You Gotta Be a Lawyer

Nowadays you have to be a lawyer if you want to do things differently.  You might say: "Huh, are you nuts?  ...Me a lawyer?"  Nope, not nuts.  What I am referring to is the set ways of society.  Even though we have made great changes in the world we live in and there are many more opportunities and options there still are many rules, norms, and accepted ways of doing things - especially in the world of work.  Have a look at my previous post where I took a cynical view on the world of work and survival in order to look at some of the hidden norms and values that we perhaps do not question that much.

If you want to break out and really do things with flair and fire you need to ask yourself where the loopholes are.  Pretty much like a lawyer looking at a contract.  In life we pretty much have various unwritten contracts that help us along the way.  Whether it helps us in the right direction or the wrong one is debatable.  The point is that we engage in work, leisure, friendship, and many other good things based on certain assumptions/expectations of how we are supposed to do it.  And here is the magic of society:  These rules and norms guide us without us even knowing it.  We do that lovely little human thing called assume.  In my opinion wars are started on assumptions - don't assume.

We assume that friends are really honest with us (and themselves); we assume that the way that I am working is the right (or best) way; we assume that the way things are done is the best way (especially if someone senior with a title told me to); we assume that I can't take risks because I will fail; we assume that things won't get better so I might as well get use to it; we assume...

As a lawyer you don't assume, you investigate and look for areas where someone else assumed that they won't notice or see an important loophole.  So for example in my life I don't assume that things are set.  Very few things are.  Most things in life is invented and until someone else comes along that does not assume but rather investigates or challenges the 'as is' or status quo.  The art lies in how you dig in.  I have made a number of mistakes by being too direct or blunt as well as wanting to change the system before changing myself - very important lesson that I have learnt and need to look out for because it is a weakness - I'd rather change the system than myself.

So now I look for loopholes before I try to change the whole system as well as see where I need to be more diplomatic or soft in my approach and then pray for a lot of patience in order to change the system.  I gotta be a lawyer to go from survive to alive and make the loopholes work for me.  The big thing I realised is that it links to my highest practical values and that is what keeps me motivated.

P.s. Now if you are really curious you would wonder what the text in the picture is all about...