Walt Hampton, J.D.

Creating the Work & Life You LOVE

Magic In The Starting

by Walt | Oct 17, 2024 | Success | 2 Comments

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

— Goethe

It didn’t matter that I had sealed the seams. Or that we had a tub floor. Or that I had put a tarp over the site. Water was everywhere.

The torrential rains had come just after midnight. The sound on the tent wall was deafening. And depressing.

I could only coax a few of the group to start out into that dank October dawn. A summit looked improbable.

The rain poured unrelentingly. The trail ran like a river. Within minutes, I was soaked. And miserable.

Up the slick talus we struggled. The temperature near freezing. The visibility a few hundred feet at best.

And suddenly, the three of us broke through the mist, into a crystal clear windless sky. The sun warmed us and dried us. Snowflakes shot upward from the cloud deck below like crystal fireworks. Everywhere we looked, rainbows shimmered and danced.

It was as if we had been transported across time to a parallel universe. Nothing was as it had been. And it was like nothing we had ever seen.

We reveled in our good fortune and marveled in our own private paradise.

Hours later, standing once again in the rain outside our soggy tents, words failed us as we tried to share with our friends who had stayed behind the wonders that we had seen.

Those who didn’t start out could never know.

I learn this lesson time and time again. From getting out the door for the morning run, to the looming research project, to the unpleasant conversation that needs to happen, to the weights at the gym, and the blog that wants to be written.

You gotta at least start.

Julia Cameron in her wonderful timeless book The Artist’s Way says that our job is to show up on the page.

Whether we want to or not, we show up and start out.

It’s what makes a “pro” says Steven Pressfield in the War of Art. An amateur capitulates to resistance; an amateur is always willing to negotiate the project away.

Whether you’re tired or not, whether it’s raining or not, whether you’re fearful or not, whether you’re feeling fat or not, whether you’re racked with doubt or not, whether you hate your job or not, whether you’re motivated or not, whether you’re in shape or not, whether it’s too early or too late, or not, whether you’re inspired or not; it is irrelevant. If you’re a pro, you make up your mind and you do it. You just do it.

Cameron says, “Leap and the net will appear.” There is a magic in the starting out. The way unfolds in a manner that can never be imagined locked in inertia.

Goethe writes, “The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves as well. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise occur. A stream of events issues from that decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen accidents, meetings, and material assistance that no one could have dreamed would come their way.”

“What I have learned from this simple philosophy is this,” writes Mel Robbins in this month’s Success magazine. “When it comes to being master of your life, you are never going to feel like doing what you need to do. It will feel wrong to ask for help. It will make you afraid to present your business plan. You won’t want to run when it’s raining outside. Getting out of bed can feel downright radical simply because you don’t want to. But you have to.” When the alarm rings, stand up, she says.

I have hit the snooze more times than I care to admit.

But I have walked ridges sculpted by the hand of God, stumbled upon the most beautiful dawns, discovered images in my viewfinder, and found entire stories upon my page, simply by starting out.

Start out. You don’t need to see the whole way. Just start. And see what happens.

You Are Not Your I Am

by Walt | Oct 3, 2024 | Success | 0 Comments

What’s one of the very first questions you get asked at a networking event or evening social?

“So, what do you do?”

And you answer: “I’m a… .”

Could be teacher, accountant, dentist, custodian, artist, wealth advisor, coach, shopkeeper.

The myriad jobs there are in the world.

My answer for many years: “I’m a trial lawyer.”

Which, in my imagination, sounded really kick-ass and important.

There are two big problems with “I am” statements.

The first is that they usually describe such a tiny part of you, especially when the “I am” is the way you earn a living.

The truth is that you are so many things, with so many talents, gifts, interests, and attributes.

You’re complicated. We all are.

You’re “I am” is not you.

You’re not one thing; and you’re definitely not your job.

The second problem with your “I am” statement is that it often becomes hardened. Stuck in time. Fossilized even.

Who you are evolves over time. Or at least it can evolve if you allow it.

Often when I’m working with a mid-career professional who wants to create that exciting next chapter in their life, the biggest obstacle for them is their job identity. It’s especially hard to let go of an “I am” if it’s given them power and prestige.

But when you soften your grip on your “I am,” the world is filled with possibilities.

Because you are filled with possibilities.

The Why Behind Your Why

by Walt | Sep 26, 2024 | Success | 0 Comments

“I’ve hit a plateau with my sales.”

“Organizing the office space is just too overwhelming.”

“I can’t seem to get the grant proposal done.”

“I just don’t have enough time to finish the book.”

“The weight just won’t come off.”

All of us have places where we seem to hit a wall; where we get stymied; where it seems that we just can’t bust through.

It’s usually because we’re not clear about our “why.”

Angelo was frustrated. Try as he did to bring in more mortgage loan originations, none of his warm leads panned out. It was as if the Midas touch he once had had turned to coal.

Angelo was one of my high-performance clients. He knew all the success tools; all the strategies. And he knew how to execute; he was someone who took action.

But when I asked him ‘why’ it was that he wanted to boost his numbers, he faltered. He already made a fair amount of money, so it wasn’t just about the comp. He already had a lot of freedom and flexibility; so it wasn’t about the time. He already was pretty senior in the company; so it wasn’t about position or prestige.

So I dug a bit…. It turned out that Angelo had never been able to take his wife on a honeymoon; and despite the passage of nearly a dozen years of marriage and much success, Angelo still wanted to surprise his wife with a trip to Italy. And he really wanted to create more magic moments for his family. As soon as he focused on this ‘why,’ his numbers soared.

Without the ‘why,’ a task is just a task… yet another item on an endless list of interminable “to dos.”

Take the recyclables to the curb… Check.

Make the cold call… Check.

Stop for milk on the way home… Check.

One is no more important than the next.

The list will wear us down. It is the ‘why’ that lights us up.

Our vision, our ‘why,’ is the North Star. It shines in the darkness; it guides us through our desert wastelands.

It is what excites us and sustains us; it is the fuel that drives us forward.

Author and coach Dan Sullivan writes, “Having a purpose that is greater than yourself will give you a constant impetus to strive.”

Simon Sinek says, “Start with why.” “Those who know their why are the ones who lead,” he says. “They are the ones who inspire.”

The most successful people on the planet have a vision of where they’re going… and why they want to get there. Even in the littlest of things.

So dig until you find your ‘why.”

Because when you know your ‘why,’ you will find the how.

And then you are unstoppable.

A Terrible Thief

by Walt | Sep 19, 2024 | Success | 0 Comments

There’s no way you can justify it.

Yet you indulge it in nearly every minute of every day.

Distraction.

Distraction is a thief and a killer.

It robs you of your focus, your attention, and your precious time.

It robs you of the capacity to read, write, and reflect.

It robs you of your ability to be truly present in the most important, yet so fleeting, moments of your life.

Distraction kills your productivity.

It kills your energy.

It kills your capacity to do deep work.

The perpetrators, villains?

All of those who covet, compete and pay vast sums of money for your most precious asset: your attention.

Yet you leave the keys in the car with the engine running; you leave the front door to your house wide open.

Stop it.

Interruption science says that you are interrupted or cause yourself to be interrupted every 3 minutes of the day; and that every interruption in your day has a “cost” in terms of lost focus and productivity. Researchers have measured the cost. It’s between 11 minutes and 25 minutes.

So, let’s do a conservative calculation: An interruption every 3 minutes would be 20 interruptions an hour x a 10 hour day x 11 minutes of cost = A lost 2,200 minutes of productivity each day! (Yes, friends, that more than 36 hours. No wonder it feels like you can never get caught up. You never really can.)

Annie Dillard wrote, “How you spend your days is, of course, how you spend your life. What you do with this hour, and that one, is what you are doing.”

Don’t do distraction.

This isn’t an attack against smartphones or tech.

It’s a rallying cry: Take back what is yours.

Your time.

This moment.

This one and only precious moment.

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I have a free gift for you. An e-version of my book, The Power Principles of Time Mastery: Do Less, Make More, Have Fun. You can get it right HERE.

No No No

by Walt | Sep 12, 2024 | Success | 0 Comments

What is essential is invisible to the eye.

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

I have a confession to make: I’m a huge James Bond fan. I have loved them all in all of their incarnations and inanity, from Connery to Craig.

Dr. No was the first Bond movie, dating all the way back to 1962. Bond was played by the inimitable Sean Connery. Julius No was the villain.

But these days, I tend to think of anyone with doctoral-level skills in “No” as a hero.

I gave a workshop recently on mindfulness and work-life balance. As I was getting ready for the workshop, I had a convo with a colleague of mine, Sandy.

Sandy, a lawyer, said, “Walt, I hear you’re giving a seminar on life balance.”

“Yes,” I said. “Are you coming?”

Breathlessly, because Sandy is usually breathless and in a hurry, she replied, “No, can’t, have no time.”

We both chuckled about how ridiculous that sounded. But however ridiculous it may have been, it is, for most, not only irony but truth.

We have no time to get balanced because we’re so out of balance. And breathless.

Saying “no” might help.

If you’re reading this, you are, most likely a person of service. You tend to want to please others and be seen as affable. If you get asked to contribute in some way to a church or school or community event, most often your knee-jerk reaction is to say yes. And if you dare say no, it’s not without some chagrin and guilt.

Parents are particularly prone to “yes.” As parents, we’re hard-wired to want the best for our kids. We’re hard-wired to want to see them happy. Most of the time, in our minds, the “best,” or what we think will make them “happy,” is to say “yes” to whatever the request is. Even when saying “no” may be the “right” response.

Helping professionals are especially at risk. They get paid to come to the rescue. And coming to the rescue feeds their sense of self-worth. The more they say yes, the more meaning and significance they feel. Even when saying “yes” places them at risk for divorce, depression, and burn-out. (Not that I know much about this personally!)

Not only that, saying yes, being busy, is “in.”

How often during the course of the day does this occur? “How are you?” you ask someone. “Busy,” they reply.”

Busy is a badge of honor. Busy is good. If you’re not busy, something’s wrong!

How would it be if someone were to ask you how you were and you were to respond, “Languid.” “Bored!” “Been laying about.” “Haven’t had a thing to do in weeks!” You’d get a look that might suggest that they thought you were on crack.

You gotta be busy. Because to be busy is to be important. To be busy is to have worth.

The problem, of course, is that by continually saying yes, you become stretched too thin, over-extended. Depleted. Worth-less.

I really like the Pareto Principle. It’s also called the 80/20 rule.

Tim Ferriss in his provocative book The 4-Hour Work Week, says, “When I came across Pareto’s work one late evening, I had been slaving away with 15-hour days seven days per week, feeling completely overwhelmed and generally helpless.”

Overwhelmed and helpless ring any bells? I know that I am susceptible to this!

“Faced with certain burnout or giving Pareto’s ideas a trial run, I opted for the latter,” Ferriss says. “The next morning, I began a dissection of my business and personal life through the lenses of two questions:

1. Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness?

2. Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?”

What are the 20% of the customers or clients that give you 80% of the headaches? Get rid of them. What is the 20% of your work that gives you 80% of your joy? Focus on it.

Who are the 20% of people who produce 80% of your happiness, who support and encourage you? Who are the 20% who cause the 80% of your angst?

You get the idea. We all take on too much. And much of what we take on is at the margins. Get rid of what’s not working. Do only what is.

Say no more often. No is a complete sentence.

Say yes only to what is essential. Say yes to what brings joy.

Robert Frost wrote, “Good fences make good neighbors.” Your boundaries matter. They protect you and make you whole.

By eliminating whole bushels of stuff from your life, you open expanses of time that will allow you to rest and renew. To reclaim your sense of purpose. Your sense of wonder. Your creativity. Your very self.

By saying no to what’s not working, you dissipate busyness, you open yourself to the richness and fullness of life.

By saying no, you say yes.