The Red Velvet Lawyer

Making Higher Aspirations a Part of Your Life In December, I shared a goal setting strategy focused on picking one (or three) words for the year. Yesterday, I ran across this collection of other goal setting strategies .

Tracking Gains, Setting Weekly Goals, and Holding Yourself Accountable Yesterday, I described my productive use of three snow days and the " satisfaction of completion ."  Today, I want to describe a tool my business coach, Christine Kane , advised me to use in her UpLevel Your Life on-line coaching program. She calls the tool the "Sunday Summit" because she encourages you to use it once a week to plan your intention for the week.  I have used it every week for three years. The 2-page tool consists of eight questions.  The questions on page one help you focus on gains made the last week and create accountability for missed goals.  The questions are: 1.  What have I accomplished this week? 2.  Is there anything I wanted to accomplish but did not? 3.  What a-ha's or awakenings have I had this week? 4.  What challenges am I experiencing? 5.  If I were coaching myself, what would I tell myself about those challenges? The...

The Satisfaction of Completion This last week, the Dean declared three snow days.  I feel like a kid when that happens.  Yes, I did play in the snow a bit.  But, mostly, I enjoyed what my business coach, Christine Kane , calls the "satisfaction of completion." On Sunday and Monday, I completed my tax returns for 2013 and 2014, and I plan to use the refunds to pay off most of my debt.  Ka-ching! On Thursday, I began writing the minutes for the Admissions Committee on which I serve. Last night, I completed the first drafts.   Those two big projects had been hanging over my head for a long time.  I'm glad they are behind me because their completion frees up so much energy that I can now focus on new projects, including a couple of law review articles I want to finish this week.  P.S. The photo features a nearby view.  Thanks to alumni, Darryle Ronning, for sharing it on Facebook. 

Still a Good Option If You Can Get  a Bargain on Legal Education For the full story, see  here .

How is Your Own Stuff Affecting the Negotiation? Bill Ury has published a new book : Getting to Yes with Yourself and Other Worthy Opponents .  I've not read it yet.  But, as the big storm of 2015 began dropping snowflakes on Grundy, I watched an hour-long video featuring Ury at a Google-sponsored event during which he describes the book, tells several stories as examples, and engages the audience in a discussion and a role-play. First,  I do love the "getting" series of books.  I've read them all.  I have assigned Getting to Yes to all my students over the last thirteen years of my teaching career.  In another week, my current students will start reading it.  I use Getting Disputes Resolved in my Arbitration seminar, partly because it refers to a labor dispute in a coal mine located not far from the Appalachian School of Law.  I also use it because it was one of the first books written on dispute resolution s...