I do think you need to be aware of your competition though. While there may be a large number of potential clients, there are also a seemingly unlimited number of lawyers. You need to make sure that you are able to attract enough clients for your practice to survive, and even thrive. Every client that chooses you is one client that is not going to other lawyers and, vice versa, every client that goes to another lawyer is one that isn’t choosing you.

You certainly don’t want to jump on every trend and constantly try to one-up other lawyers, but you should take note of what they’re doing that works and consider if there’s a way you can transform it for your own use. If you don’t learn from others, then you’ll be working twice as hard–reinventing the wheel, to use an old cliche.

It is a sad commentary. Most importantly, being ourselves can reduce an incredible amount of stress, but it requires an inordinate amount of faith in ourselves when others withhold theirs.

Our creativity stifled, it becomes difficult for the legal profession as a whole to grasp the concept of authenticity because it requires us to tell our own story effectively and congruently with the market.

Breaking out of the box isn’t a simple process for any business, and for lawyers I submit that it is even more difficult. Thankfully more of us are engaging in a conversation with our audiences, finding our voices, and re-learning how to be human in the face of an educational system that teaches us to be otherwise.