Over the course of my career I’ve had to let go of my fair share of clients and vice versa. Sometimes relationships don’t work out. But more recently and especially over the past year in taking the time to work on myself, I’ve come to understand the importance of distancing myself from toxic business relationships. It’s something all business owners should consider. More often than not, the money isn’t worth the intense aggravation that insecure, toxic, and dysfunctional people bring to the table.
I’ve learned that the most important thing you can do as a business owner (let alone lawyer) is protect your peace. Protect, prioritize it, practice it, every single day or as often as possible. If you don’t then the negative relationships in your business will eat away at you and you will not be able to sustainably grow your business. I’ve seen quite a few professionals and clients fail to protect their peace and their businesses suffered substantially.
What does it mean to protect your peace? For me, I break it down into the following four categories (which I discuss in greater detail in my book):
Time – your time is precious and irreplaceable. Don’t waste it with unproductive people and tasks. Be efficient and sparing with how you spend your time and who you spend your time with exactly. For me, listening to someone speak for 45 minutes about the same exact thing over and over again is not a valuable use of my time.
Space – create the space you need in your life and business to grow, learn, connect, breathe, pause, be present, and be patient.
Boundaries – Say”no” more often especially when you find yourself constantly overextending yourself or rushing to do things that really aren’t a rush. Most things really aren’t that urgent. Urgency often stems from anxiety and uncertainty. Do things at a controlled pace. Gt rid of the “instant result” mentality. That is not something that honors your boundaries.
Clarity – Maintain clarity at all times. That means don’t drink too much, get rest, feed your body with healthy food, hydrate, and exercise. Nothing matters more than your health. Without it, you can’t do your job. Being healthy leads to clarity and focus in all aspects of your life.
So, when I fired a client recently I evaluated the relationship through this 4 part analysis and realized that I wasting my time (and not honoring my boundaries) with a client that wouldn’t listen, that would fight me at every turn, that was rude and condescending, and sought to employ frivolous and unproductive litigation strategies.
I needed to let go of my client because it was eating into my peace. We were on different paths and I refused to spend another second subjecting myself to the negativity that he brought to my practice.
These choices are difficult, but they’re important and you’re always better off. Trust me on this one.
