The Intense Life

1st July 2010

Post

Words of Wisdom

I recently attended an event where Sam Bernstein, a successful lawyer from the state of Michigan spoke.  Mr. Bernstein has an enormous legal practice and he shared words of wisdom from 40 years of practicing law.  So much of what he said is pure gold for someone trying to live an intense life, so I thought I would share my notes for anyone who is interested.  I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this man.  Here you go!  My favorites are in bold.

- A lost cause is the only cause worth fighting for.
- “Victory is never final.  Defeat is never fatal.  It is courage that counts.” Churchill
- Get involved in politics.  But lift people up when you do it, down bring people down.
- “Be fearful when others are greedy.  Be greedy when others are fearful.” Buffett
- Be fair with people.  If they are not making money legally on a deal, they will find another way to make money on the deal, or they won’t do the deal.
- A good company at a fair price is better than a fair company at a wonderful price [I think he likes Warren Buffett…]
- There are bad people in this world, and in every profession. 
- Fire the client that gives you the headaches!  Get rid of the day wreckers.  This is the first piece of advice he gives at lectures.
- Take time each day to think and plan what you want to do. 
- “Thinking is the hardest work there is.  That’s why so few people do it.” Ford
- GREAT JOKE: Woman comes up to man and says to him, “You look like my third husband.” Man responds, “Oh really?”  Woman jumps in, “I’ve only been married twice.”  Moral of the story = Be an optimist.
- Avoid the slow no.  A quick no is better than a slow maybe.
- Focus!  There is no such thing as a generalist.  Specialize!
- Rule of 200: Everyone has a sphere of influence of 200… Everything you do either refers 200 people toward you or away from you.
- The goal of business is to solve problems.  If you aren’t solving problems, you aren’t going to be in business very long.  To make good things happen in your business, solve more problems.
- Never underestimate your opponents. 
- In court, never ask a question you don’t know the answer to.
- “I was always rich, when I was younger I just didn’t have the money.”
- In business, don’t overanalyze.  READY.  FIRE.  AIM.
- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush… but you will end up with bird crap in your hand.
- Go watch the best at what you do.
- You make your biggest mistakes in life after your biggest victory.  Especially with finances.
- Always answer your phone calls.  He has actually fired clients who call him too much because he can’t make them happy no matter what he can do.
- Keep a clean desk because you want your clients to know that you are focused on them.
- Never say or write anything that you don’t want in the paper the next day.
- If you could get 10% of the lifetime earnings of anyone in this room, who would you pick?  People suggested hardest worker… he said no.  There are lots of people who work hard and don’t have much money.  Someone suggested the smartest person.  He said there are many people who are very smart but are not wealthy.  Someone said he would choose himself, because he is great with people and everyone likes him.  He said no, he wouldn’t choose him.  He said he would choose the person who thinks the BIGGEST and takes the most risks.
- Make sure you put 15% of your time into BIG projects.
- Everything will be okay.
- He has criteria for the cases he will take.  If it doesn’t meet the criteria, he refers the case to a different firm.
- A great question to ask a successful person is, “If you could do it all over again, what is the first thing you would do?”
- If you can’t make a living by 4:30 pm, you’re not going to make it.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him speak.  These “cha-chings” as Mr. Bernstein would say are great keys to living an intense life!