If you have ever gambled you know what this phrase means. If you have ever played competitive sports you have been to go “all out”. They essentially mean the same thing. Give it everything you have, play all the money you’ve got, risk it all or my favorite, and “Go Big or Go Home.” The key to all of these is that if the other person at the table or in the game is giving it their all and you are not, the result would likely end with you wither becoming injured, losing the game or losing all of your money. In the “business” of practicing law (here I remind you, you are running a business), we obviously avoid the risk of physical injury, but we can lose all of our money, our client’s opportunity to pay their bills and live a normal life, to pay our employees and our own self-respect. So, just like in sports, you have to be fully committed to what you are doing or risk falling into a state of mediocrity and apathy. So ask yourself thee questions: am I maximizing MY effort today? Am I committed to achieving results that are better today than they were last month or last year? Or have you only resolved to do enough to get by? Only you can answer these questions, but you should also, meet with your partners and make sure you are all answering them, and then comparing your answers. It is crucial that you are all committed and that you are all committed at the same level.

At some point you have stop and evaluate your own performance and that of those around you. How productive are we? Are we meeting the expectations of our clients? Are you asking them? Regularly? Are we meeting our own expectations? How well are we producing? How do we measure? How are we measuring up against our competitors? Are we having to retrace our steps and fix the same mistakes? How motivated are we to fixing them? Are we internally motivated or is our only motivation from external sources? How well do we communicate with one another? How well do we respond to one another’s input? How efficient are we in applying strategic solutions to the challenges we face? How well are we able to adapt to the inherent changes of growth required so that we don’t get left behind?

At some point you have to be able to recommit yourself to making yourself and your firm to making things better. You have to own who you are as a firm and commit to being the best you can be, to move all in. You owe it to yourself, your firm, you clients and to your family. If you aren’t sure exactly how to start your firm on the path to improving then take time to invest in a business development coach or a marketing strategist or both. As you begin down the path, ask yourself, what can I do to help lead others and provide them with the inspiration to strive to be better? As you strive to be better, it is imperative that you stay positive in thought, actions and character. Anything worth having will not come easily. Keep in mind this saying, “Minimums are designed to control those who are not driven enough to manage themselves.” So, each day strive for the maximum for yourself, your firm and your clients and be all in.