Success isn’t a Straight Line

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but I:

• was rejected admission to my undergraduate alma mater’s law school
• had one offer out of law school -had one offer when the first firm that employed me folded
• was the lowest bonused partner my final year in practice by a factor of 5
• took a 40% pay cut at the age of 40 to accept a job as law clerk for a former law partner.

Today I was appointed to a federal magistrate judge position.

Find good mentors. Do good work. People notice, even when you don’t think they do. And don’t let temporary failures, no matter how significant they seem at the time, derail you from your goals.