The title of our book is ‘How to make partner AND still have a life’. However, how many of us actually take the time to step back and think about what the ‘AND still have a life’ bit means? We only tend to think about the ‘how to make partner’ – often to the detriment of whether we are actually enjoying what we are doing at work. One of the most important factors in enjoying your career is making sure that you are doing the work that you relish, and that you find what you are doing worthwhile. It is worth thinking about this carefully, because it only gets harder to motivate yourself if you are not passionate about your work. If you are going to get to Partner and still be happy and fulfilled, inside and outside of work, enjoying and being enthused about your work is essential. “I’m amazed by how few trainees, juniors, managers and associates can clearly answer the question, What do you want from your career and life?” Jo Larbie Recently, when Jo asked a group of new lawyers this question, their response was stunned silence. Finally, one of the group responded that it was “too early to say”! The sad fact is that many professionals rarely spend time thinking about their careers from the beginning because they believe that their work is just that – work. This is surprising when you consider the time, money and effort it takes to graduate, find a position with a firm and then qualify. (Or if you are in the legal profession, qualify and then find a position within a firm.) On average, in the UK by the time you start your first paying job in a firm you will have student debts of £30,000 to £60,000 to repay. Really understanding what you want from your career and life will make it easier for you to choose the best career directions, including whether or not you should go for partnership. 
If you would like some practical help to think about your own 5-10 year career vision, how about downloading our FREE guide to writing your career action plan, or completing the wheel of life exercise to help you think about what you want from your work AND life in the long term
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