The past two weeks have been much more about thinking than doing. This is generally uncomfortable: thinking time is hard to quantify and it often does not end with an outcome. I am still unlearning years of equating success with doing.

I have created this thinking space by setting an intention at the start of the week, slowing down the pace and leaving wider gaps between tasks. I have given myself time to simply think, rather than trying to force myself to find an answer.

Leaving things to sit has been an interesting experience. When I have space, I notice that my mind often defaults to the question I am trying to answer, without the pressure for an answer. I also notice that the tasks I work on introduce a new perspective: how do they fit into the question I am looking to solve?

And the question I am trying to solve is a big one: Where do I want to take TCLA in the next six months, the next year and the next decade?

The answer matters. In fact, right now, I see this as the most important question for me to answer. The person who steers the ship must know the direction to sail.

But it’s not easy. It cuts deeply into who I want to be as a founder and the values I care about. It’s a question about where I want to go in the future, the kind of work I want to be doing and who I want to be. How do you know who you want to be in 10 years’ time?

It also means tackling long-held assumptions. Am I chasing a milestone I genuinely care about or am I doing it because I want to be a ‘success’? Is the goal I set the goal I want to achieve or the goal I think I should be achieving?

Either way, a clear vision matters - and it isn’t about me. It gives the team the confidence and clarity to know what they are working towards. It gives them meaning and purpose in the work they are doing.

As we turn to our first permanent, full time hire, a clear vision influences whether the best talent would choose a career at TCLA over all the other careers out there - because they know what we stand for and they want to be part of the world we are in.

If it’s done well, it also means our members become our evangelists. It’s not just about the service we provide, they want to be a part of the change we are creating because they care about our mission. There are few more powerful forces to drive a business’s organic growth.

Perhaps it’s easier for me to start with the vision I don’t want. I don’t want to pick a series of buzzwords. I don’t want my vision to be an artificial story. I don’t want to craft a billion-dollar vision that sounds sexy to everyone else but us.

I want to pick a genuine vision that I can put my name on and say - yes, this is exactly what I am working towards and this is what I care about. It’s then very easy to talk about the future because it’s deeply aligned to my core and the difference I want to make.

This leads me to TCLA’s community. It’s a community bonded by our values of kindness, exceptional advice, authenticity, a desire for self improvement, curiosity and original thinking.

The beauty is that anyone can access the value of our community no matter their background, where they are based or who they happen to know.

The value of an online community is timeless. When our members post, they are not just helping one person in a thread, they are helping thousands of other people that have the same question in the future. And every new person that joins our community makes the community as a whole even more valuable.

There is power in bringing knowledge from a variety of diverse perspectives together and it’s special to read the rollercoaster our members go through to get where they want to be. By taking their steps with others, this journey is far less isolating and far more possible.

As I keep coming back to our community, time and time again, I realise that TCLA’s community is the vision.

It’s a community we are building to empower the next generation of lawyers to think for themselves.

It’s a community where kindness and authenticity are positioned front and centre as strengths, not weaknesses.

It’s a community that opens the doors to self-improvement and provides a space to openly discuss what the world is really like.

When the vision is clear, the strategic decisions are far easier. The path we take will be based on the value we provide to build and support the values of our community. We’ll stay bold and ambitious, but we’ll lead with our community.

After all, we wouldn’t be where we are today without you.