I've been feeling like I'm overdue for an emotional breakdown and it finally came this morning, as I hugged my Mom goodbye. The past 4 months have been a whirlwind of change and I was determined to conquer it all like a beast. This attitude helped me do just that, but the little things have started creeping up on me as of late. People like to say that "the devil is busy", I'm not sure if I would describe it that way but I finally understand the concept. The funny part is that if I were to say out loud those things that are bothering me, I'd feel stupid because they are all minor and meaningless. Nonetheless, the sheer rapid succession of small irritations after all the work it has taken to not stress the little (or big, for that matter) things has warranted a good cleansing cry and what better than a hug from your Mom to begin that release.
Straight Talk
You never really see yourself as clearly as when you have an outside observer there to illuminate your life. It has become clear to me that I have a serious Superwoman complex. Because I know what's inside of me, I fail to give myself enough credit and that can lead others to not appreciate me as much as they should. If I act as if everything comes easy, then how can I expect the perceivers to view things any different. If I am being honest, the past four years have been really tough. Because they have simultaneously been really amazing, I tend to undermine the significance of and need to acknowledge the pain.
2007
In January of 2007, I was diagnosed with Grave's disease. After googling it and learning more, I prayed that I would not get the eye symptoms. Of course, it was a useless prayer because going through the experience was a necessary part of my journey. Ever since I can remember, my eyes have been the most significant physical part of me. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and I knew I was special at an early age, in part because of how others reacted to my eyes.
Needless to say that those big eyes that I came to regard as the feature that made me beautiful all of a sudden changing was, well, soul changing. All the less obvious symptoms of my my hyperthyroidism, tiredness, weight loss, ankle swelling, even difficulties with reproduction meant nothing as I witnessed one eye, then the other quickly begin to protrude from their sockets. My loss of eye control was in direct correlation with my loss of self confidence. After years of not being particularly photogenic, I had finally begun to look great in photos only to now have my greatest insecurity show up every time anyone even thought about taking a picture. It took me a long time and a lot of staring at myself in the mirror to re-find my beauty. My big hair is definitely an ode to my big eyes, my thought was fuck it, give 'em something to remember.
2008
After finally accepting myself and recapturing my natural confidence, I was ready to start my family. Because my thyroid was so "hot", it could not be controlled with medication but I wanted to try this route anyway because I would rather not have them take out my thyroid and have to take a pill everyday for the rest of my life. Those who know me, know that I am very adverse to medication so between the treatment of my eyes and of my thyroid, at one time I was taking 14 pills a day. Talk about feeling defective... Anyway, I finally made the decision to have my thyroid burned out through radioactive iodine because I was told that I would have to wait 6 months after to try to get pregnant. At that point I was 28, I had been married for 5 years, with my husband for 9. I was a top lawyer at a top firm and I was finally ready to embark on this journey. Well, it was not to be as smooth as I'd hoped because I ended up having to have the treatment twice (which is unheard-of) which rendered me unable to attempt to reproduce for over a year. Then when I was finally able to try, my body was so out of whack that I could not get pregnant.
In true LaNora fashion, I chocked it up as a loss and began dreaming up an alternative life for myself. This is when my entrepreneurial spirit began to take flight. My business would be my baby and I went about doing the work that would hopefully lead me to leave my legal career and find my passion.
2009
January 1st was the first day of this journey I am on today and as everyone knows, one of the worse economic times in American history. I took this as a great sign. There was never a better time to be broke and an entrepreneur. Obama was being sworn in as President and it felt like the sky was the limit.
Because I refuse to let any "expert" opinion override what I know to be logical, I stopped taking my Thyroid medication. Because I had no thyroid, I was supposed to have hypothyroidIsm but I was constantly losing weight and my cycle had not returned to normal in over a year. I was told that I needed this pill to regulate my metabolism, but it seemed that my body thought otherwise. Right or wrong, within a couple months of stopping the medication, I found out I was pregnant. Funny that this was early October and I had officially resigned from my firm on September 26th with a December 31st end date. I would never have gone down this road had I had my wish and got pregnant right when I felt the time was right. So, by May of 2009 I had my second baby (Muse being my first) and embarked upon a parallel personal journey.
2010
This was perhaps the most difficult year because, for the first time in my life, I began to self-analyze and really work on myself. Life up to this point had been pretty easy. I hate saying that because many of the things I have achieved, especially considering my relative disadvantages, are things most people will never achieve even with tons of hard work, but I have come to realize that it is what it is. For the first time since 8th grade, I had to decide on what path my life would follow. At this point, true greatness was the only option because I had already reached the heights that society deemed exceptional. The difference this time was that there was no blueprint for me to follow. I had to go inside and find myself, discover my Muse and accept my spiritual gifts in order to have a chance to fulfill what was becoming my obvious potential.
This blog has been my way of sharing my journey from that point. So, you know that in November I had my second child, my husband landed his dream job and we are now living in New York.
Moving Forward
I have been coaching myself to give myself a break, but in the last week or so little doubts have tried to creep in. All the financial issues that I thought I had resolved have decided to linger a little longer, the confidence I have in my ability to write an amazing book has gone through waxes and wanes in light of my "show me" philosophy, I have had to reevaluate my commitment to other endeavors as the reality that I will not be able to get my daughter into a good school until September set in and on top of that, hubby's new job comes with a twist we have never encountered, lots of travel.
Needless to say, I needed a good cry just to let that all out and refresh my spirit. I am truly feeling renewed as I wrap up this retrospective. I am looking around at my new home in Harlem, sun shining through the windows, my baby sleeping here on the couch next to me as I write. My big girl sleeping in her room and my wonderful husband in ours. I was made for greatness and all evidence points to my fulfillment of my destiny. Though I need to allow myself these emotional breaks more often, I am comfortable with my Superwoman complex. It keeps me soaring and as Zora would exhort "jump at the sun!".
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Itching to Write
So, I decided to postpone writing until April 1st to give myself pressure-free time with the baby as well as time to get settled in my new Harlem home. I believe this was a good decision, as I am finding new inspiration daily since I began moving on the 3rd of this month. I am down to one last box and I have my mom here to help me with the girls for the next day or 2.
Besides writing my book, I have been contemplating what direction to take Muse CAA. I believe my biggest mistake the first go around was letting my career happen to me instead of making deliberate moves toward a defined goal. I am determined not to do that this time. In the short time that I've been here, I've already taken advantage of a couple opportunities that have come my way, one in which I would love to pursue further and the other that I have decided would take me down the same path that led me to halt operations mid year last year.
Door #1
About a week before my scheduled move, I got a call from my friend Keith, who owns Decoder (a media company), about an opportunity to associate produce a pilot for a documentary series on Animal Planet. Not wanting to miss out on a great opportunity, after hearing from the producer I spent all day trying to make arrangements for someone to be there with my baby until my Mom arrived. It was a 2-day job and the first time I would be away from my breastfed baby. Needless to say, there were a lot of hoops to jump through to pull this off. But, in true Muse fashion, I made it happen. I caught the train from DC to NY at 5am to be here for the 9am call time. The experience was wonderful and I believe I made a great impression. If the show is picked up, we are looking at a 10 episode deal, so I am hopeful that this sacrifice will manifest into a great long term prospect.
Door#2
While I was here, I stayed with my good friends Stacey and Carlos. Stacey's sister was asking about what I did in terms of branding because after managing top salons in the city, she had taken the leap of faith and opened her own salon. After our conversation, she asked if I would like to work an upcoming event with her. I jumped at the chance to plant another seed for Muse. The event was yesterday and was great PR for her salon and a great opportunity for me to see this Maven in action. Though I believe in her long term potential, my down time gave me time to realize that I am more interested in project-based, strategic opportunities and this would be more of a long term growth opportunity. Also, it is in an industry in which i am only peripherally interested. While at the event, I met another entrepreneur who was interested in me helping her grow her brand. This was after I essentially sold her product to a retailer exhibiting at the same event. Again though, after the buzz of being sought after wore I off, I reflected on my goal of creating my own destiny and decided to forego this opportunity as well. As my husband said, I may never have another opportunity like this where I have the time to really think about what I want to do and what will lead me to my millionaire dream. He believes that it is great that I am testing out these various opportunities, but cautioned me against jumping on other people's journey unnecessarily.
All that is to say, I will be focusing on my book and my babies and hopefully this Associate Producer position for now. I have a few other passion-based trails that i want to blaze once I figure out how they could become profitable. By the time I get Ryan into a good day care, I hope to have a direction and plan of action ready. Wish me luck!
Besides writing my book, I have been contemplating what direction to take Muse CAA. I believe my biggest mistake the first go around was letting my career happen to me instead of making deliberate moves toward a defined goal. I am determined not to do that this time. In the short time that I've been here, I've already taken advantage of a couple opportunities that have come my way, one in which I would love to pursue further and the other that I have decided would take me down the same path that led me to halt operations mid year last year.
Door #1
About a week before my scheduled move, I got a call from my friend Keith, who owns Decoder (a media company), about an opportunity to associate produce a pilot for a documentary series on Animal Planet. Not wanting to miss out on a great opportunity, after hearing from the producer I spent all day trying to make arrangements for someone to be there with my baby until my Mom arrived. It was a 2-day job and the first time I would be away from my breastfed baby. Needless to say, there were a lot of hoops to jump through to pull this off. But, in true Muse fashion, I made it happen. I caught the train from DC to NY at 5am to be here for the 9am call time. The experience was wonderful and I believe I made a great impression. If the show is picked up, we are looking at a 10 episode deal, so I am hopeful that this sacrifice will manifest into a great long term prospect.
Door#2
While I was here, I stayed with my good friends Stacey and Carlos. Stacey's sister was asking about what I did in terms of branding because after managing top salons in the city, she had taken the leap of faith and opened her own salon. After our conversation, she asked if I would like to work an upcoming event with her. I jumped at the chance to plant another seed for Muse. The event was yesterday and was great PR for her salon and a great opportunity for me to see this Maven in action. Though I believe in her long term potential, my down time gave me time to realize that I am more interested in project-based, strategic opportunities and this would be more of a long term growth opportunity. Also, it is in an industry in which i am only peripherally interested. While at the event, I met another entrepreneur who was interested in me helping her grow her brand. This was after I essentially sold her product to a retailer exhibiting at the same event. Again though, after the buzz of being sought after wore I off, I reflected on my goal of creating my own destiny and decided to forego this opportunity as well. As my husband said, I may never have another opportunity like this where I have the time to really think about what I want to do and what will lead me to my millionaire dream. He believes that it is great that I am testing out these various opportunities, but cautioned me against jumping on other people's journey unnecessarily.
All that is to say, I will be focusing on my book and my babies and hopefully this Associate Producer position for now. I have a few other passion-based trails that i want to blaze once I figure out how they could become profitable. By the time I get Ryan into a good day care, I hope to have a direction and plan of action ready. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Momentary Interruption
Writing...oh how I missed thee.
There is way too much going on for me to focus just now. Besides the 2.5 month old we call Bear, I am getting my house in order in preparation for the big move to NYC.
I am now reading three books at once (so LaNora), so this feels like just another part of the work. It has me thinking about within what genre I would place my book. Because of its negative connotation, I hate the term "self-help" and really I am helping you help yourself, so where am I in that description. Memoirs by young people are starting to be popular, but this is definitely not my memoir though I use my journey to illustrate my proposition. So, I'm working on that one for my pitch letter. I want to be in the same category as "The Tipping Point", but Gladwell's description of his genre doesn't seem worked out quite yet...lol.
The best part of not writing is that I have had a lot of time to DREAM. I have not had that in awhile. Once you are on autopilot, the daily dreaming seems to subside. This is a necessary part because you can really get locked in the dreaming and forget to do the work. I am enjoying developing my work plan. I think it is soooo sexy that I will be a writer in Harlem. I have an address on West 119th and St. Nicholas and I can already feel myself being part of a tradition of Black writers who find their peak of inspiration on those Harlem streets. I love the story that I am writing for myself.
Muse News
Now that I think of it, there is some news to report regarding Muse CAA: I got a call about being an Associate Producer (AP) for a new Animal Planet series. I have not been officially offered the position, nor have I accepted anything but it came through a wonderful contact, so I think it will work out. So, that is a great start to my networking journey in NYC.
I hope to be settled into my new apartment by the end of March, so I will give myself to April 1st to get it together before I put myself on a writing schedule. This is real progress for me not to beat myself up about not meeting these self-inflicted deadlines. I am a deadline driven person, so I love and need them. But I am also a motivated person, so I have the tendency to overexert myself unnecessarily. Finding the right balance, and being blessed with the freedom to exercise it, has been overwhelmingly inspiring; taking the time to live in that inspired state has been life-changing. So back to writing April 1st and back to work, i.e., reading Wrapped In Rainbows, now!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
2011...
Waxing Retrospective
My first blog post lays out my three goals for 2010 and the seven faults I must overcome to be successful. Over the course of the year, I narrowed it down to 1 goal, which was to complete my book proposal, and I reduced those seven faults to their common denominator and made it my business to conquer the fears that were inhibiting my success. In order to grow, I had to stop moving long enough to evaluate my behavior. To that end, I winded down all of my contracts and stepped away from working with clients and really spent some time working on me. Never before had I put up a mirror and evaluated myself, especially not my faults. This was a necessary step if I wanted to continue being an entrepreneur. But we all know that necessary does not mean easy. In fact, 2010 was the most difficult year of my life. I am happy to say that it was well worth it because I came out of the process with a renewed and deeper belief in myself, a no stress attitude, and an awareness of those weaknesses that I must address as I travel on this entrepreneurial journey. Now for the work...
On to the Next
Tomorrow starts the first day back to work after my self-granted maternity leave. Because I was working on so many things last year on top of being pregnant and taking care of my first baby, I made it a point not to pressure myself too much. Now that is over. I do have a newborn, but she is low maintenance. My oldest is now in daycare and my husband has accepted a new demanding job that will involve a major move to NYC sometime in March. With this in mind, I am giving myself through the end of February to complete my book proposal. I would love to move to NYC with a clean slate so I can go about the business of reinventing myself. With no clients and no lingering assignments, I will be free to dream all new dreams and work on making them come true in The Big Apple.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Checking In
There is something about Sunday mornings that get me motivated. I have not written in a couple weeks, nor have I thought much about it, as I have been busy nesting. Well, I am proud to announce that I delivered my second child, Riley Alexa Clark, on November 29th. A beautiful baby girl who damn near brought herself into the world. Needless to say, I am filled with gratitude and renewed purpose.
This morning I started reading through my Guide to Literary Agents. It is interesting to read agents' perspectives on the book proposal process. It has me thinking even more about the elements of my proposal and how I really do have something here. I am the queen of persuasive writing, so I can't wait to see my finished product and where it leads me.
Although I would have loved to have my proposal completed already, I am still proud of my progress. Unlike when I had my first child, I do not feel any rush or pressure to do anything in a certain amount of time. This book is my other baby and I will give it all the attention and nurturing it needs before I send it out into the world. I should be able to gauge how much time I will have to devote to finishing my proposal over the next couple weeks. Riley is pretty low maintenance right now, but I am not counting on that to continue. In the meantime, I will do what I can do and I am sure everything will work out how it is supposed to work out.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Turn my Swag On
Goal Setting
At every stage in my life, I set a high goal and was able to attain it. For college I wanted to go to Berkeley or Brandeis. I only applied to 4 schools and got into all of them. For law school I wanted to go to the #1 school in the country, Yale. I punked out of applying, but I applied to 13 schools, all in the top 15. I got into all of them except Standford (down with the Cardinal!). When I graduated law school, I wanted to work at a top law firm. I went through the process and ended up at a Top 40 law firm.
I recently said to myself that now is not the time for little goals. I have two friends that are published and they are are both under two of the top 10 publishers in the US: HarperCollins and Houghton Mifflin. One of them already sold the rights to have her book adapted into a film and the other got her book sold in a literary auction, which means lots of people were interested in it. These are my peers and, therefore, my benchmark for success.
So, I am setting a top 10 publisher as my goal.
How do I get there?
Well, this is difficult to figure out, but a major aspect is the marketability of your book. I have started this section of my proposal and I think I have a pretty good segment of the market carved out:
In the academic world, I have connections to lots of published and respected professors. I need my book to be good enough to get testimonials from two of my NYU professors, Professor Derrick Bell (who is super famous in Critical Race Theory circles and beyond) and Professor Tony Thompson (who recently published the bible of books on Reentry studies). I am also getting in touch with NYU to see how they can support me in my efforts. For $190k, I assume there is something they can do to support my efforts. Especially because this book is definitely good PR for them.
I have a chapter devoted to who I consider to be the key members of my network. All of these individuals have their own networks and I am relying on them to be my cheerleaders in pushing my book. Each of them will be impressed with the role that they play and what I have to say about them and all are go-getters so if their name is attached they will want it to be a success.
Aspiring lawyers, law students and lawyers, particularly African-Americans are definitely a key demographic for my book.
Up and coming entrepreneurs are also part of the market for my book.
Another key element is access to press. I have this down in the DC area and I will be relying on my PR mavens on both coasts to help me push this.
I think my title is a seller as well.
Most importantly, the book has to be good. I am still yet to finish a full chapter, though I have been writing everyday. I jump around between the into, chapter 1 and chapter 6. Sometimes I stray and start writing up my marketability piece or, this week, I have been trying to stop myself from writing parts of Chapter 5 which follows my years at Berkeley.
What Now?
These goals are just there to help me dream big an do what needs to be done to make it happen. Right now my focus is on completing my proposal. Sunday is a good writing day, so if I could just keep myself focused on one chapter I know that I can finish it. I feel that it should be Chapter 1 because it will set the tone for the rest of my book, but Chapter 6 is so fresh and full of characters and the meat of my theory that it has been much easier to write. I will set my goal as finishing Chapter 1 and see where I get. No pressure. Baby Riley is due sometime in the next 15 days and she has been a huge motivation to get this done. I am trusting that everything will work out how it is meant to work out, so I am feeling confident and self-assured by my process. Wish me luck!
At every stage in my life, I set a high goal and was able to attain it. For college I wanted to go to Berkeley or Brandeis. I only applied to 4 schools and got into all of them. For law school I wanted to go to the #1 school in the country, Yale. I punked out of applying, but I applied to 13 schools, all in the top 15. I got into all of them except Standford (down with the Cardinal!). When I graduated law school, I wanted to work at a top law firm. I went through the process and ended up at a Top 40 law firm.
I recently said to myself that now is not the time for little goals. I have two friends that are published and they are are both under two of the top 10 publishers in the US: HarperCollins and Houghton Mifflin. One of them already sold the rights to have her book adapted into a film and the other got her book sold in a literary auction, which means lots of people were interested in it. These are my peers and, therefore, my benchmark for success.
So, I am setting a top 10 publisher as my goal.
How do I get there?
Well, this is difficult to figure out, but a major aspect is the marketability of your book. I have started this section of my proposal and I think I have a pretty good segment of the market carved out:
In the academic world, I have connections to lots of published and respected professors. I need my book to be good enough to get testimonials from two of my NYU professors, Professor Derrick Bell (who is super famous in Critical Race Theory circles and beyond) and Professor Tony Thompson (who recently published the bible of books on Reentry studies). I am also getting in touch with NYU to see how they can support me in my efforts. For $190k, I assume there is something they can do to support my efforts. Especially because this book is definitely good PR for them.
I have a chapter devoted to who I consider to be the key members of my network. All of these individuals have their own networks and I am relying on them to be my cheerleaders in pushing my book. Each of them will be impressed with the role that they play and what I have to say about them and all are go-getters so if their name is attached they will want it to be a success.
Aspiring lawyers, law students and lawyers, particularly African-Americans are definitely a key demographic for my book.
Up and coming entrepreneurs are also part of the market for my book.
Another key element is access to press. I have this down in the DC area and I will be relying on my PR mavens on both coasts to help me push this.
I think my title is a seller as well.
Most importantly, the book has to be good. I am still yet to finish a full chapter, though I have been writing everyday. I jump around between the into, chapter 1 and chapter 6. Sometimes I stray and start writing up my marketability piece or, this week, I have been trying to stop myself from writing parts of Chapter 5 which follows my years at Berkeley.
What Now?
These goals are just there to help me dream big an do what needs to be done to make it happen. Right now my focus is on completing my proposal. Sunday is a good writing day, so if I could just keep myself focused on one chapter I know that I can finish it. I feel that it should be Chapter 1 because it will set the tone for the rest of my book, but Chapter 6 is so fresh and full of characters and the meat of my theory that it has been much easier to write. I will set my goal as finishing Chapter 1 and see where I get. No pressure. Baby Riley is due sometime in the next 15 days and she has been a huge motivation to get this done. I am trusting that everything will work out how it is meant to work out, so I am feeling confident and self-assured by my process. Wish me luck!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Evaluation Time
Checking in with Muse v Fear
1) LACK OF CONFIDENCE 1 point for me
2) FAILURE TO ACT tied
3) FEAR OF GOING AFTER MY OWN DREAMS 1 point for me
4) FEAR OF BEING ACCOUNTABLE 1 point for me
5) DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR 1 point for me
6) LACK OF COMMITMENT 1 point for me
7) FEAR OF GREATNESS 1 point for Fear
All in all, I am kicking butt. I have very little anxiety about my ability to write the book that I see in my head. I am not pushing myself too hard because I am keeping my kids as my priority right now. I am continuing to post blogs and keep it honest in my writing. By writing my own story, there are so many characters whose feelings I have to consider. It is teaching me how to write in a way that is both honest and considerate. I am enjoying the challenge.
Checking in with The Other N Word
Going back down memory lane is exhausting work. I have to edit myself when I write because this book is not my life story, if it is not relevant to teaching me the game of networking it should not go in. On the flip side, stories are injected in that I did not forsee being part of the book.
My goal is to draft my Intro, Chapter 1 and Chapter 6. I think these three things set up the premise for the book and are diverse enough to give a good impression of the rest of the book. I really like my intro so far. Framing my story has been like framing a piece of art. I have to put the reader in the mindset that I'd like them to be in. Choosing my words carefully and trusting my voice have been essential tools. I have parts of all 3 chapters done, I just really want to have a whole chapter done. This is my goal today. Chapter 1 is about my early childhood and Chapter 6 is about my law firm career. I straddle between the two depending on what I am in the mood to deal with. I think Chapter 6 might get written faster, though I am pretty close to being done with Chapter 1. A lot of framing of a lot of memories...can be slow work.
The law firm stuff is fresh in my mind and the chapter is entitled "The Knowledge Without the Game". At this point in my journey, I was beginning to notice a lot of things that I had missed before. I was still gaining the knowledge, but it took me becoming an entrepreneur to learn the game. The BigLaw partnership model makes an associate's job much like being an entrepreneur. You do not have a boss in the traditional sense, you still compete for the best work, and its about who you know as much as it is what you know. Interacting in the firm world with the knowledge of how to act, dress, be...showed me how understanding why I must (or think I must) do these things is more valuable.
I'm about to break for lunch and get back to writing soon after. Wish me luck on finishing up Chapter 6.
1) LACK OF CONFIDENCE 1 point for me
2) FAILURE TO ACT tied
3) FEAR OF GOING AFTER MY OWN DREAMS 1 point for me
4) FEAR OF BEING ACCOUNTABLE 1 point for me
5) DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR 1 point for me
6) LACK OF COMMITMENT 1 point for me
7) FEAR OF GREATNESS 1 point for Fear
All in all, I am kicking butt. I have very little anxiety about my ability to write the book that I see in my head. I am not pushing myself too hard because I am keeping my kids as my priority right now. I am continuing to post blogs and keep it honest in my writing. By writing my own story, there are so many characters whose feelings I have to consider. It is teaching me how to write in a way that is both honest and considerate. I am enjoying the challenge.
Checking in with The Other N Word
Going back down memory lane is exhausting work. I have to edit myself when I write because this book is not my life story, if it is not relevant to teaching me the game of networking it should not go in. On the flip side, stories are injected in that I did not forsee being part of the book.
My goal is to draft my Intro, Chapter 1 and Chapter 6. I think these three things set up the premise for the book and are diverse enough to give a good impression of the rest of the book. I really like my intro so far. Framing my story has been like framing a piece of art. I have to put the reader in the mindset that I'd like them to be in. Choosing my words carefully and trusting my voice have been essential tools. I have parts of all 3 chapters done, I just really want to have a whole chapter done. This is my goal today. Chapter 1 is about my early childhood and Chapter 6 is about my law firm career. I straddle between the two depending on what I am in the mood to deal with. I think Chapter 6 might get written faster, though I am pretty close to being done with Chapter 1. A lot of framing of a lot of memories...can be slow work.
The law firm stuff is fresh in my mind and the chapter is entitled "The Knowledge Without the Game". At this point in my journey, I was beginning to notice a lot of things that I had missed before. I was still gaining the knowledge, but it took me becoming an entrepreneur to learn the game. The BigLaw partnership model makes an associate's job much like being an entrepreneur. You do not have a boss in the traditional sense, you still compete for the best work, and its about who you know as much as it is what you know. Interacting in the firm world with the knowledge of how to act, dress, be...showed me how understanding why I must (or think I must) do these things is more valuable.
I'm about to break for lunch and get back to writing soon after. Wish me luck on finishing up Chapter 6.
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