Your future self will thank you for reading this newsletter.

?? Welcome to Notes to My (Legal) Self, the frequently fun newsletter with a focus on helping you build the legal career of your dreams.

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Hello Friends and Colleagues,

We’ve now made it halfway through 2022. How are your New Year’s resolutions panning out? On track to meet your goals? Need to make adjustments? Gave up on making them in the first place??

It’s all okay. Whether they’re New Year resolutions or lifelong dreams, we often rely on sheer willpower and discipline to accomplish our goals. Unfortunately, those tend to fall short against the unrelenting demands of day-to-day life.?

Our future selves will either reap the benefits or get shortchanged by the choices we make today. How many times could you kick your past self for the consequences your current self faces??

We know to eat fruits and veggies, not cookies and cake. We want to sign up for a course to level up our skills, not turn on Netflix. We know to send out resumes, make that call, and otherwise Get Things Done in big, bold, meaningful ways—not continue the status quo.?

Unfortunately, our brains prefer the status quo over the uncertainty of change. We’re driven--even against our will--to choose immediate gratification over vague ideas about the distant future.?

What if we could program our brains to make us automatically behave in ways that prioritize our future selves?

Scientists believe the mammalian part of our brain is largely responsible for our emotions, decisions, and behaviors, i.e., it’s what we really need on our side to keep us steadily progressing toward our resolutions.

?In How to Set Goals for 2022 with Brainwashing, behavioral expert Chase Hughes offers workarounds for our mammalian brains’ inability to understand spoken or written language. We can convince our mammalian brains to help us achieve our dreams and goals using visual cues and emotional tactics, including:?

1. changing your routine to get your brain to notice your intentions to change,
2. using repetition to tell your brain what things are important to you,
3. setting reminders to do specific tasks each day,
4. performing small 'favors' for your future self to help your brain appreciate that the future is real.?

Many of the actions we desire then become daily habits rather than conscious choices we must white-knuckle ourselves into doing.?

Chase mentions using a vision board that engages all your senses, keeping a journal to rank how well you prioritized your future self each day, and printing your photo from an app that shows how you’ll look at age 95.

Should we set a goal together, and check back in at the end of the year?

Could you get your team or work group to develop a vision board for meeting its goals??

Would everyone honestly rate their daily efforts??

One thing is for sure: It would certainly get your group thinking and talking about how to work together to accomplish goals more effectively!

Best,

Olga

Get out there and take your shots in life

Baseball fans everywhere have heard of Hall of Famer, Ty Cobb. Cobb notched 90 Major League Baseball records in his esteemed career, including one for stealing 96 bases in a single year.?

Ask any fan of the game if they know Max Carey, and most will draw a blank. Carey was also an amazing baseball player. In fact, his successful base-stealing percentage rate far exceeded? Cobb’s.?

In one season, Carey attempted 53 steals, landing the base 51 times for a phenomenal 96% success rate. The year Cobb set the record for stealing 96 bases, he’d made 134 attempts, which equals a 71% success rate.?

We remember Cobb because he was willing to take a chance and fail. Meanwhile, Carey played it safe time after time.

Legendary basketball player Michael Jordan said it best:

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

The right mindsets can make all the difference

Starting Over When You Think It’s Too Late How do we redirect our efforts away from what we’re used to and toward what we want to do? This podcast from The Atlantic explores factors that impact our decision-making in midlife and how to know if a professional change is worth it.

Three things to change your life in 2022 Another video from behavioral expert Chase Hughes who, in less than ten minutes, explains what it means to: 1) Get ahead of yourself, 2) Be responsible for your own electricity, and 3) Choose your ingredients to change your life.

Life Lessons, “Kung Fu Panda” Style? Why do we have such an incredible ability to be dissatisfied? It might help to recognize how much worth you derive from creating and contributing to your company, your family, your nation, whatever it may be, and that each moment in the present is invaluable.?

Visually Speaking:? The Memes Have It

A look at how the world of visual communication impacts the law and our lives.

Visual images such as illustrations, emojis, and memes engage more senses, helping your messaging more fully connect with people while showing your company's human side.

Want to show that you’re hip to the times? Visit Trending Memes to discover the most popular memes trending on social media each month.?

The article Four Tips for Using Memes to Benefit Internal Business Communications details why memes help you hit the mark so well with people. And memes are easier to make than you may think! The four tips in this article will help you easily create and use memes that will entertain and connect with your audiences.

By the way …July 17 is World Emoji Day ?? Get out there and celebrate your favorite emojis with your co-workers and friends???????????

Notes to My (Legal) Self Corner

We’ve Had It Backwards the Entire Time: Chad Aboud, GC at AudienceView. shows how lifting others first lifts us in ways that are more personally rewarding and create greater external success.?

Relaunching Legal Career Mindy Berkower shares how she left the grueling life of “big law” to raise her family, had a multi-year career break as a community volunteer, relaunched her career in a marketing role for a small company, then happily became that company’s solo general counsel.

What’s Your More? In 2019, Gisele Kalonzo-Douglas's son asked her what she had wanted to be growing up. She said, "I am doing it, I am a lawyer." He looked at her and asked, "But what's your more?" Gisele helps you discover your "more" and how you can harness this discovery for personal and professional growth.

?? You can always find up-to-date information, insights, and events on the Notes to My (Legal) Self LinkedIn page. Follow the page so you don’t miss a single beat!

? Do you know an in-house leader who would be a great guest for the Notes to my (Legal) Self LinkedIn LIVE/podcast conversation? Let me know. And yes, self-nominations are accepted and encouraged!

Now it’s your turn to share

Thanks so much for reading and subscribing to my newsletter! Now it’s time to hear from you.?

• What are you thinking about right now??
• What does your mind wonder about when it wanders?
• What topics would you like to discuss?

Comment below! Or send me your thoughts and questions, then join in the conversation as I discuss the issues that concern you most in future newsletters.

?? That’s all for this edition of Notes to My (Legal) Self. Don’t forget to subscribe to receive notifications when I publish each new edition.?

Olga V. Mack is the CEO of Parley Pro, a next-generation contract management company pioneering online negotiation technology. Olga dedicates her career to improving the future of law through innovative solutions. She remains convinced that the legal profession will emerge stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than ever by embracing technology.?

Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. She founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat and Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security, and Blockchain Value: Transforming Business Models, Society, and Communities.?