How to Know if You're Going to Pass the Bar Exam
At this point, I've helped hundreds of people pass the bar exam where no amount of study tricks had helped. As it turns out the problem was in the emotional and mental realm (which I call mindset). When I get on the phone with people who have failed the bar exam, we find that their failing wasn't academic.
Usually, it's not the first time they've taken it. Which means they've had numerous opportunities to learn and memorize the same information. Despite juggling a full-time job they got adequate study hours on. After surveying their bar study experience I can confidently identify that it's something else that is in the way of their passing.
In this article, I'll share with you what I look for and how it's connected to a bar mindset problem.
Sometimes, bar takers who repeatedly fail the bar will self-diagnose with labels such as:
Bad test-taking
Earning disability
Anxiety
But none of the usual solutions to those problems work. That's because those terms, and others like it, were not the problem. What bar applicants discover in one conversation with me is that the problem is the mindset.
Here are the common mindset symptoms that precede failing the bar
Emotions fluctuate with your practice scores.
If every time you see you got the question right, you're happy, and when you see you got the question wrong, you're sad, you are too attached to the outcome.
It's nature's law that when you want something too much, you won't get it.
Link to article video do these 3 things to pass the bar. Emotions should NOT fluctuate with whether the answer is right or wrong.
You don't have a plan B.
For so many people, passing the bar exam is the "be all, end all". Without a clear realization that there are other paths available to you, the bar exam becomes larger than life. You then cower in its shadow.
Contrary to popular belief, fear is not a good motivator. Eventually, your fight/flight response exhausts you, bringing about:
Unscheduled study breaks (usually lengthy ones that are hard to come back from)
Depression (your emotions and body just shut down) or
A massive breakdown just before, or during, the bar exam.
You don't take breaks or otherwise care for yourself during bar prep.
If you're squeezing your legs together and putting off a bathroom break, some bad things are about to happen with you and the bar. Now, if you're not realizing you need a break because you're in the flow of things, that's fine. Usually, you won't realize how much you needed to eat, stretch, or urinate until you're done with your task.
But people studying for the bar rarely do it in a way that produces this type of flow
Link to article on how to be in the zone while studying for the bar exam. Self-neglect during bar prep is another warning sign that you're not in the right mindset to pass the bar.
You simply can not motivate yourself to do anything.
If during study time you are scrolling on social media or surfing the net-- or if you aren't sitting down to study at all--you don't need me to tell you there's a problem.
The tragedy here is most bar takers get so caught up in beating themselves up over this that they never get to solving the problem at all. Simply cutting off social media or leaving your phone in the car when you study is not enough to make your study. When people aren't motivated to do what they need to do to pass, it's a symptom of them shutting down out of fear. That's a bar exam mindset problem that can be solved.
But you have to get on it fast or you'll run out of time left to actually study
The above isn't an exhaustive list, but they are the easiest to recognize. Here's a way to tell if your situation is a symptom of a bar exam mindset that needs adjustment.
Whatever it is that you are or aren't doing:
Produces anxiety,
Exacerbates fear of failure,
Switches on your fight/flight responses.
Resulting in:
Overstudying
Procrastination
Self-Neglect
Shutting down (emotionally as seen in mild depression or physically as seen in extreme fatigue)
Panic (displayed physically through stomach issues, sleeplessness, sudden illness, and accidents--your body would rather suffer physical injury than continue with the mental torture of the bar exam)
Needless to say, all this depletes your energy stores for studying and successfully passing the bar. Moreover, if this is how your mind and body handle high-stakes events, it doesn't bode well for the future.
What about a high-stakes case? What about being up for promotion pending your performance? What about winning new business for your firm? Or an important job interview?
Learning how to align your mind with your goal in a healthy and productive way is a skill easily translated to all areas of desire. Working on your bar exam mindset will benefit your entire life. Work on it now to assure a satisfying future.