Finding Purpose

Texas lawyers take an oath dedicating themselves to the practice of law and discharging their duties to the best of their abilities. I believe that service to others is essential to meeting our responsibility and fulfilling our oath. Yet, often, we find ourselves consumed by the demands of our practice. We work long hours, take home our clients’ and our own problems, constantly striving to solve complex issues and always zealously advocating for our clients and ourselves. We do not pause to consider why we’re doing all that we do.

Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why considers the idea that effective individuals and organizations that inspire and lead operate from a clear sense of purpose, or their “why,” and their “how” and “what” are the methods they use to realize their why. Finding your “why” can invigorate your passion for the law, enhance your client relationships, and guide your career decisions. Trying to determine our own why is difficult, but it perhaps can be simplified when viewing it in the context of a game.

You must first reflect on your motivations. When sitting down to play a game, you must first decide why you are sitting down at the table. This occurs before learning the rules or touching a single piece. Did you sit down to have fun? To win? To spend quality time with your friends and family? Each reason has merit and is worth the activity time, but your actions (i.e., your what and how) will vary based on the reasons you sat down. Sitting down to win may mean using the optimal strategy and perhaps being ruthless in your approach. Instead, if your desire is quality time with loved ones, then you may opt to measure your success in the laughs or memories built during the game. You may use a different strategy in each of these scenarios, but it does not diminish the value of playing the game for you.

Next, you must communicate your why. Communicating your why in the actions you take every day with your colleagues, clients, and family helps ensure everyone understands why you do what you do. If you are also effective in communicating why you are sitting down to play the game with others, then you will also find other like-minded people who also have the same goals in mind. Afterall, we all understand that activities are more enjoyable and more effective when everyone feels included and wants to participate. As an added benefit, it also creates better results for all of us.

Lastly, stop to revisit and reaffirm your why. Only after you’ve decided why you are playing the game can you decide how or what you are going to do. Now, you may need to bob and weave based on the circumstances, but it is important to keep your vision. Change too much or not enough, and you may lose the vision altogether. Sometimes, you will make major strides toward your goal. Other times, it will be tiny steps. Stopping to reflect can help you stay aligned with your why and adapt your career to the changes along the way. Whatever path you take, I am confident if you keep going, you’ll get there.

These same principles can help you find your why as a lawyer. Consider what drew you to the legal profession. For many of us, it was service to others. It was for me. I also aspire to leave the world better than I found it and ensure we continue to open doors for those that come after us. If you share those same desires, then I would implore each of you to consider getting involved with bar associations. The State Bar of Texas, Texas Young Lawyers Association, and their affiliated organizations accomplish great things for the public and our bar every single day. It is my view that there is no better place to get involved and serve others. If you are interested in joining the TYLA Board of Directors, volunteering, or otherwise getting involved, please reach out and let me know. I’ll do my best to help you along the way in finding your own purpose.

HISHAM MASRI
2024-2025 President, Texas Young Lawyers Association