A Four Leaf Clover in October

Last month I talked about karma and how the good intentions you plant will bloom in your future. You always need to keep planting those seeds. The good things that happen are usually not random or by accident. Whether it is building better relationships, financial plans, or a winning trial strategy, you need to keep working on it. Here we are in October, did you find your four-leaf clover?

As the Chair for the ADR Section of The Florida Bar, we did a lot of good and hard work last month by filing two comments with the Florida Supreme Court to proposed Rule changes that impact dispute resolution. I am especially proud of our comment to Florida Supreme Court Case 21-990 concerning the continued use of communication technology for mediation and arbitration. This reasoned comment included the results of a survey that we conducted of the members of the ADR Section.

Finally, I am pleased to announce that I have added a new Video page to my mediation website (www.meaningful-mediation.com). Included thus far is my presentation at the annual DRC Conference on mindfulness mediation techniques. Also included is a PowerPoint presentation as well as a professionalism tip that I did for the Henry Latimer Center for Professionalism. I am in the planning stages for a video series of short tips (5 minutes or less) for lawyers on mediation. Stay tuned!

I am going to shamelessly plug "The Common Ground", the fantastic publication by the ADR Section that is published in the Spring and Fall. This publication not only has all the updates for everything that is going on in the dispute resolution world in Florida but also wonderful scholarly articles on the hottest topics. The Fall edition is coming soon so please check it out.

I recently attended a talk that had some incredible but simple advice that can have an enormous impact on your life, personal and business alike. The premise is really simple so here it goes.

There are only two things that you really need to do each day to develop inner peace and happiness, not only for yourself but for others.

First, protect your mind from negative thoughts and bad intentions. While there may be external problems in the world, the real problem is the internal problem for how you deal with them. While you cannot always control the external problems, how you react to them is in your control. The goal is to try to treat these problems non-judgmentally as a challenge rather than to dwell on them negatively. Easier said than done, but keep practicing and you should find some peace.

Second, have good intentions to help others. That is mission two. By helping others, you will focus on understanding and compassion, and not focus on negativity. This feedback loop will support your first mission to protect your mind, and in the process, you will be doing good. Give it a try, what do you have to lose?