The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Day 24/90 – Freedom

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 24 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? Seeing how much freedom I have in my life.

    I love how genuinely content I look in this picture. Photo by Julia Kolsrud
    I love how genuinely content I look in this picture. Photo by Julia Kolsrud.

    I don’t mean to sound like I’m bragging, but my life is basically made of awesome. When I think about the ultimate goal of my professional life, the first word that comes to mind is “freedom.” Looking back on today, I’m on track to achieve that. In the long run, I hope to have the freedom and financial means to basically do whatever I want, but for now, I am very content with the amount of freedom I have in my life. I get to:

    • Hand select my clients,
    • Charge whatever I want,
    • Wear whatever I want to work,
    • Set my own hours,
    • Decide whether I’m working from home or in the office each day,
    • Run errands in the middle of the day if I feel like it,
    • Bring my dog to work,
    • Write books,
    • Speak professionally,
    • Write blog posts about whatever I want, and
    • Do whatever I want with my free time.

    If that doesn’t count is awesome, I don’t know what does.

    It is my life perfect? God no. It’s far from that; but given how happy I am, I know I’m on the right path.

    In case you missed it: Day 23 of the 90 Days of Awesome – The Satisfaction of Helping People!

  • Day 23/90 – The Satisfaction of Helping People

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 23 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I got to help people!

    Photo by Devon Christopher Adams - used with permission
    Pictures of me working at my desk are boring. Here’s an image that embodies how I feel about my work. (Photo by Devon Christopher Adams – used with permission)

    For those of you who don’t know, I’m an existentialist – a big one. An essential part of who I am is based on the idea that what I do matters. It’s not an ego thing, but rather a why-am-I-here thing.

    One of the things I love about being a lawyer is that I get help people in ways that they can’t help themselves. I love being able to tell clients, “We can fix that,” or “We can make that work.” I see my job as being an educator about the law as well as a problem solver because most people don’t know what their rights are, how to protect them, or their options for recourse are when there’s a problem.

    I work on preventing problems in solving problems in my work, and lately I’ve been putting in a lot more work on the problem-solving side. I spent a good chunk of today drafting and revising a demand letter for one of my clients, and it felt really good to know that this document may bring my client the resolution he’s seeking. I am both pleased and proud of the work I did today.

    One of the benefits and challenges of my work is that it’s not about me personally; it’s about using my skills and talents to achieve my clients’ desired results. So there are times that I have draft documents and negotiate on their behalf in ways that I don’t personally agree with, but are not legally wrong. On the flip side, it also means that it’s possible to have a cordial relationship with the opposing counsel when both sides are acting as zealous advocates for their clients without their egos getting in the way. Those tend to be the fastest and the easiest negotiations.

    Today was a good day.

    In case you missed it: Day 22 of the 90 Days of Awesome – I took my Fake British Accent to the Verizon Store!

  • Day 22/90 – The British Accent Works

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 22 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? Taking my fake British accent to the Verizon store!

    Sometimes you want to sit on Evo when you check your phone. (Photo by Sheila Dee)
    Sometimes you want to sit on Evo when you check your phone. (Photo by Sheila Dee)

    My phones been on the fritz lately, so I stopped by the Verizon store on my way home from work. Whenever you check in at the store, one of the first things they ask you is your first name. Call me old-fashioned, but I think it’s presumptuous when a company assumes that they can call you by your first name. This is one of the few things I dislike about Verizon.

    And, since I’m me, I’ve been rocking my British accent off-and-on all day – including when I walked into the Verizon store. When the clerk asked for my name, I’ve responded with, “I prefer ‘Mrs. Carter,’ if you don’t mind.” (I was inspired by Emma Thompson’s portrayal of P.L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks.) Historically, when I’ve objected to the clerk entering my first name, they’ve looked at me strangely; however, with a British accent, the guy didn’t bat an eye and said, “No problem, Mrs. Carter.”

    The clerk who assisted me was equally accommodating and polite. The Verizon clerks are usually wonderful when they are assisting me, so that wasn’t unusual. I did think it was very sweet that the clerk who assisted me walked me to the door and held it open for me as I left.

    I don’t know why speaking with a fake British accent makes people more polite and accommodating, but as long as it’s working and it makes me happy, I’m going to keep doing it. (It works even when I don’t ask for stuff. Remind me to tell you the story about how I got a discount on sunglasses just because I was speaking with my accent.)

    It turns out my phone’s processor is fried and thankfully I’m due for a free upgrade. I’ll be back at Verizon in a few days to transfer my contacts to my new phone.

    In case you missed it: Day 21 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Resetting my Priorities with Help from Saving Mr. Banks!