Walt Hampton, J.D.

Creating the Work & Life You LOVE

Grave Garage Door Danger

by Walt | Jul 21, 2022 | Success | 0 Comments

I hate to admit it.

I was a horrible student in 7th Grade Industrial Arts.

In fact, I nearly failed out.

Because you see, the final project was to take apart a lawn mower engine and put it all back together again. So that it ran.

Mine didn’t run. I ended up with extra parts. And try as I might, I could not figure out where they went.

Now, one would think I’d learned an important lesson.

But, no. Fast forward a couple of decades. I needed a new garage door. I went to Home Depot. Got the kit. Spread out all the parts on the driveway.

I spent hours and hours on the project. And, try as I might, the whole damn thing was a fiasco.

Yup, extra parts. And a garage door that wouldn’t work.

It would have been so much better to have hired someone to come in and do it all.

And therein lies the lesson.

The most dangerous cost in business – and in life – is opportunity cost.

When you say ‘yes’ to one project or endeavor, you’re saying ‘no’ to another.

And you only have so many yeses to give in the brief stint that is our life.

Those yeses ought to be reserved exclusively for what falls within your zone of genius; those yeses ought to be devoted only to those things that light you up and bring you joy.

Those yeses ought to be reserved for what brings you the highest return on the investment of your time.

My zone of genius – that place I lose myself in a timeless flow – that place that brings deep satisfaction – is working with the coaching clients I’m privileged to serve.

My happy place is in the mountains.

Oh sure, I could still be sorely tempted to tinker with the lawn mower or the garage door. But better to spend the few hundred bucks than to lose those hours doing what I do best, doing what I love.

Because here’s the pernicious part, the lie: opportunity cost is often disguised, camouflaged. It whispers to you: “you’re saving money.”

But really you’re losing time.

Time to do your very best work; time to spend with those you love; time to adventure and explore; time to reflect; time to just be.

Time you can never, ever get back.

Be careful when that garage door beckons.

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If you know of someone who might benefit from this piece, please share it!

Get Burned Out

by Walt | Jul 14, 2022 | Success | 0 Comments

Burnout gets a bad rap.

Stress and overwhelm too.

But here’s the thing: big goals require you to stretch way beyond your comfort zone.

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body,” Howard Thurman wrote. “But rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a Ride!'”

A bit of burnout is a good thing.

The Problem With Freedom

by Walt | Jul 7, 2022 | Success | 0 Comments

You’re likely a fan of freedom.

I am.

In fact, it’s one of my highest values.

Freedom to come and go; freedom to adventure and travel; freedom to work when and where and if we want.

Freedom to choose.

It’s damn good stuff.

But there’s a catch.

“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being,” Eleanor Roosevelt once said. “With freedom comes responsibility.”

When you’re free, you’re responsible for a lot, like:

your health and wellness;
the care of your loved ones;
your surroundings;
those in need; and
this little blue dot that floats in space that is our only home.

You’re responsible, too, for freedom itself. Because this freedom you enjoy has come at a huge cost, measured in blood.

It is precious and fragile.

One of the things I so loved in law school was the freedom to explore ideas; the invitation to question; the opportunity to debate, and disagree.

Our arguments could be vociferous and long, because seeking for truth and finding common ground can be a messy business. (But pizza and beer usually followed because we knew that our ground could be common only if we honored our shared humanity.)

It continues to be our shared responsibility to seek this common ground, to protect this gift that is our freedom.

Tirelessly and ardently. With civility and care.

“For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry their own weight, this is a frightening prospect,” Roosevelt said.

But you want what I want what we all want which is freedom.

President Ronald Reagan, in his Farewell Address to the Nation, shared his vision of our nation as “the shining city upon a hill.”

“[I]n my mind it is a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.”

“All great change begins at the dinner table,” Reagan said. “So, tomorrow night in the kitchen I hope the talking begins.”

It’s been two hundred forty-six years since we declared our freedom.

The work continues.

Let freedom ring.

Getting Enough F

by Walt | Jun 30, 2022 | Success | 0 Comments

Are you getting enough F in your life?

Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about fun!

Because life should be fun.

Joy is your birthright.

But given the intensity of your life, given how many demands there are for your time, quality F doesn’t just happen.

It needs to be planned. It needs to be intentional.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama spoke about it this way:

“Starting every year, before I booked anything, agreed to any meetings or conferences, we’d sit down with my assistant and we looked at our lives first,” Obama said. “We put potlucks in there, we put date nights in there, I put my workouts, we put our vacations on the calendar first, we put sports things and summers. We planned that out first, and then what was left would be left for work.”

Likely, you’re not busy running the household that runs the free world. Which means that you could approach your life this way too!

It begins by being mindful and intentional.

What do you value?

What matters most?

What will you regret not doing when the sands of your life have slipped through the glass?

Get clear on those things.

Then get them on the calendar.

Your health and wellness. The adventures and vacations. The date nights. The getaways. The magic moments.

Make them appointments with yourself.

Then dial the work in around those things.

Not the other way around.

Because the sands will slip through the glass.

And there are no do overs.

Do you live to work? Or work to live?

You get to choose.

Choose to prioritize the F in your life.

And if you want help creating that life you love, email me: [email protected]

Want More

by Walt | Jun 23, 2022 | Success | 0 Comments

We’re going on a lion hunt,
We’re not afraid!
Got my canteen by my side,
And my binoculars too.
— American Children’s Song

Your physical life is a journey. You know how it began. You know how it will end. It’s your job to fill in the middle.

Sadly, many of us don’t do such a great job of filling. We get by. We drift along. We muddle through. And before we know it, some serious time has passed us by.

The cure for muddling is the hero’s journey.

From the beginning of recorded time, through the Greek and Roman epics, to the present day, art and music and literature have memorialized the fundamental necessity of the hero’s journey to the fullness of our humanity.

Joseph Campbell, in his seminal masterpiece The Hero With A Thousand Faces, summarized the hero’s journey like this: “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

You are called to the hero’s journey.

But it’s not conducted on the couch.

To figure out what life is really all about, you need to venture forth, want more, see the world, get slapped upside the head, test your meddle, travel the edge, engage the battle, come back victorious. Then you will know a thing or two. Then you can be of service to the world.

This requires effort. This requires that you do something.

This requires a desire to know your heart.

This requires that you set out and seek your dreams.

“To realize one’s Personal Legend [your blessing, your path, your dream] is a person’s only obligation,” Paulo Coelho writes in his enduring story The Alchemist. “And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.”

You have a heart that yearns. You have a soul that seeks. You are called to quest. The restlessness that resides within you is part of your DNA.

But, here’s the problem: a lot of folks ignore (or refuse) the invitation to take the hero’s journey. They’d rather stay home. They’d rather stay safe, sound, and secure. They’d rather not risk. They’d rather not dare.

They were told at a tender age not to venture out, that the quest was impossible, that their dreams were not practical, that they could not succeed.

Fear may hold them back as well: Fear of failure, fear of suffering, fear of defeat.

Perhaps fear of success too. Success might require moving beyond a comfort zone, out of a job, a home, a relationship, into the unknown, into scary places, into places that confront and challenge in unexpected ways.

There’s also that pseudo sense of duty: folks tell themselves that they have “responsibilities.” They say, “I can’t go now. Maybe someday.” This “version” of duty is camouflage for fear.

So quest you must. You cannot hide. You must venture forth. You must seek out the places that scare you. You must risk. You must dare. You must know sadness and grief. You must experience ecstasy and joy. You must taste victory. You must know defeat.

Coelho writes that when we have the courage to travel the intricate path of our Personal Legend, when “we learn to trust our hearts, read the seemingly inconspicuous signs, and understand that as we look to fulfill a dream, it looks to find us just the same, if we let it.”

It is only in the journey that you find your dreams.

Yearn. And want some more.