“I don’t know how I got to this point,” Richard told me.

Richard was in his sixteenth year as an attorney.  He was still a “Junior” Partner in his firm because he did not bring in enough business to be promoted to Senior Partner.  He was still working sixty hours a week and, although he was paid extremely well by most people’s standards, he joked about how little it was if you figured it by the hour.

While I usually work with “independent” professionals, Richard’s challenge is one that is common to almost all professionals—the urgent need for more clients.

“What if I conjectured that you are somewhat comfortable right where you are?” I asked him.

“Comfortable, here?” he responded indignantly, “I’m not where I am by choice!”

Jim Stovall, author of The Ultimate Gift and a former Olympic weightlifter, who lost his sight at age 29 and found a way to change his life for the better, tells his audiences:

“You are where you are because that’s where you chose to be.”

You can blame everyone else and your circumstances for where you end up, Jim says, but regardless, if it’s not where you intended to be, you need to look in the mirror (whether you can see or not) and say, “I guess I didn’t want it that badly.”

“Nothing will happen until you say ‘yes’ to your dream,” Jim proclaims.

“Where do you want to be?” I asked Richard.

“I want full partnership,” he told me.

“What do you need to do to get there?” I asked.

“I need to bring in some really large cases,” he responded.

“How would you do that?” I pressed.

“I don’t know,” was his honest response.

“How badly do you want it?” I queried next.

“It’s practically all I think about,” Richard confided.

“Then I take it you’re willing to learn and do the things you need to do?” I asked.

Richard said “yes” to his dream and with a little coaching, he began to bring in the right kind of business to his firm.  To start getting new and better clients, he needed to make new and better choices.

Are you making the choices you need to make to be where you want to be?  First, you have to say “yes” to your dream.  Then, keep REACHING…

P.S. What dream do you need to say “yes” to?  Tell me about it in the comments below this blog.