"What’s it going to take to get you off your butt and truly accomplish something?" That is the question Paul B. Brown asked his Forbes readers. And I ask YOU!

I hear more excuses then there are lawyers in this country. I’m too busy. I have too many meetings. I tried that once. That never works. I have kids. I’m married. I have aging parents. I need to do research. I need marketing materials. I need better marketing materials. Our website sucks. REALLY!

These are just that… excuses. And every successful lawyer has most and maybe even all of these conditions. To successful business developers these are not excuses, they are just… what is so.

Brown unravels the answer to his question…

What is it going to take to get you off your butt? Act.

 But what is it that is going to get you to act?

On the surface, it seems there are four questions you might ask before beginning anything:

1. Is it feasible i.e. is it within the realm of reality?

2. Can I do it, i.e. feasible for me?

3. Is it worth doing? … Is there potential to turn a profit… does it make sense to put in all this effort? And finally

4. Do I want to do it?

But it is this last question that is the only one that really matters.

Why? Either the venture is something that you want, or it’s something that leads to something you want. If it is neither of these, there’s no reason to act—and you won’t—or answer the other three questions.

There is simply no way you are going to give it your full effort if your heart isn’t in it at least to some degree.

But once you want to do something, everything gets reframed. The negative emotional response to all the unknowns is reduced. The reality hasn’t changed. You still don’t know what is out there, but you’ll find a way around the problem, because you care about what you are trying to do. 

So, before beginning anything new, ask yourself this: Is this something I really want to do. If it isn’t you are likely to be happier and more productive spending your time on something else.

We’d argue desire is the most critical resource you have in starting a new venture of any type.

Why? Because it:

* Motivates you to act.

* It enables you to persist.

* It makes you more creative (especially in the face of obstacles.)

Desire is absolutely required to get you off your butt.

So… what is your desire? Do you want to build a book of business that gives you control over your destiny or do you want to be dependent on others to feed you? Do you want to earn more money or are you satisfied where you are? Do you want to do more interesting work or are you content to do whatever others bring in? And lastly… do you want to continue to be a lawyer or would you prefer to do something else? There is no right or wrong in any of these answers… there is just desire.

If you are a lawyer with desire to build your book of business then the obstacles are not excuses. So I ask you… Do you have desire or excuses?