Walt Hampton: Building A Career That Feeds Your Soul

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Walt Hampton discuss:

  • Following what lights you up
  • Mastering time instead of managing it
  • Saying no to create freedom
  • Preventing burnout through alignment

Key Takeaways:

  • Fulfillment doesn’t come from doing what seems logical but from pursuing what makes you come alive. Many lawyers achieve success yet feel empty inside. True success begins when you align your career with your values, strengths, and passions.
  • Time can’t be managed, only mastered. Working in focused 60–90 minute blocks, minimizing interruptions, and protecting white space helps restore clarity and productivity. How you use your time reflects how much you value yourself.
  • Every yes dilutes your energy and focus. Learning to say no with grace allows you to set boundaries and prioritize what truly matters. The word “no” is not rejection—it’s an act of self-leadership that protects your well-being.
  • Burnout fades when your choices reflect your purpose. Create white space, delegate with trust, and honor your physical and mental health. The goal isn’t just endurance—it’s building a life and practice that truly sustains you.

“No is a full sentence. Every yes we give dilutes our effectiveness.” —  Walt Hampton

Check out my new show, Be That Lawyer Coaches Corner, and get the strategies I use with my clients to win more business and love your career again.

Ready to go from good to GOAT in your legal marketing game? Don’t miss PIMCON—where the brightest minds in professional services gather to share what really works. Lock in your spot now: https://www.pimcon.org/

Thank you to our Sponsor!

Rankings.io: https://rankings.io/

HireParalegals: https://hireparalegals.com/

Ready to grow your law practice without selling or chasing? Book your free 30-minute strategy session now—let’s make this your breakout year: https://fretzin.com/

About Walt Hampton: Walt Hampton, J.D., is the Founder & CEO of Summit Success, LLC, a global personal and professional development firm dedicated to helping high-achievers design meaningful work, master time, and live with purpose. A 1984 graduate of Cornell Law School, Walt spent nearly 25 years as managing partner of a commercial litigation and criminal-defense law firm before transitioning to full-time coaching, consulting, training, and speaking. He is the bestselling author of books including Journeys on the Edge: Living a Life That Matters and The Power Principles of Time Mastery: Do Less, Make More, Have Fun. He has trained under Tony Robbins’ Results Coach program, and is a sought-after speaker on topics of leadership, time mastery, and sustainable peak performance. Beyond his professional work, Walt is known for his adventurous pursuits—high-altitude mountaineering, ultra-distance running, and blue-water sailing—underscoring his belief that personal transformation and professional mastery go hand in hand.

Connect with Walt Hampton:

Website: https://www.walthampton.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walthampton/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/walthamptonjr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whamptonjr/?hl=en

Connect with Steve Fretzin:

LinkedIn: Steve Fretzin

Twitter: @stevefretzin

Instagram: @fretzinsteve

Facebook: Fretzin, Inc.

Website: Fretzin.com

Email: [email protected]

Book: Legal Business Development Isn’t Rocket Science and more!

YouTube: Steve Fretzin

Call Steve directly at 847-602-6911

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You’re the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Steve Fretzin  [00:00]

Hey everyone. Steve Fretzin here and I’ve launched a new show called Future rainmakers. This is short, focused episodes packed with strategies to help you build a bigger practice with less stress. Give it a listen. I know you’re going to love it. And for today, enjoy the show.

 

Narrator  [00:18]

You’re listening to be that lawyer, life changing strategies and resources for growing a successful law practice. Each episode, your host, author and lawyer coach, Steve Fretzin, will take a deeper dive helping you grow your law practice in less time with greater results. Now here’s your host. Steve Fretzin.

 

Steve Fretzin  [00:40]

Hey everybody, welcome to the be that lawyer podcast. As you may know, I’m Steve Fretzin, the host, and I’m just so happy that you’re with us. You guys don’t even realize the treat that you’re in for. Today, I have one of my favorite people in the whole world sitting in the wings, waiting, and every time we get together, I don’t want to Is it a love fest? Walt? Is that? We call it?

 

Walt Hampton  [01:11]

It’s a love fest.

 

Steve Fretzin  [01:11]

It’s a love fest. Okay, we can’t really help ourselves, because we just have the fondest memories and feelings of each other and everything and so and we’re both highly passionate about helping lawyers. So we always, when we get together, we always have a lot of fun, and we always bring a lot of value. So if you were thinking, Hey, today I’m gonna get a little value. No no no, today you’re gonna get a lot of value. I can promise you that. And just so great to see you all. Thanks for coming back.

 

Walt Hampton  [01:23]

Steve, such a gift and privilege to be back with you. Thank you for having me.

 

Steve Fretzin  [01:27]

Yeah, third time. So, yes, yes. So what’s the charm? You know? I guess we’ll find out. Yes, we’ll find out. Let’s go on. I think this is a new quote that hasn’t been on the show before, and and let’s roll it out. And then I want to ask you about it. Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive? And go do it, because what the world needs is people who have come alive. Howard Thurman, so welcome to the show again and talk to us about that quote. It’s beautiful.

 

Walt Hampton  [01:53]

Oh, it is a beautiful quote. You know so often, and whether we do this in our practice, track choices coming out of law school, whether we do it as we niche down within the practice, whether we do it in any area of our life, including marketing. We’re always polling for you know, what might work, what might not work, and in the polling we make, the choice that makes sense, the realistic choice. And what’s true is the only thing that each one of us has our own unique talents and that our own voice in the world, and the thing that lights us up, the thing that sets us on fire, that’s what ultimately sets us apart. That’s ultimately what our brand is in the world. And so really connecting deeply with ourselves. What is it that sets us on fire?

 

Steve Fretzin  [02:50]

Yeah, and I think that, you know, there’s a there’s sayings like, follow your passion, or follow your this, or follow your that. I mean, is that true? Is that a misnomer? Is that? Is it follow your skill? What’s the going saying these days that people should be thinking about?

 

Walt Hampton  [03:03]

Well, I think it’s really about this quote following, what lights you up, what gives you, what gives you, you know, Simon Sinek wrote that wonderful book. It starts with, why our Why is our passion? It is that thing that gets us through the inevitable roadblocks and hurdles. You know, you and I, you started by saying, you and I have this deep passion for helping our colleagues thrive in the world, and you’ve got to have the juice in order to go the distance, because business is hard, the practice is hard. We’ll talk about some of that stuff today. And we cannot possibly go the distance unless we’re we’ve got that inner drive, that inner fire.

 

Steve Fretzin  [03:48]

And I think part of that inner fire too might come from when you’re good at something. I think if you become good at coaching, or you become good at teaching, or you become good at being a chef, or whatever it is that you know that you have and then that’s what brings you to being more alive. And it’s like you’re giving your gift to the world, but you’re also loving every day. And not a lot of people have that.

 

Walt Hampton  [04:10]

Not a lot of people have that. And there’s a little pernicious edge there than what you just said, Steve, which is that, and this was my experience, that you can be really, really, really good at something, you can make a lot of money doing something, and it still doesn’t feed your soul. Yeah. And so there, you know, there is that balance. But yes, you know, when we’re honored for the work we do, when we’re good at it, when we’re making an impact at other people’s lives, there is often a meshing there with we have, this is what I’m what I’m supposed to be doing in the world.

 

Steve Fretzin  [04:46]

Yeah, it’s interesting, because I think there was a time where I thought I was great at scaling businesses, and I think I was running four businesses at the time, and I thought, you know, I’m a natural entrepreneur, and I’m just going to build and scale and I’m going to have hundreds of employees and all that. And it really was, I had no passion for that. I felt like I was like a monkey trying to manage kittens, and I just and I never really had the interest in affinity. Now, working individually with lawyers and building up a small practice, I shine every day like I feel like my light is on bright doing this. Does that mean I made a mistake? Does that mean I should have worked through that? Is that what I mean? That’s where there’s always some second guessing,

 

Walt Hampton  [05:25]

Well, and the second guessing comes from looking around at what our colleagues are doing, what the market is saying. You know, in the digital marketing world, you got to scale. You got to take Yeah, right, right. You know. And when I came out of Cornell in 1984 everybody was going to DC, to New York, to Boston and, you know, going to the bigs, Sherman and Sterling’s and all of that. And my dad was a physician, and he started his practice all on his own. And so I had this entrepreneurial fire very early on. I went with a big firm when I left, but I was never really happy at that in those years, because I had a drive to create something of my own, to build something of my own. And so I think listening to that inner call is really important. I think you know, clearly, you’ve made a huge impact for lawyers in the world by listening to that.

 

Steve Fretzin  [06:25]

Yeah or just failing. I become very good at giving up on things. I think there was a book called, like, give up or just quit, or something like that. And I was like, I love this book. Just quit. Yes. Quit early and quit often. Just say no. Hey you guys. This is Walt Hampton. He’s the CEO of Summit success. And you know your background in legal leading into being a coach and working with some of the brightest minds in the legal industry. And I know we’re going to get into some deep weeds today on how to live the best lawyer life. But give us, give everybody just a flavor of your background.

 

Walt Hampton  [07:00]

So as I alluded to, I came out of, I have to say Cornell, because my wife came out of Harvard. We, we battle it out all the time.

 

Steve Fretzin  [07:06]

Oh, Cornell, so much better, of course.

 

Walt Hampton  [07:10]

But I went with a traditional firm as a litigation associate, and then I left in 1989 to start my own firm. It was a litigation firm, and I grew that firm to partners and associates and paralegals. We did civil litigation and criminal defense, and I had a very successful practice. I was a single dad for a dozen years, and you know, the practice fed me and put food on the table and got them through high school and college. But from the get go, I never was deeply fulfilled by that work. I was really good at that work, really good at that work, but it never really spoke to my heart. And it was because, and maybe it was because I was a trial lawyer. There was this constant sense of friction, abrasion, the adversarial process. And when I married my amazing wife in 2007 she gave us a first Christmas gift. Tony Robbins unleashed the power within. And I said, No, I’m a conservative tight you know what, lawyer, I’m not going to go and drink the Kool Aid and stand on chairs. And she said, Oh, honey, it would be good for us. And I did drink the Kool Aid and stand on chairs, and along that path, I was sought out and invited to become one of Tony Robbins elite level results coaches. And that was back in the day when coaching wasn’t a thing, you know, I got the coach trainer said, Would you like to become one of our coaches? I said, Yo, I already coached my sons that I thought that coach, what’s that? So since 2000 late, you know, 2009 to 2010 I moved into executive coaching, and I have never looked back, yeah, and I get to work with extraordinary humans all around the globe, and it feeds me. I get, you know, I get to serve in a way that lights me up, and I hope, make a difference for the people I get to serve.

 

Steve Fretzin  [09:01]

Yeah? So I know the weeds is where we belong today, and getting into it to help lawyers sort of figure out and maneuver the difficult, complex world of the practice of law, the billable hour business development, oh my God, and management and leadership and all the different hats that they may be wearing. So you and I, both you believe in freedom and independence and where the security that comes from that. But if freedom is the ultimate measure of success, then what does it mean in a profession that’s built on the billable hours, client demands and constant pressure, like, how does that all work?

 

Walt Hampton  [09:34]

Yeah, it’s complicated, as the old Facebook status that’s.

 

Steve Fretzin  [09:38]

A very lawyerly answer, or it depends, is my other favorite.

 

Walt Hampton  [09:42]

Oh, it’s well, so I just want to stick take one step back, because we’ve alluded to the answer already, okay, which is that we don’t necessarily have to do it in the way that. It’s done in a large segment of our industry. I went to the big firm. I had, it was 2000 hours that we had the bill back in 1984 I think it went to 2200 by a 1989 I measured the value of my existence in six minute increments. And for some people, they thrive under that pressure, and that’s okay. That’s a, you know, that’s the model exists. And at the other end of the spectrum is the sole practitioner who’s working in rural New England, who’s who’s not necessarily tied to the billable hour, because they choose not to be tied to it, and they get to do important work in the world, and maybe they get pickles and pork ribs as compensation, but they get to choose. So we get to choose the model that we want to move into. Now, caveat, I know I came out with huge debt from Cornell, and so I know that for many of us, we get our hands tied, but the road is always open to us to choose differently. I got 12 years into my practice as a civil litigator, and I found civil litigation so tedious, it was worse than watching paint dry on the side of a house, and I pivoted about 12 years in to criminal defense, and I loved it. It was fast moving. It worked. I wasn’t tied to the billable hour, because I charged based upon the case and the scope of it, which I knew by then, and so, you know, there was no sense of billable hour I get. I got to choose because of the narrow niche I had. I got to choose the people that I really liked to work with. I represented, I represented kids of parents in a wealthy suburban community who had gotten themselves into trouble and and I made a difference in their lives.

 

Steve Fretzin  [12:03]

Right. But getting back to it, that’s all fine and good. There’s people listening, who are, you know, feeling very tied to the billable hour, and that it’s not to your point. It’s not impossible to get away you just quit, or you can go figure something else out. But for people that have bills to pay and have things and obligations the way you did too, you know? And I’m trying to help them out of it, maybe over a few years, right? So like, how do we move from the villa hour to the rain making as an option to do less work and all that? But that’s not just that’s not the only way out. You’re suggesting. There’s many others.

 

Walt Hampton  [12:36]

There are many others, and there are many who want to grow within their practice, they want to rise in their practice, maybe become a managing partner, and that’s a perfectly okay track. There’s nothing wrong with that. And within billing 2000 or 2200, or 2400, hours a year, we have to pick up the juice then from other place in our life. Because if we’re running 24/7, 365, doing the billable hour thing, we still have to take care of ourselves. We still have to take care of our relationships, and so that requires really good you know, I don’t use the term time management, because I don’t believe one can manage time. I believe is about time mastery, how we master ourselves with respect to our time?

 

Steve Fretzin  [13:29]

Yeah, and by the way, the first time we met and I had you on the podcast, I think I pulled your book, time mastery after we got into it, not an argument, but discussion about time management isn’t real, but time mastery is and and I’m 100% for it. I think that lawyers are, if they’re based on time, and time is the most important, you know, piece of their world. We have to master it. We have to start thinking about automations, delegations. We have to think about how we can make time or create time and space to do business development, because we see that as one of a number of paths to that freedom and that success that we may want, or what’s going to make us shine isn’t cranking out 2000 hours, but maybe we shine in the relationships, or we shine in the bringing in of Business and helping people solve problems through that manner.

 

Walt Hampton  [14:22]

Yes, I like that. And you mentioned the ways around the constraints of time, automation, delegation. You know, there’s that book who, not how we interpose now, what? What AI before? Who? But the challenge there the edge there is most Trial Lawyers I’ve worked with. We’re control freaks. We want to I mean, we’re in this business to shape and control outcomes, and it’s very hard for us to let go of the very things that will open up time and space for us. So. Learning how to use systems and processes better, learning how to grow team in a more effective way, learning how to delegate and in connection with delegating, learning how to be an effective communicator.

 

Steve Fretzin  [15:18]

Yeah, hey, everybody. As you know, one of the biggest challenges that law firms and lawyers face is hiring many attorneys know they need help, a virtual assistant, paralegal, legal secretary, but just don’t have the time to find and vet the right person. Well, that’s where hirearelegals.com comes in. They do all the heavy lifting, pre vetting top candidates who are in your time zone and ready to work. Firms save hundreds of hours every year, and can hire for as little as 2000 per month, and for be that lawyer listeners like you, you’re going to get 500 off your first hire when you visit hire paralegals.com and use the promo code Steve with proven SEO and digital marketing strategies that drive actual clients to your firm. Rankings.io. Prides itself on proof, not promises. Mentality. The best firms hire rankings.io. When they want rankings, traffic and cases, other law firm marketing agencies can’t deliver, get more rankings, get cases and schedule a free [email protected] today. Hey everybody, it’s Steve Fretzin as the you know, I’m the host of the be that lawyer podcast, and if you’re serious about growing your law practice, let’s talk. I’ve coached hundreds of attorneys to build bigger books of business without selling, chasing or wasting time. This isn’t a sales pitch, it’s a real 30 minute strategy session to explore what’s possible for you in your practice. Just head over to fretzin.com and grab a time that works for you. And let’s make this your breakout year. I mean, one thing that I wanted to hit you up on, because you’re sort of the master of action and tactics and take people doing things, not just thinking about things, is, you know, there. And I joke about this. When I used to interview managing partners about marketing and business development, they’d bang the table and say, You got to get out there. Well, like, what would you tell associates, you got to get out there? And I always laugh. Behind the scenes at them, because I thought, like, that’s so ridiculously ineffective, like just being out there. What’s just I’m going to be out there wasting hours I could be billing No. So what? When you think about mastery of time, what are two or three things that lawyers should be doing to open up those gaps and to really consider, you know, how they’re going to spend their time, to make them happy, to get independence, to get freedom.

 

Walt Hampton  [17:28]

Yeah, so one thing, and you and I’ve talked about this before, but it’s so foundational, is to as best we can, to work and block time. There’s science, there’s evidence, ladies and gentlemen, there’s evidence that supports this, that we actually work most effectively in 60 to 90 minute blocks of time, and what we are often doing is we’re sitting down to write a brief or prepare for a closing for negotiation, and we’re getting notifications and alerts on our computer, on our phone, we’re getting interruptions from our assistants. And there is an entire science called interruption science that studies the impact of interruptions on us. And the science shows that we are either interrupted or cause ourselves to be interrupted every three minutes of the day. And there is what’s called an attentional residue as a result of being interrupted. And what that means is that every time we’re interrupted, it takes us more time to get reconnected to what we were doing. And so if I have a brief, or if I you know now, if I’m doing a workshop for lawyers, and I’m preparing it and I want to do a good job on it, which I do, I will close down my notifications and alerts. I’ll tell my assistant not to disturb me. I’ll put my phone in another room, and I’ll sit down, and I’ll do that for 60 minutes. And there’s such power to that. Yeah, such power to that.

 

Steve Fretzin  [18:58]

You know, what irks me to Walt is, why is everyone more important than me? And what I mean by that is, I have an appointment to meet with someone for lunch, and I don’t show up, and they’re pissed off at me because I didn’t show up, and I’m going to show up because I made a commitment to them, and I’m going to fulfill the commitment to show up and do as I say, and plus, I enjoy lunch and them. Yet when it comes to commitments I make to myself, like blocking time, or the time that is blocked for business development, the time that is blocked to get some things done and I don’t utilize it, or I just cancel it or reschedule it because I’m busy or because things are happening, I’m not respecting myself in my own time. And why am i less important than an appointment I have.

 

Walt Hampton  [19:42]

Absolutely that is absolutely brilliant, and so true. So the next step, I mean, you, you do this, I know you block time those times for yourself. I put my gym time and my running time on my calendar, they’re blocks of time that I. And and the thing is that it’s harder, it’s harder not to do the thing that’s on your calendar because you don’t blow by your dentist appointment if you need to reschedule it because of a deposition, or you reschedule your thing, you reschedule the appointment. But yeah, we have to respect and honor ourselves, and we have to believe that by taking care of those things, we’re taking care of the entire thing. We’re trying to grow.

 

Steve Fretzin  [20:25]

And we think because there’s no consequence that’s right in front of us, like someone getting mad at us, that it doesn’t count, that there is no consequence. In fact, subconsciously, there’s a huge consequence, because you’re blowing off yourself and not committing and executing on things yourself, and it’s chipping away subconsciously and how you feel about yourself and your belief in yourself.

 

Walt Hampton  [20:45]

Absolutely, absolutely. Which leads me to another corollary to this block time, which is it’s important to enroll others on your team to help you and, you know, explain to your assistant, you know, I’m getting this done. I’m going to be less cranky and more efficient with this. If I can have an hour of time, can you hold my calls for me? Yeah, and you’re your associate or your paralegals. I worked with a senior partner at Matheson in Dublin on this, and she said, Well, this will never work for me. I said, Well, why? And she said, Well, we have an open office plan and all the partners doors there, everything’s glass. And I said, Well, that’s why God made three on the sticky notes. She said, What? I said, you put a 3m sticky note on the outside of your glass door says, come back in an hour. I’m working on a brief she came back to my coaching two weeks later, and she said, You know what? That worked. It was so amazing.

 

Steve Fretzin  [21:43]

Stands out too, because on glass, right? It’s all you see.

 

Walt Hampton  [21:47]

It was so amazing to have uninterrupted time. Yeah, yeah. So carving out the time, the oasis that you need for the the important work that you do will really help prevent the urgent stuff, because you’re using your your time more effectively.

 

Steve Fretzin  [22:04]

All right, carving out the time, committing to it with an understanding that it’s as meaningful as an appointment, you’re getting other people bought into helping you support the time that needs to be set aside for important things. What’s one more thing that people should be thinking about and doing, too? And I’ve got one too, but I want to hear yours that makes a huge difference in their ability to accomplish things during the day, even when it’s a busy day.

 

Walt Hampton  [22:30]

Learn to say no, yeah, no. Is a full sentence. If we’re lawyers, we are driven often by significance, by the want, the desire, the need to serve the want, and the desire to serve a lot of people. And so our default is yes, and we only have so many yeses to give in our lives, yeah, and every yes we give dilutes our effectiveness. And so it’s really important to get super clear on what matters most to us, and by that, I say with respect to our practices, with respect to our health and wellness, with respect to our families, and align what we say yes to with the things we value most, the things that will move the dial in all of those areas.

 

Steve Fretzin  [23:19]

Priorities, Right? You’re focused on priorities and maybe moving some other non priority matters aside, so that you’re not overwhelming yourself every single day, I talked to a guy today, a client of mine, and he’s got so much on his plate. It’s like, how many hats you gonna wear? Man? We got to start figuring out, like, what needs to be done this quarter and then what needs to be pushed to 2026 like, you can’t, you can’t be and do all.

 

Walt Hampton  [23:42]

And saying no is such a powerful thing. I mean, it draws good boundaries for other people.

 

Steve Fretzin  [23:48]

But how do you say no? Walt unpack that, because it’s saying no to somebody to be on a board, to take on a presentation, to stop taking work from a partner who’s been feeding you work when you’re trying to bring in your own business. You just don’t have the capacity. That’s not easy to do.

 

Walt Hampton  [24:06]

It’s not easy to do, and we usually feel like we have to explain it, but there are many areas of our lives where no is a full sentence. Okay, okay. Now in the situation of you’re asked to sit on a board, and it might be something that you’ve been involved with and you care about, and it would be Steve, I am so honored that you have asked me to sit on this board. Thank you. I’ve got a lot going on right now. I’ve got, you know, I got a kid who’s finishing up high school. I’m going to be doing doing the college thing. I would really love to do that. It’s just not the right time for me. Have you thought about my friend Stan or Sarah? They’re really if you don’t know that, I’ll make the introduction for you. And I really appreciate that you thought of me. Thank you. 

 

Steve Fretzin  [24:51]

Awesome, awesome. It’s just important to share some language. I think. You know, sometimes it’s we say something No, is a full sentence. And it is, and then we realize, hey, there’s some subtleties and some language that needs to be crafted to get a message across in a way that’s going to make somebody smile and not feel offended or frown.

 

Walt Hampton  [25:12]

Well, let’s take that little thread, because I was faced with that as an associate that you know somebody’s giving you work and you are wanting, you know, you’re getting to that point where what you bring in the matter, it’s having a serious but playful conversation with the partner, saying, I so appreciate the work that you were wanting me to do. And you know, I want you to make more money, so I want to build the business here, so that I’m that I’m useful for you going forward, and I really want to spend more time, so I wonder if we could figure out a way together such that I’m meeting your needs, but I also have the time to go out and make you more money.

 

Steve Fretzin  [25:50]

Yeah, nice. Nobody’s gonna argue with that. Oh no, no, no, no. So we have ways of opening up gaps of time. We have ways of creating our own future. There’s still a risk of burnout. There’s still a risk that, you know, no matter how hard we are sort of working, we’re not getting in the right place. How do you suggest lawyers get out of, out of that burnout where they’re just, you know, it’s 2000 plus hours, business development, management, responsibilities, family pressures, someone’s sick. I mean, just things just keep hitting.

 

Walt Hampton  [26:23]

I’m gonna dial in a bunch of stuff here. Number one, coming back to block time, I once was working with a lawyer and who was very near or over the edge of burnout. I asked him to screenshot what was before it was on the phone, but screen share your Google Calendar, and it was amazing. It was beautiful. It was red and green and purple and black and orange. And I said, Where’s the white space? Dude? He said, What do you mean? I said, the white space, the space in between what you’re doing. Here’s what’s true. Most of us are always running behind. I know that was true for me. I was a single dad for a dozen years while I was managing a law firm, you’re always running behind, and when you create some space between the things, you’ve got, if you run over, you’ve got a little bit of pushing. If you don’t run over, you can actually take a breath. You can actually step outside. You could actually, you know, check in with your child about how the practice went. It’ll be a soccer practice. What? So a little bit of white space in the day. Yeah, it’s also critically important, you know, we are, I used to love to go. So what do you do? Although I’m a trial lawyer, that meant I was really, really important being a lawyer. You know, let’s be that lawyer is what we’re talking about. It’s not the entirety of who we are, and so claiming the other pieces of ourselves, particularly our health and wellness, our mental health, our physical health, our spiritual health, carving out the time to take care of our bodies and our minds that are separate apart, taking care of our relationships. So again, it means mastering our time so that we can nurture our bodies. If I’m cranky I need to go for a five mile run. That’s how that’s my self medication as I go out and run it off if I don’t go to the gym three days a week, I’m just I’m not feeling at the top of my game, and if I’m going to do the work that you and I do, I want to be at the top of my game. And so attending to those things that fight burnout, which are the wellness strategies that we talk about, but often blow out, blow by.

 

Steve Fretzin  [28:44]

Yeah, yeah. It makes a lot of sense. And it’s, I think, when you think about the gaps of time blocking, saying no getting other people to help you advance right? Delegation, obviously, is a huge piece of this. If you’re doing all the work, all the administrative, all the billable, all you can’t do it, and these are all leading to burnout. And so I think, I think, you know, I have too many meetings today and tomorrow. I’ve got too many I’m gonna, I’m gonna reschedule one or two. You know, I need to your point that white space that gives me that break to go play with the ribbon and with we have a new kitten. So we’re playing ribbon with the kitten, or walking the dog, or whatever it is. I got to be careful saying that he’s right here listening. Here’s the W word. We couldn’t even say W. We had to go. We had to he sleep. I know what’s going on, but, um, we used to have to say K. Like, what is K? Well, K means walk, and, you know, in dog language, so he doesn’t know we’re talking about being sneaky. Well, well, just fantastic, man. Let’s wrap it up with what’s Walt’s big mistake?

 

Walt Hampton  [29:49]

Well, I would say that, where do I start? I get that a lot, yeah, but I would say that I didn’t trust my gut early enough. In my practice to know what way I could practice law that was right for me, because all of my friends and colleagues had gone to the big firms, and that was their track, and they were making lots of money, and I wanted to make lots of money. I did not pivot soon enough. I would say that’s the biggest thing, and in that period of time, I also didn’t connect with my kids enough because I was so driven in those years.

 

Steve Fretzin  [30:30]

Okay, and so it’s we need to have these points in our lives and these pivot points and these these turning points that’s that allow us to be a better father, or understand entrepreneurship is our key, or understand that change is important in finding to the beginning of our conversation, right? Finding what lights us on fire.

 

Walt Hampton  [30:50]

Live Yes, yeah. What lights you up? Yes.

 

Steve Fretzin  [30:53]

What lights me up is having you on the show. That’s what lights me up, my man,

 

Walt Hampton  [30:58]

Every moment I spend with you, Steve is such a gift.

 

Steve Fretzin  [31:01]

Well, I did warn you, folks that this was going to be a love fest. So there you go. Of course, another thing I love is our sponsors. How about that transition? Not too bad. That’s good. Good. Check out legal verse, media, everybody, international publication. Get your news and get it with an international flair. Of course, we got law her with Sonia Palmer, crushing it for women. Great podcast there and rankings, io, I mean, they are the top PI agency. So if you’re looking to get some big results, check out rankings. Io, and just want to give a shout out to our newest sponsor, hire paralegals.com check them out. Lots of ways to delegate and get things off your plate. While people want to learn, they want to get your books. They want to learn more about you. They want to reach out to you for coaching. What are your digits?

 

Walt Hampton  [31:45]

Very, very complicated. I made this up myself. Walthampton.com.

 

Steve Fretzin  [31:49]

Ah that’s so tough. Yeah. Well, we’ll throw, I’ll tell you what, just to help people out. We’ll throw that in the show notes too. Okay, excellent. All right. Well, thank you, my friend is always a pleasure on so many levels. Just you’re always such a great advocate for lawyers and in a big, big, great friend to me in the show. So appreciate you, my friend.

 

Walt Hampton  [32:10]

We do such important work in the world as lawyers. It’s such a privilege to be able to do this work we get to do, and why not be that lawyer in a big, big way in the world. So thank you for having me. Yeah, thank you my

 

Steve Fretzin  [32:22]

man, and thank you everybody for hanging out with Walt and I, you know, again, just so many takeaways. If you’re feeling that burnout, if you’re feeling that stress, you’re not getting the things you need to do, you know, check out what he’s, you know, working on his books and in my stuff. And there’s a way through. There’s always a way through. You know, you’re not in jail. There’s a way through. We just have to figure it out together. That’s all man. Have a great rest of the day, unless it’s nighttime. I don’t know when you’re listening to this, but be that lawyer. Everybody confident, organized in a skilled Rainmaker. Take care, be safe, be well. Talk again soon.

 

Narrator  [32:57]

Thanks for listening to be that loyal. Life changing strategies and resources for growing a successful law practice. Visit Steve’s website, fretzen.com for additional information and to stay up to date on the latest legal business development and marketing trends. For more information and important links about today’s episode, check out today’s show notes.