A former colleague and friend recently emailed me about how busy work has been this year. He's on his way to billing an eye-popping 2,900 hours for the year.

[For those of you who aren’t attorneys, billable hours aren’t the same as hours worked. Lawyers can’t bill everything they do.]

According to him, his “crazy insane busy” schedule was a “good problem” since his practice is growing.

I'm not sure I agree with this problem being classified as a "good" one.

I see this a lot.

You have a problem. After hard work (and/or a bit of luck), the problem is solved and you get what you wanted.

But then you have a new problem (or more).

And, because you worked hard to get to where you are (and supposedly solved the old problem), your mind wants to believe the new problem is a good one.

Yet it’s still a problem, Friend.

Even "good" problems are problems. What's more is that these new problems:

• Might be worse than the ones you had before,

• Are likely an extension of old problems you hadn't yet identified, and

• Could be endemic to you (for example, a lack of strong boundaries).

When this happens, revisit your values, standards, and boundaries. Somewhere in there, you likely have a gap, disconnect and/or lapse that, once fixed, will extinguish these problems.

XO,

Heather

P.S.

Starting your own firm/business can easily create a host of new “problems”, which is why I brought Elise Buie onto the podcast this week to talk about how to get started in building your own firm.

I recommend this episode to anyone with (or considering starting) your own business as well as those attorneys ready to grow your practice area. Listen >>>here.