While there is great virtue in thinking long and hard about how you can improve, life, and business, may pass before you finally get going. In our fast-paced world, if you are standing still like that, you've actually moved backwards.

Consequently, I offer three concrete steps you can take—today—that should make you a better lawyer. Here they are:

•  Don't just bob along—write down your goals and follow that plan.

A typical lament that I have heard from some lawyers, too many times to count, is that a colleague "was lucky" in landing a big client, having a great job opportunity fall in his lap, or otherwise being the beneficiary of some positive development. In essence, they aver that their compatriot essentially hit the lottery, which is the only way that he could have surpassed him.

While the roulette wheel phenomenon does happen at times, it is much more likely that the presumed "lucky lawyer" actually made it happen. And, this invariably is due to that person having devised a plan, which included concrete steps she would take. This is a blueprint for success, which makes it a bit mind-boggling that most people don't do it.

The venerable Napoleon Hill provides a primer on creating such a plan in his classic book, "Think and Grow Rich," which has stood the test of time, as it nears 100 years in print. I encourage you to read it, as it will be a terrific investment of time. But, in keeping with the theme of this column, here is what you can do today.

Write down, type or speak into your phone, the five most important things you want to accomplish in the next 12 months. Next, list an action item or two relating to each goal that you will commit to doing in furtherance of that objective. Further, memorialize that no matter what happens, you will remain positive and will pursue each goal. Then, and, without fail, read what you wrote twice a day—in the morning, before work and in the evening, before you go to bed.

You will be amazed as to what happens over the course of that next year. This repetition will drill your goals into your subconscious and you will, perhaps even unknowingly, start to take those actions. Even more importantly, when an opportunity does pop up relating to one of those goals, it won't just fly by you at warp speed—you will be ready for it now and hopefully will move on it.

It is impossible for me to overstate how important your mindset is in achieving goals. The power your mind has to make things happen is almost unlimited. Skeptics may think that this is woo-woo type stuff, but I beg to differ. Science—yes, that institution that is supposed to conclusively prove that things do or cannot happen, actually backs up my proposition. If you don't believe me, read Dawson Church's excellent book, "Mind to Matter: The Astonishing Science of How Your Brain Creates Material Reality," Penguin Random House Publishers (2018). It will be an eye-opening experience.

• Pick up the phone to respond to a key question or, shudder at the thought— meet someone face-to-face to discuss a key issue.

There are a surfeit of ways today to communicate with clients, colleagues and all others with whom you normally engage in the practice of law.  Whereas snail mail was the norm when I started and faxes were a groundbreaking development, emails, texts, and all kinds of instant messaging options—inside and outside of apps—enable us to sometimes instantaneously connect with others, which can be highly advantageous.

This has helped, though, to create a culture, particularly among some younger lawyers, in which there is little personal and direct interaction. Rather than meet someone face-to-face, or even, heaven forbid, talk live to someone on the phone, quite a few persons prefer to communicate by those other more impersonal methods. In my opinion, this can be problematic.

Granted, there are times that texts and other quick-messaging techniques are invaluable, such as interacting with others who are not in your immediate vicinity or cannot get to a phone, and, quite frankly, when time constraints and efficiency militate against a personal meeting or call. This is doubly, or triply, the case if you get caught up in phone tag, which can be maddening.

Nonetheless, the practice of law, whether it is in private practice, in-house or some other setting, is, at its core, a service industry that is built on relationships. It is difficult to maintain and certainly to build relationships with others when technology separates you, more than it should, from actually talking or meeting with someone. If you have a relationship that has been built on texts and emails, it is easier for a client or other important person in your professional life to end it, or even alter it unfavorably, when a deeper personal bond has not been developed through closer contact over time.

Moreover, think about all the texts and emails you receive or send in which you cannot discern tone, intent or even meaning sometimes. It becomes much easier to make crucial mistakes in those situations, which could be avoided if you could see someone's expression or even hear the inflection in his voice, or note a long pause, if you are on a phone call. And, if you have a big issue that has arisen, that is especially the time to deal with it through direct personal contact, as you need to pick up on those types of cues.

So, select one situation today, that is a bit more complex, in which you normally would send a text, email or instant message. Try walking down the hall, if possible, or pick up the phone and deal with it and assess whether there is a beneficial difference. I am confident the answer will be yes, and I implore you to do it more often.

• Reconstruct your network and reach out to a few persons today.

A byproduct of everyone being so busy these days is that our networks are not only neglected, but we can't even identify who is in them. This occurs since we have contacts on our phones, lists developed at work, other names that are wedged into email folders, and, as archaic as it may seem, physical business cards that are strewn throughout our offices and homes. It is the rare person who has unified all of these names, and, even more importantly, has devised a plan and system for touching base with those in the network.

There are innumerable negative consequences that can flow from this, not the least of which are lost opportunities. I have written in an earlier column about a general counsel who laid out a scenario that should make many shudder. An outside lawyer he knew sent a letter and case abstract to him about a niche type of litigation he had successfully handled. The general counsel read it and put it aside. Fast forward about 18 months later when that exact type of litigation was filed against the general counsel's company, which turned out to be a very big case that generated major fees.

The general counsel wracked his brains, as to what lawyer and firm had handled that type of case, and even dug through his paper files, but could not find the letter. About one month after the general counsel retained another firm, he found that letter, and, much to his chagrin, and to that of the outside lawyer who never followed up, the opportunity had been squandered.

Get your contacts consolidated, segment them into different levels of contact frequency and make it a point to reach out to them, in some fashion, accordingly. There is a phenomenon I have regularly advised lateral partners I have placed, which is that they will be positively surprised, after their announcement goes out, when someone who they otherwise had not been in touch with, reaches out to congratulate them. More often than one would guess, that reach-back is sometimes accompanied by an entreaty to get together and an opportunity to handle a new matter which, serendipitously, had just come in recently.

Take just a few minutes today to blitz through your contact list, no matter where you find it. Pick out a person or two who somehow has slipped through the cracks and reach out to them. You just may get lucky, but, at a minimum, you will have taken an important step in rebuilding your network and it will pay dividends down the line.

Frank Michael D'Amore is the founder of Attorney Career Catalysts, a Pennsylvania-based legal recruiting and consulting firm that focuses on law firm mergers and partner placements. He is a former partner in an AmLaw 200 firm, general counsel in privately held and publicly traded companies, and vice president of business development. Contact him at [email protected].