David Arrick had been laid off from his Wall Street law firm. The job he had lined up in Dubai fell through. What he knew was business and, from his days as a personal trainer to males, the male psyche. He leveraged that into his thriving enterprise Butch Bakery, which has been covered in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. The product is the macho cupcake.
Best-seller trend author Daniel Pink seems to have leveraged his analytical and verbal skills from law-school days to produce A WHOLE NEW MIND and his latest DRIVE. And criminal lawyer Robert Shapiro knew consumers, therefore could co-found web service LegalZoom.
These three lawyers's transitions demonstrate that the odds of a successful change are higher when we apply what we have from the past to create a fresh career path. There is usually no need to try to totally reinvent the wheel.
Then why do some lawyers set up to do that and neglect checking out what knowledge and skills are transferable? From talking with lawyers I have found that too many are trying to flee the shock that their first career path didn't work out as planned. They want to leave the past behind. Others just haven't grown up or, what former lawyer turned psychotherapist Will Meyerhofer would describe as not learning to take care of themselves. Consequently they aren't self-protective enough to boost the chances of success by applying professional knows. Then there are the serial degree-getters. They are hell-bent on another degree in an entirely new field such as ministry.
When I made my career transition in 2003, you bet I dragged along whatever I could what had served me well in my first two careers.
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