In this first podcast in our career’s series, I will speak about the essential tools, also called the building blocks, you will need to have to be a successful international lawyer. In future podcasts, I will explain how to best use each of these tools and how to get and practice the skills needed to help you excel and enjoy a successful international career in law.

When building or mapping out the path to a successful career you need to plan, you will obviously need ability and, to some extent a measure of good luck. Some of these elements you can do yourself. For example, planning a career path.

However, some other soft skills, like your ability to understand and obtain knowledge you will need to actively seek out, acquire, then improve on. In many cases, this is an ongoing process. This block depends entirely on you. What type of effort you are prepared to put into this ‘acquisition’ and the process you use will also be your personal choice.

Coming to the last element – that of good luck. For me, luck is not some divine intervention but rather you can create your own luck. How? Well, when you improve and refine your abilities and skills, you start to move into certain ‘galaxies’ – in other words, you will be putting yourself in the ‘right place at the right time’.

But before you start your journey, let us reflect carefully on the meaning of the word ‘success’. And more specifically, what does success mean to you.

We all know that success means different things to different people. Many people believe success is having a lot of money because if they are richer, they will be happier. But we also know the saying, money cannot buy you happiness. Or rather, perhaps it just buys you a better standard of misery !

So therefore, why don’t you start by making a list of things that you would like to achieve in order to be classed as successful. What do you want professionally, personally and in the long term? Put simply, what is or would be ‘successful happiness’ in your life.

To get you started here are some thoughts. Generally speaking most professional lawyers want to:

• To work in an area of law that they like, find interesting, and/or challenging
• To receive a good income for their work to enable them to live quite comfortably
• To receive an income which is higher than other lawyers working in the same field
• To be acknowledged both by other lawyers and clients as being professional and knowledgeable
• To achieve a work/life balance that allows them to enjoy life away from their work

Now over to you

What about you? What are your goals? What do you want to achieve in your success?

Put your comments in the box below and stay tuned for our second podcast where we will discuss how to achieve your goals and help you reach the best and possibly highest peak in your career. To listen to our podcast click the link https://anchor.fm/britishlawacademy/episodes/Professional-Development-Series-How-to-have-a-successful-international-career-in-law-e1afnd9