Include All Levels of Development in Your Lawyer Goals. The first goal most attorneys define is financial, often around law firm revenue or annual salary. Financial goals are important, but they only scrape the tip of the iceberg when it comes to setting goals for your law firm.
You must start with setting goals before and during law school. Before you get your law degree and take the bar exam, you must set goals for your future. If you’re unsure of how to move forward, first define and understand your “why.” Start by asking yourself questions such as: Why do you want to go to law school?
Actionable: Goals need to be challenging, but they also need to be seen as attainable by the person setting them. Relevant: The goal you set needs to matter—to the individual setting it and/or the organization. Time Based: To be motivating, goals should have a specific time frame.
While financial and law firm growth goals are important to your business, they don’t provide enough motivation on their own. You must know your “why.” Align your career goals and overarching vision for your firm with your purpose, then set SMART goals to get you there. Also, remember that goal setting is never a one-and-done thing.
The most well-known theory of need motivation is the Maslow hierarchy of needs. The theory was the first to point out that there are individual differences in motivation. The first level in the hierarchy of needs is physiological needs (e.g., hunger). The next level is safety needs (e.g., the need for protection from physical harm).
SMART = specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and time-based. Specific: A specific goal has been shown to be more motivating than a "do your best" goal. Measurable: Set concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal.
The third step is sustaining behavior. Research shows that goal-setting systems and reward systems are necessary to sustain behavior over the long term. Finally, for motivation to be effective, feedback is needed so that the processes of energizing and directing behavior stay on track.