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| I Love My Star Trek Shirt Lawrence A. Newman |
Today is the day of my birth and as always a real time to reflect. To reflect upon the year and the years that have passed. I am at that stage where knowing who I am and what I am about becomes ever clearer.
Personal versus Impersonal: Challenged by Youth and the New School
I recently went to a legal seminar where a young lawyer who is extremely successful (multiple businesses) challenged me and my practice. Not a bad man, or a stupid man, just one with an assembly line mentality. His thinking centered on the bottom line, delegating everything, being detached from those he serves, ala the four hour work week, and with hundreds of employees he is achieving what to most may be "The Dream."
But it would not be my dream.
I am living my dream. I chose Ithaca, New York for that very reason. Having a legal practice where people pay me to help them personally, and with care means a lot to me. Their entrustment and belief is something I try not to take for granted. We have gained and lost much with technology. It is all too easy to lose ourselves and our humanity in the process. Is it all just a numbers game?
"Not everything that can be counted counts,
and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert EinsteinTime is not always what it seems , , ,
THE ECONOMY OF TIME = MONEY = LIFE
One of my favorite authors is James Allen. In his book The Eight Pillars of Prosperity he explains the foundational elements of a successful life. The second pillar being ECONOMY.
The best and most abiding success is that which is made before eight o'clock in the morning. He who is at his business at six o'clock, will always-- all other conditions being equal-- be a long way ahead of the man who is in bed at eight.
We all get the same amount of time, 168 hours a week. How we choose to spend that time is what makes all the difference. How we are investing our time, energy, and resources is something to consider when building a life.
In the economizing of time, too, there will be many things which a man will have to eliminate from his life; some of the things and pursuits which he loves, and desires to retain, will have to be sacrificed to the main purpose of his life.
Sacrifice to our main purpose and knowing what that is, our North Star should not be forsaken. How do we spend our time? How do we spend our money? At my core, I am a family man. My family (my wife and four children), my marriage, and my relationships are most important to me. How I spend my time on my practice, my health, and my family is a reflection of those primary values.
TRUE REFLECTION BRINGS WISDOM
Having a more personal practice coincides with who I am. I can now look back at my 10 years in chiropractic practice and clearly see how it has mirrored my last 16 years of legal practices. I never wanted to be a wholesale practitioner of anything. Never wanting to be something I am not, an entity with multiple offices, numerous staff, and an opaqueness worthy of sale to anyone. A fungible thing was not my goal or my desire, to do that or more importantly to BE that.
BE, DO, and then HAVE
The being level is something to always reflect upon, as in first we are being before we are doing before we are ultimately having the life or practice we desire. From the inside out we proceed and develop into our future legacy.
What is Your Legacy Going to BE?
I want my legacy to be one of great personal services. One conducted at a high level whether for a traffic ticket or a DWI felony, by people who care and don't forget they are representing people. These are not just clients or file numbers, but people who have entrusted their lives to the care of a professional. At the risk of being melodramatic this is why I do what I do and not merely to chalk up numbers on a computer or spread sheet.
Lawrence A. Newman, D.C., Esq.
Ithaca, New York 14850
http://www.ithacadwi.com
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