Jeff Haden, a ghostwriter, speaker and ponderer of really interesting questions, wrote his column this month about 5 Statements Successful People Refused to Except (or Even Think). It was an interesting article which first discussed what not to think then suggested how to think differently. It spoke to the reader’s traditionally negative state of mind, then added a positive spin on what you should think and do instead.

It started me thinking. When I speak to rezooming attorneys they are completely aware of all the negative statements about why they should ‘not’ rezoom the practice of law. The negatives are usually the first things they have heard from family and friends. I decided to flip Haden’s premise on its head. I’m writing the five statements successful rezooming attorneys should think and accept every single day.

Most rezooming attorneys need support to remain positive. We are really good at thinking negatively and constructing roadblocks to derail our rezooming efforts. And we’re usually better than anyone else at doing this. Let’s talk instead about what we can say to ourselves that helps us in reaching our goal of rezooming the practice of law or forging ahead into a new business. Once we identify these helpful positive statements, we need to accept them as truths. These statements can and will only move us forward, every single day, if we choose to believe in them and ourselves.

1. Have a vision or a new dream.

It’s easy. Dream big dreams, allow the visions to clarify. They are the building blocks on which you will take the next steps in your life as a rezooming attorney. Believe all the right opportunities are coming your way. This is different than worrying you might have missed an opportunity. Think about what you would do with an opportunity if it materialized, then complete the action necessary to achieve it. Make that call or go to that networking event. If you complete the action your vision or dream will materialize because you have already seen yourself taking advantage of that opportunity.

What I like to do when I think an opportunity is available to me is believe it’s already here. In the alternative, I believe if I miss an opportunity or it doesn’t materialize it wasn’t meant for me right here, right now. If I am meant to take advantage of it, it will come around again. Better yet, it may come around again bigger and better than I initially imagined. I will be glad I waited for the alternate opportunity because it is so much brighter.

2. Many people helped me reach my goal.

This is a much better way to think about how people act toward you as you rezoom your career than thinking people are thwarting you. If you believe people are holding you back because you’ve been out of the workplace or field of law for so many years, then those are the people you are going to meet. What you think will happen happens. However, if you believe everyone you meet on this journey is bringing you closer to your ideal rezoom career, every opportunity and interview helps you hone your skills, then each experience will bring you closer to your goal. Blaming luck or other people for disabling your path to rezoom will create that reality for you. You create your own reality. It’s up to you to decide you are in control or a victim. Victim’s stand still. Creators move forward. Learn from every single experience, good and bad and become better at what you do.

3. The time I spend doing something is exactly right.

If you think you don’t have enough time to rezoom then you won’t. It is all about perception. What we tell ourselves about time will be the outcome. It may only take your thinking about the time differently. If you think something will take exactly 15 minutes, and that is all you have to do it in, then it does. Break all your steps back to the practice of law into small pieces, small drops in the bucket. As you do one thing at a time the bucket fills up. You are getting back there. One small drop in a bucket will fill the rezooming ocean and get you back to the practice of law.

4. Rezooming has already happened.

If you want to rezoom your practice of law, visualize it as already done. People often want to make sure that all their choices are going to work out. That’s impossible. Your best bet is not to limit yourself to just one outcome. View everything that comes your way as an avenue for success. Maybe it isn’t rezooming the practice of law. Maybe it isn’t rezooming the law in an area with which you are familiar. I was a litigator. Now I consider myself a recovering litigator. I prefer to mediate conflicts between people involving animals. This was absolutely not what I did before nor thought would happen when I rezoomed my legal career. But it did because I was open to all the opportunities presented to me. My vision changed on how I wanted to work as I found my voice and passion as a mediator.

You can do the same. You can think about rezooming your career from where you left off if that makes you comfortable, or let yourself explore all that is available to you and decide what you would like to do. Then pursue it. Whatever choice you make is the right choice, whatever path you choose is the right path because you believe it. Belief is stronger than hope and truly focuses our reality. It enables us to find the way to get better and succeed where no one else did.

5. My vision is important.

A number of us have the vision and belief but question its values. The people who made Post-it notes & Velcro probably didn’t think at the time they were making anything special. Yet they revolutionized the world in a simple way. You and your dreams and visions are special. We are all meant to do certain things, small or large. You are unique and meant to handle rezooming your legal career yourself.

• All the right opportunities are coming my way.
• No one holds me back, I move forward no matter what.
• Everything expands to the amount of time I give it.
• Everything I do is worth it, for me and for others.
• Finally, I am very special. I’m going to make a difference in this world.

These five positive statements are what successful rezoomers think about all the time. Now go out there and rezoom.