Law blogging : It’s a leap of faith

Reading ‘Leap of Faith’ by Megan Thomassen (@meg_alomania), managing editor of the Observer, Notre Dame’s student run daily, I couldn’t help but reminder what I’ve always told lawyers who were uncertain about blogging.

It’s a leap of faith. Without blogging before there’s no way to grasp what blogging is all about nor what it will do for you, for your family, and your practice. I told lawyers that if they followed 70% of the advice my team and I shared with them there were in for a life changing event.

I told them to have faith. To throw their heart over the bar and let their body follow. Get out the magic wand and dream of the the type of work you’d like to do and the type of clients you’d like to do that work for.

Now go out and make that happen. With the advent of blogging and the Internet there’s never been a better time to make your dreams come alive. Never.

Was I nuts in telling lawyers this? After all they were grown people with advanced degrees and jobs, not kids at Disney World. Or even kids on the advent of four years at Notre Dame.

I don’t think so. As Thomassen writes, there’s nothing to be gained in life without rolling the dice and taking on uncertainty.

There’s no point of “putting yourself out there” if the self you’re giving has a barricade of defenses to keep you safe from getting hurt. You have to let go of those walls and let your guard down.

You’ve never done any of these things before. How do you know you’ll make it?

It’s a leap of faith.

Reassuring, I know. But I think uncertainty is what makes Notre Dame an incredible place.

Every time you step outside your comfort zone, put your faith in God and your peers, because they are the ones who will congratulate you when you succeed and help you up when you fall.

Yes, being vulnerable means you’re susceptible, but it also means you are open to meaningful experiences and life-altering changes. That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it?

I am not challenging you as lawyer to put your faith in God or Notre Dame, though you could do worse, I am challenging you to put your faith in yourself and the people around you who will help you.

You also have what lawyers did not have not have before you. Ample evidence that blogging does work to enhance your reputation, build relationships, and grow your practice.

Being live on the net is scary. So is having an opinion with which others will disagree. It’s scary to go after a niche in the law or in business, via your blog, when everyone around you thinks you’re a little crazy. It takes time to write your own blog posts. A lot of unknowns.

Take a leap faith. Isn’t that what you did when you became a lawyer.

Image courtesy of Samantha Collier (@samtaracollier)