He told me that pretty soon, too much work will be coming my way, and naturally, I will have the urge to take everything on and do it. He said that at that point, I need to realize that the work will always be there, and that I should turn the lights off and go home for the night.

I had great joy in reading a beautifully written piece by solo attorney David Koller called, “A Daughter’s Birth Teaches a Solo Attorney About Priorities.” What was even more special about this piece is it was from a man’s viewpoint.  But even more important than that, it highlights those moments when everything we’ve ever worked for crystallizes and sets the tone and direction for how we will work in the future.  When that special moment comes we realize why we’ve made the choices we’ve made and why we work as we do.

Many people mock those who talk about work/life balance. Many people…well, they say a lot of things that are worth ignoring.

Times are tough. We all know this.  But the bright spots, the ephiphanies, the genuine hope and excitement shouldn’t be brushed aside.  I’ve had the privilege of being a solo and I know countless solos, their stories, their ups and downs and so many of the downs revolve around work/life balance. I think David put it most eloquently, especially for the solo:

I learned that great things in life happen, and sometimes those great things happen to push to the side the work you intended to do on a given day or weekend. Longer term, those great things require you to modify your goals and expectations. In my case, the birth of my daughter helped me become much more realistic with my professional aspirations.

Enjoy reading the article and if you care to share, what epiphany did you have that set the tone for your solo practice and how you did you handle ‘modifying your goals and expectations’ for your practice based upon that moment?