Getting Better One Mile at a Time

September is Self-improvement Month, and like many people, my major self-improvement goals center around fitness. I’ve been making time to exercise a lot more and build good habits in the midst of the pandemic and the Silver Comet Trail in West Atlanta is one of my favorite places to go biking. The trail stretches all the way to the Alabama border. Now, I have no plans to bike all the way to the Alabama border, but it’s still nice to go out for a 20-mile bike ride and be in nature while not having to worry about cars and traffic.

Getting physically fit is an important reason to exercise, but for me, I enjoy exercise more for the mental benefits. When I work out regularly, I find that I’m less stressed overall. In the early days of COVID-19 when Georgia first shut down, the Silver Comet Trail was closed for weeks. Not being able to go out and enjoy a long bike ride certainly contributed to my stress levels.

While I still got to bike on the street, I personally don’t like biking around cars. I’ve seen how dangerous that can be in my line of work! Besides, riding on streets just wasn’t the same as riding in nature. When the trails opened again, I was incredibly grateful to get out there with my bike again. It’s a good mental escape and helps relieve stress and anxiety and rhythm of riding for over an hour is very peaceful. It clears the mind and lets me live in the present moment for a while — rather than worrying about the constantly changing year that is 2020. In addition, riding my bike is often how I’ve come up with my best ideas for case strategy or problems at the firm. I’ve found if you’re focusing on something, the solution never comes to mind. But if you step away and clear your mind, your subconscious can start working on the problem in a more efficient manner.

Biking has also been useful for helping me come up with improvements for the firm. Things slowed down a bit over the summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than kicking back and taking it easy, we’ve been looking for ways to fine-tune our processes. I’ve been in the office every single day for months, making sure that we’re on top of things. We are overhauling our intake process to make sure new clients get the care they deserve.

Another area we’re working on is our case process. That’s an area we’re always perfecting and refining so the experience can remain as smooth as possible for our clients. Additionally, we’ve hired a marketing director and a new associate. Our goal is to be the best lawyers we can be. I believe that it’s important that we’re always looking for opportunities to improve the way we do things, both in business and in our personal lives. Our firm is successful when our clients have good experiences.

Being proactive means we can’t just sit around and wait for a check to come in from the insurance company. We have to be thorough and relentless for our clients. Just as in our personal lives, we can’t expect to feel better or live better unless we’re willing to take action. We can’t just wish that our pants fit better or that we were able to run a marathon — we have to put in that work and make it happen for ourselves. What goals are you setting for yourself this September?