Women's Bar Association - News & Information

Formula for Success

I’ve noticed that when I set an intention, everything I need to accomplish it seems to fall into place. The latest example of this involves the formation of a new mastermind group, using “Book Yourself Solid”, by Michael Port, as the foundation of the group study. I’ve been a proponent of this book for the past couple years. It is written for service professionals and is designed to help them create a target market of one’s “ideal” clients.

The structure of our group is simple, but the results have been powerful. While the group can be any size and made up of any professionals, four seems to be the best number to accomplish what we need to in a one hour setting. Our group is made up of four attorneys and a coach who works with attorneys. We have a weekly call with the group members and report on what value we found in the chapter for the week, and the corresponding exercises. We also brainstorm around any areas where we find ourselves “stuck”. The built-in accountability and relevant exercises from the book have been great, and I feel a strong synergy with the group participants.

I was drawn to this group, and these participants, at this time. The three other participants are people I’ve worked with or collaborated with in some way before and I have natural synergy with them. To use some terminology from the book, they are what you might think of as “ideal clients” who inspire and energize me whenever I collaborate or consult with them. The group brainstorming exercises have already produced results for each of us. They helped me get unstuck about additional services to offer to my past consulting clients. When I paused for a minute to consider what made the difference, I realized three components produced my desired results:

Intention + Action + Accountability = Successful Results

It’s a simple formula, but one that has proven to be reliable. All the elements must be there to see the results.

Intention:

Without an intention to offer more services to my past clients, I would have missed an opportunity to be of further value to them. However, intention alone is not enough. How many times have you seen your good intentions fall by the wayside? Without follow through, intentions never get off the ground.

Action:

Brainstorming with the group was one action step I took. I also followed their advice and surveyed past consulting clients to find out their current needs. Had I not done that and simply proceeded to create some new services, I may not have offered my past clients something of value which was in line with their needs at that time. To achieve the end result you want, the action steps should be broken down into several small steps. Think of the action steps as your roadmap along the journey to your goal.

Accountability:

Without brainstorming about the idea with the other group members and letting them hold me accountable for my action, I might have dropped the ball. A key component of effective follow through is accountability. If no one knows your goals, it is easy to talk yourself out of the necessary work to bring those goals to fruition. Or we can forget the goal entirely through distractions, interruptions, or lack of focus.

Successful Results:

If any one of the above elements was missing, I would not be able to produce the successful results that are meaningful to me and my consulting clients. I’m still in the process of bringing about the final results. However, my initial action steps were successful.

This formula has proven reliable for me in many areas of my life, whether it’s a fitness goal, a business goal, parenting strategies, or creating something for myself. The end result is always better when I collaborate with other supportive people.

Additional points to ponder:

•Do you have someone or a group of people that you can brainstorm with when you get stuck, or need some help achieving a goal?

•Do you have someone or a group of people who are supportive of you and who will hold you accountable to your goals?

•Do you have a winning formula for success that is different from or similar to the one described above?

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Lori T. Williams is a 20 year attorney based in Birmingham, MI. She owns a legal referral and legal consulting business called Your Legal Resource, PLLC. She assists individuals and small businesses in need of legal advice or representation by connecting them with the right legal specialist for their situation. She also provides consulting services for attorneys and other professional service providers on how to generate more business through effective branding, marketing, networking, and by creating strategic partnerships. Lori is also the WBA Membership Chair, an Ambassador of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber, and the Oakland County Legal News Examiner. For more information, visit www.bestlegalresource.com.

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