Get Rice: Ronnie O'Brien Rice, Ph.D., Lawyer

For some reasons, a lot of people think very highly of themselves. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with a little of self-confidence. However, when in any relationship, you want to understand your role and the ‘value’ you bring to the table. I mean think about it. How many times you have interviewed someone, and they want an ungodly amount of money with no education, experience, or new ideas? Understanding your worth in any relationship will increase your value and the areas you need to improve, regardless of type. In earlier times, everyone had a role in society. As you can tell, that didn’t work out so well. And I think it is partly due to people resting on their laurels and not trying to improve themselves. This post is about knowing you value, but more importantly adding to your value. As mentioned above, in earlier times, people were birth in specific situations. And without any type of self-improvement, then the people will perish. Also, it is important to realize

For those who don’t know what Learned Helplessness (LH) is here is the Webster’s dictionary definition:  Noun:  A condition in which a person suffers from a sense of powerlessness, arising from a traumatic event or persistent failure to succeed. It is thought to be one of the underlying causes of depression.  Now, how many of us have experienced this ourselves? Or know someone who deals with this. I know I have dealt with this with myself and with others.   So, why am I writing about this? Simple, if you are a business owner or lead a team of people, having to deal with individuals who have learned helplessness can be a daunting task. And more so, having these people on your team is not good for the company’s bottom line.   Ex. Susan in sales is always complaining that she doesn’t have any leads for mortgages. She makes calls, advertises, and constantly ask her friends for referrals. But it seems that she can’t get ahead. But one thing Susan doesn’t talk about is her attitude when deal

One of the increases legal issues that I see in present day society is the increased rate of arrest with people who have mental illness.   You might have heard of Matthew Rushin, a 22-year-old who was arrested for hit and run motor vehicle accident in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was diagnosed with a mental illness and acquitted of the charges. But, just think about the use of taxpayers' money for the arrest, imprisoning of Rushin, and district attorney time for trying the case.  This post isn’t about money, but more so on how to deal with law enforcement and the court system with someone who has mental illness. One of the issues you must understand when it come to this is that not everyone is a psychologist and/or psychiatrist. You will have to do the educating of the law enforcement agency, the prosecutor, and the judge.   Too many times, individuals think that everyone has the same level of knowledge about mental illness, let alone a specific one.   If you or a love is detained

I'm currently reading a book titled The Greatest You by Trent Shelton. I’m on page 81 in the book and it’s very insightful. I’ve never heard of this author before, but I saw his book on the shelf in Barnes & Nobles in Macon, Georgia last year while with my college roommate.   Long story short, I'm in the chapter where he writes about burning the right bridges. And I think this is an interesting viewpoint because there are a lot of people in our lives who are negative, don’t add value, and look to gain from you at every waking moment.   Unfortunately, there are people out there who fall prey to these individuals because of their generous heart.   So you might be wondering why am I talking about this? The answer is simple:  Most schools of thought will tell you when you run into these ‘energy drainers’ run away fast. But, what happens when these energy drainers are spouses, children, supervisors, and/or clients? You become an energy transformer.   I know this sounds like a lo

Going through a divorce is never an easy process to initiate. I’ve been through one. You make a vow to stick with someone for the rest of your life. And then all of sudden, you find yourself arguing everyday and totally loathing the presence of the person.  So I’m writing this blog post to hopefully help others who are thinking about going through this process; or those who have started the process already.   I handle a few divorce cases and I’ve learned prearranged agreement is always better. I think too many times spouses are wanting to get the most out of a divorce. But, in the process they drain their personal finances. People see a lot of high-net-worth individuals on social media and television getting divorces. You see the ridiculous amounts of money for child support and alimony.  However, in everyday life, people don’t have access to millions of dollars and multibillion dollar companies.  With that being said, my encouragement a lawyer is to make sure you to work out an agreem

No one is going to care about your business like you. And it’s okay.  You hear from these ‘talking heads’ on television and social media that your employees need to be just as passionate about your business as you are. I get the logic behind wanting your employees to be excited about what you are paying them to do. But, for me having someone gung ho fore a business that they didn’t put money into and sweat equity to start is huge misguided request from the owner. Employees are people. They have dreams and passions too (outside of the business). I believe the more you encourage them to follow their dreams, the better your business will do.  Think about it. When you are working for someone and they let you off early to handle personal business; didn’t you feel a high level of internal gratitude towards them? Absolutely. You automatically said that there is no other company that will allow you to do that.  This is even more so important during this Covid-19 pandemic. People are needing to

What’s purpose? And how does one find it?  Purpose to me is the motivation that gets you up in the morning and starts you on your way. It something internal (with or without an alarm clock). Some people call this your ‘why.’ Early on in my life, I struggled with my purpose. I was always naturally happy and positive. However, I did not get up early in the morning and I was not passionate about what I was doing.  So, I asked myself the basic question ‘what is purpose?’ And I found the answer by observing and hanging with other people who seemed to be highly motivated and successful. Now, when I’m talking about success, I’m talking all-around. My meaning of successful was a person who had it together in regard to their family, church, health, finances, etc.  What I found is that people with purpose had their life ‘tight.’ Meaning, they might have not been married to a super model, but the relationship they had with their spouse was AMAZING. There was respect, love and affection within the