Some people seem to make profound impacts in their industry. Ever wonder how they do it, and whether you could do learn the formula to do it yourself?

In this talk at Stanford Business School, Graham Weaver describes a simple formula for what he calls “living an asymmetric life.” Weaver learned from his early professional mistakes: Making outsized impact in your career and life doesn’t come from a conservative, never-lose-money strategy. It comes from keeping losses within reason while having some big wins and a couple of really, really, REALLY big wins. That’s an asymmetric life.

Weaver’s Tips for an Asymmetric Life

Weaver describes a simple formula for living an asymmetric life. He identifies four principles:

(1) Do the Hard Thing. Yes, life will get worse at first while you’re learning and making mistakes. But the life you want is on the other side of those mistakes.

(2) Do Your Thing. When we calculate odds, we tend to undervalue the power of ourselves, at our most excited, day after day. Do someone else’s thing and your results will be average. Do your thing and you’ll create results that others find astounding.

(3) Do It for Decades. At first, learning deficits are deep. Over time, we get better at learning how to learn. In Year 1, the results may be lackluster or nonexistent. In year 20 or 30? Astounding.

(4) Tell Your Story. When you feel stuck, step back and tell the story of your business or project in five years, wildest-dreams scenario. With that vision, what is the first thing you would need to do to get there? Do that thing today.

asymmetrical life in the law

Lawyers and law students tend to be even more conservative than business school graduates. The law rewards people who spot obstacles (we literally test for that on law school final exams).

That’s a good skill for protecting your clients — but a pretty terrible formula for 10x-ing your life.

Can lawyers learn to live an asymmetric life using Weaver’s principles? I hope so — and I plan to assign Weaver’s video as the first homework assignment for students in my Entrepreneurs for Lawyers course in the spring. My goal: to create a laboratory for 10x-ing your career in the legal profession.

10x-ing your Life

If you’re a lawyer or law student who feels stagnant or stuck, I invite you to take one of Weaver’s principles — whichever resonates most with you, good or bad — and explore how you might use it in your life.

In subsequent posts, I’ll explore each principle individually, and how it might apply to those of us in the legal profession.