Yes I am a 0L.  But isn’t the practice of law all about talking a good game about stuff you know little or nothing about?  I am also a writer, a journalist – and I have spent countless hours with my subject, Mr. Michael Triforce, Esquire.  So listen up, I know what I’m talking about.

#7 Audacity.  If you have followed the first six rules and have had a little luck you should be on easy street. However, that can be dangerous.  We’ve been taught our whole lives that there is no free lunch.  We’re taught to be suspicious of things that are too good to be true.  It’s like in the Matrix – the human mind rejects the utopia.  Do not do that.  STICK to the routine you have established…and because stassis is impossible you need to PUSH that routine just to make sure you don’t start hanging around the office more than is necessary and end up having to work.

Read on for the next two rules

#8 Reality Check.  Another human tendency is to try and find meaning in your life and what you do, and most people try to find it in their job.  Do not fall into this trap.  This is your reality check.  You took a gamble going to law school.  It was a financial gamble, like financing a treasure hunt or buying a liquor store.  You rolled the dice and you won.  Don’t let the same people who rolled the same dice guilt trip you into giving away your winnings.  Also know that there is no middle ground.  You CANNOT survive in BigLaw without billing any and everything you can, and you cannot survive in BigLaw without minimizing your daily exposure to your coworkers.

#9 Do Something With Your Time.  Life is about balance and it’s also about finding time for your passion and…to some extent its about chasing dreams.  Gag, I know.  But sometimes when Triforce has had just the right amount of booze and those pills he occasionally pops he opens up and says his favorite thing in the world to do is play his guitar in Rittenhouse Square…even though (and he’ll admit it) he stinks.  The point is, you’ve got 3-5 years at 160K and you’re on track to clear a half million, and at the end of that you will still have most of your life ahead of you.  You might also want to think about what you’re going to do with the rest of that life.

Because here is the honest truth.  These tips are outdated and probably common knowledge.  That’s how they found themselves on a blog.  But even if they weren’t and even if you are in fact Mike Triforce, you are not making partner like this…and even if you WERE, if you’re not in New York and you’re not the MANAGING partner, the overwhelming odds are you are not clearing seven figures.  The Golden Goose will not lay eggs forever.  But still, that’s 500K and you’re not yet 30.  The alternative is owing 500k at age 45 because you couldn’t get a job, couldn’t pay your student loans and had to live off of credit.