Have your own personality

“Personality are our characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, and having a great personality isn’t about trying to be like other people, it’s about finding what is great about you and making that clearer to everyone else.”  -WikiHow

The reason some legal icons made a name in the profession, from the hay days of F.R.A Williams SAN (God rest his soul), to the Gani Fawehimi SAN of blessed memory, and now Paul Usoro, SAN, Femi Falana SAN, Mike Ezekhome, SAN, and the likes, is because they believed in their own ideology of what should be, and not what the society prescribes for them as what is.

Coming to the Nigerian entertainment industry, we have legal professionals like Folarin Falana also known as Falz the bad guy, Audu Maikori of Chocolate City, and many more who earn comfortable income to cater for their basic needs other than by litigation.

The list of legal professionals making it as a result of believing in their own personality goes on and on, and the reason for this is not farfetched, “The sky is wide enough to accommodate all the stars in the universe, if only you believe in you”.

There are always ways that you can improve yourself but the biggest thing is just feeling comfortable in your own skin. When you see someone that you think has a good personality it is probably because they are genuine and happy, not because they practiced having a good personality, they were only real to themselves.

Sadly in the legal profession, we find lawyers struggling to find their personality, not because they are not smart or don’t have it in them, rather, they have allowed others to set the pace for what ought to be, and when you allow people to determine your path, no matter how well you try, you can only emerge second best. You can however be the best of you when you do that which your innate self tells you is true and right.

How then does a legal professional find his/her personality? Firstly, believe in your inner mind convictions, stand by it and change it when reason comes to play.

Secondly, hone your personality inwardly, always be happy with yourself; try to be positive and be on the bright side; develop your interest. If you find something you are excited about, develop it and experience what life has to offer, that way you have interesting things to share with the world. Have your opinion, and don’t worry about agreeing with the other person as long as you can converse civilly.

Thirdly, express your personality outwardly, take interest in others and learn from them, show your confidence; you don’t need to be someone you aren’t, be confident in the personality you have and others will be drawn to you. Remain humorous and light hearted, even in the law firm don’t be all too serious about case files, be firm though on the standard of practice – don’t just be too rigid about it, try to be nice. And always remain calm, cool, and collected.

Lastly, carve a niche for yourself in the legal industry. The legal profession is an ocean of opportunities, you can be whatever you want to be; don’t join the band wagon. Sometimes people don’t know what they want and follow the path everyone takes, losing their true self following that path. In finding your path, one must always understand that difference in opinion is not enmity, happiness is free, as such, practice the area of law that incites your passion.

Be you in salaried employment in a multinational or government agency, or in litigation, or media and legal journalism, the idea is to have your own personality. Not everyone will agree with it, but with time if you are on the right track, thou shall surely get to your destination safely with accolades, and public admiration.

In the words of Bruce Lee, “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it”, in simple terms, original pass photocopy.

Godspeed!

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