time goes on.

What has been cultivated is this amazing group of humans, who are owning and running their own law firms, and are committed to growing them very intentionally so that they build the firm that gives them the life they want. No matter where they are on the scale of revenue etc.

It's like, the like-mindedness of the self-development and growing themselves in order to grow the firm. Because they know that's the sustainable way to create sustainable success; is to be very intentional as the owner. That's the like-mindedness. So, when they come together, they're doing their own work. And they're getting help from me and feedback from me, no matter where they are. I plug into them and I'm helpful with them. And in the process, they get to connect with one another. Anyway, it's pretty special.

I'm very excited that we can begin to offer this, because we have the space here at the office, and because COVID is lifted, and it just feels really good to be in person. I could tell everyone was pretty pumped as well, that attended.

Okay, so today's day two. I came in early to record this podcast because I wanted to share something that came out of yesterday, that was really helpful for the attendees. And I want to share it here so that maybe you can take this practice and do it for yourself, and see what it opens up for you. Of course, as you know, inside of Master Group, we set goals. We work with numbers. I pin people down, “You’ve got to put your numbers in your…” We have all these tables set up so you can put your numbers for the year, for each quarter, for each month, etc., that we're going to be focusing on.

Numbers are a very important part of everything. So, our ROCKS, which are quarterly priorities… but the undercurrent of things, as I alluded to before, that we focus on, is so important. Yesterday, we did an exercise where everyone had to write down what they thought they would be thinking and feeling when they achieved their goals. The ultimate goal; the thing they’re really aiming for, for themselves.

The feelings were pretty easy for them to come up with. I guided them that it's a one-word emotion, so; calm, relaxed, peaceful, joy, contentment, fulfillment, purposeful. There was a bunch of words that they imagined, that when they created the success for themselves that they had written about, we gave them space to write about that, that then they would feel these things.

Now, what we were talking about is that this illusion, that when you reach X then you'll feel Y, is inaccurate. Because we don't feel a certain way because of the external world. We think we do. We think we feel a certain way because of what's going on around us. And so, if it's, in our opinion, good things going on around us, then we’ll feel good. If it's things that we don't view as good, they’re bad, then we will feel bad; just to oversimplify it. But I think you get my point.

The truth is, the reason we feel anything is because of what we're thinking. So, whatever's happening around us, it's our perspective and our stance that we take, it's the thoughts that we think, and the beliefs that we hold that drive our emotional state. What's so fascinating, is that all of these feeling states…

What we were talking about, is that you don't have to wait to get success, whatever your success definition is, to feel these things; you can start to feel these things now. And in fact, it's your job to do so. Because the more that you feel those things now, you really… That is the work of becoming the kind of person you need to become, in order to have the kind of results that you want to have.

Anyone can go get a result, push your way to willpower, but to have a result, that's different. You have to be the kind of person that can actually have that result. And so, this work that they did, we had them write in their journals; what are the thoughts that you think would drive the feeling of calm? That would drive the feeling of peace? And drive the feeling of joy? etc.

Some of the thoughts were, that people had mentioned was, “I have it all handled. Running a successful business is fun. Running a successful business is easy.” Gosh, I wish I could remember the other ones on top of my head, but let's just go for a moment with; I have it all handled. That's what they think they would be thinking when they are “at the successful point.”

The work I had them do was; whatever thought they wrote down that would be running through their mind, that would be triggering that feeling-state that they wanted, they had to find evidence that it actually was true, right now. So, I want you to think for a moment, about a thought that you think will be very prevalent in your mind, when you have reached this next level. Find the thought.

I can give you more examples. Actually, I'm going to push pause, and I'm going to go look at the board where we wrote these yesterday. I'm going to give you other examples because yeah, there were some good ones, and it may just get you started. Get the ball rolling in your own mind for looking for those thoughts. It's very important.

It's like, what do I think my future self is going to be thinking? And then, you can start working on creating evidence that it's actually true. Right now. Okay, I just went took a picture of what was on the board so I can share this with you. I already mentioned, “I think running a successful business is fun. I think running a successful business is easy. I am good with the business. I am good with the money. I am good with the team. I am good with hiring. Life is great. I have it all handled.”

So, those were some examples that I put on the board, of what was talked about yesterday. That's to get the ball rolling for you. I want you to think about; what success is for you? How will you know that you're successful? What will your life look like? What will it feel like? etc.

And then, I want you to ask yourself; what are the kinds of things that will just be beliefs of mine? Sentences in my mind that drive the bus. These are examples, that I just gave you, that were some of what was shared yesterday, that I wanted to offer to you.

It is worth identifying this for you. Just a few. You will have many, many, many beliefs and thoughts down the road, but identify one, or a few, that feel strong and feel very true. And then, once you have identified that thought, that belief, your job is to make a list of all the reasons why it's actually true, now. Find the evidence of the truth of that, right now.

That was powerful for people, more powerful than I think I thought it would be. Listen, I do this work on myself. So, I know how powerful some of this work is. But I really was touched by how meaningful this was for everyone, yesterday. Then, when I asked later in the day… We had a happy hour we hosted, and at lunch, I asked what were some of the favorite parts of the day; this was referenced often.

I'm sharing it here, so that you can do this work on your own. The more that you understand what is going on between your ears, and the more you understand how to use that, use your brain so that it doesn't use you, the faster you will achieve whatever success looks like to you. When you can do this work, and you do the work of believing now, what you think you'll be believing in the future, then you become a match for whatever it is that you're creating.

And that, my friends, is the work. It isn't just about thoughts, like we're talking about here; it is, though. Like, “I have it handled,” if you think about that, if you're the kind of person that thinks, “I have it handled,” then not only does that promote a feeling of confidence, but on top of that, it promotes the right kind of action in your business. If you have a belief, “I've got this handled,” then, you do pay attention to the numbers. Then, you are paying attention to your team. You are having the right check-ins and the right meetings. You do put systems into place.

If you're on the other end of the spectrum, instead of, “I have it handled,” if you think things like, “I'm a hot mess. I am chaotic,” even if you just identify as that kind of a person, that holds you back. Because, “I am a hot mess. I am chaotic. I don't have it all together. I don't have it handled,” that kind of thinking, even if you don't say it out loud or consciously, is a belief that's driving the bus. Then from there, you feel a lack of confidence. From a lack of confidence, you don't really take the right kind of action.

You can see how this would slow up your results, that you're achieving for yourself. And so yesterday, them digging into finding evidence why this is true, right now, “I have it handled,” they can find evidence that that's true, right now. And then, they can build on that.

If they think on purpose, that belief, that thought, and they work to believe that so it's just who they are, it's just their new normal to think, “I have it handled,” as an example, then of course, they're going to line themselves up. Do the right kind of actions to get themselves to where they want to go. Much more quickly than someone who has a thought that contradicts it, or a belief that contradicts it.

I hope you see what I'm saying here. Because if you ever join anything to do with Velocity Work, and you probably get this for listening to the podcast, you will be expected to know your numbers. You will be expected to learn over time, not perfection, progress. You will be expected to keep putting one foot in front of the other, in terms of mining your own data and having access to your data. You will be expected to name your goals, and to break those down by quarter and by month.

I will help you do that. I will facilitate that process. I don't leave anyone hanging with that. You will be expected to name; what are you going to do this quarter? This is all very nuts and boltsy. Also, you will be expected to look at your brain; that doesn't get to get skipped in this journey. This is a bit of a window when I get to really work with a group on what it looks like. And the fruitfulness of that exercise, for the participants yesterday, was remarkable enough that I wanted to share it here on the podcast.

Alright everybody, go find evidence that what you think you'll be believing about yourself and about the world in the future. Find evidence that it's actually true, right now; you don't have to wait for anything. And the faster you do that, the faster you will get yourself to wherever it is that you would love to see happen.

Alright, everybody. Have a wonderful week. I'll see you here next Tuesday.

Hey, you may not know this, but there's a free guide for a process that I teach called, Monday Map / Friday Wrap. If you go to velocitywork.com, it's all yours. It's about how to plan your time and honor your plan, so that week over week, more work that moves the needle is getting done in less time. Go to velocitywork.com to get your free copy.

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