The story may be apocryphal. At age 33, Alexander (the Great) of Macedonia is said to have wept: “There are no more worlds to conquer!”
I suspect that’s a minority view.
I’ve been thinking about people who live their lives the other way: I wonder how many people live in a world of never-ending hope.
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Something will arrive in the mail next week that will be fascinating.
Somebody will post something on Facebook that will change my life.
I’ll soon meet somebody who will turn my world around.
You don’t actually do anything to improve the odds of life getting better. You just hope that lightning will strike, and your world will improve.
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When you arrive at a law firm, you can still live in a world of hope.
Maybe a case will go to trial, and I’ll get a chance to play a speaking role.
Maybe I’ll become a partner, and then my life will be better.
My article is coming out next week, and the phone may start ringing off the hook with new business. Then I’ll be a heavy-hitter.
Although no one has ever actually called to retain me, a big new client may call next week, and then I’ll be important and rich.
You don’t have to stop living in a world of hope simply because you move in-house.
I hope I may get a raise into a worthwhile position.
Maybe a headhunter will call with a new job that interests me.
Maybe we’ll get bought out by a company with new management that I like.
Whatever.
Be careful about this.
First, if you think about it, this is pretty unlikely to work. Simply hoping, and not taking steps to improve your lot, is not exactly a strategy for success.
Second, years from now, this approach may well leave you wondering what you did with your life. You tolerated this for 10 years, and that for 10 years, and the other thing for 10 years, and now you’re retiring. Your professional life was pretty disappointing. You never did what you wanted to do.
I guess you could continue to exist on hope: Maybe things will get better in retirement!
Or you could act.
If you’re unhappy with where you are, actually do something.
Don’t assume that a headhunter will come calling, or the president will decide that you’d be a great judge, or your lottery ticket will be a winner.
Instead, assume that there’s no one looking out for you other than you. At the end of the line, you can either be pleased with the way you invested your time on earth or you can look back on your professional life with regret.
Here’s one thing to hope for: That you avoid regret.
Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now deputy general counsel at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at [email protected].