Here's what I do when being a lawyer sucks
I know sometimes as a law firm owner, you feel like Ben Affleck when he pulled the short straw in Armageddon.
All your friends are getting paid every 2 weeks,
They don’t have to review their finances every month,
AND they get a bonus every year. 🤦🏻♀️
Meanwhile, you’re stuck dealing with clients who can barely use a computer to upload documents, show up 20 minutes late to Zoom calls, and don’t seem to understand the concept of a due date on the invoices you send.
Add to that frustration - you never actually learned how to run a law firm, how to hire, or how to be a business owner.
You’re rolling with the punches, pulling short straw after short straw, and it just suuuuccckksssssssssss.
But here's the thing: Saying it sucks is somehow not satisfying anymore.
I get it!
Back in 2016, I agreed to start and operate a business owned by my parents: a mattress factory. This was right after I burned down my law firm and thought I was going to move to London. I was back in Atlanta, when I was presented with this "short straw." I didn’t know anything about mattresses, except the one that I slept on and not to buy a mattress from Ikea. Other than that, it was like my first day of law school.
Everyday, there was a new surprise. I would walk in and an important piece of equipment would be broken, which delayed production for days. Then, I’d have expensive employees sitting around doing nothing, but still had to pay because they’re highly skilled. And of course: my parents breathing down my neck with everything that went wrong, as thought I was the one who broke the important piece of equipment.
I was drowning, exhausted and overwhelmed.
A friend happened to call me, and I did the only thing I could do: I verbal diarrhea’d and told him everything that was going on.
All he said was: Nermin, you are going to wallow. How long do you want to wallow for? I said 24 hours.
Since that conversation in 2017, I have done exactly what my friend said. When shit really sucks, I give myself permission to wallow. I set a timer, and I wallow: no sugar coating, wine and whiskey, I just get to feel and complain about how much everything sucks for 24 hours. I cry. I laugh. I scream. I punch pillows. I wallow.
After those 24 hours, I go back to kicking ass, taking names and saving the world from a deadly asteroid.
If you’re tired of always being positive, optimistic, or reframing the shit storm that your life currently is, listen in to this week’s podcast episode about wallowing: