Bar Exam Preparation
I was interviewed in an episode of the Bar Study Motivation Podcast.
Give it a listen as you wind down for the day. I think you’ll find at least one good nugget you can use for your bar preparation. Some convenient timestamps:
Continue reading “Bar Study Motivation Podcast”As the exam gets closer, just remember that you are capable of passing the bar.
You may pass this time, or you may not. Let’s trust our preparation, be arrogant, and do our best anyway. Our best now is enough even if our future best will be better.
But if you can graduate from law school, you do have it in you to make this your last time.
Like Kathleen who was a mother in her late 40s who graduated from a barely accredited law school.
Like Naoki and Ferdinand who never even went to an American law school.
Like Sam and James and other foreign-trained attorneys.
Even if you fail the bar, it’s not going anywhere. It’s going to stay in the same spot, while you keep getting closer and closer like a predator moving in on a prey. Therefore, passing is inevitable.
It doesn’t matter where you start. This is an acquirable skill. You can always get better. It’s always a work in progress.
You will get to a state of being where the exam is over (possibly for good).
On the upside, it won’t be as bad as the months of waiting in anxiety and ennui you’ll have to go through. But you can worry about that later.
Man… I see this question more often than I want to. And if you look closely, it’s basically people just complaining that they don’t want to study.
How did they graduate law school? If finally becoming an attorney doesn’t entice them, I don’t know what to say. More like I hold back on giving a huge answer every time I see the question!
HOW do you get motivated? How DO you get motivated? How do you get MOTIVATED?
You don’t. Asking about it is just going to get you into a pity party with other people who also “don’t have motivation.” The blind leading the blind.
To be fair, it’s a gray area. Who wants to study for the bar exam?
You might as well moisturize your outlines with sandpaper because this exam is one of the driest, most boring things in existence. It’s natural to be uninterested if you’re looking at this huge, seemingly insurmountable goal—even if it is a high-stakes exam.
If you’re asking about motivation, though, don’t count on it to come to you first. “Motivation” and “inspiration” are fleeting. It comes and goes based on the situation, difficult to summon at will.
Keep reading to find out:
Bar exam results.
Tens of thousands across the country face them time and time again. Hope and despair, rinse and repeat.
They endure the onslaught of “aww… you got this” and “I’m sure you passed!” for weeks and months.
Anxiety, excitement, and uncertainty squirting into their heart every time you thought of the moment of truth. Waiting is the hardest part. Uncertainty is being locked in a padded room alone with your hopes and worries.
Then… the ruthless truth. This is the result of all their work, condensed into one screen. It declares that their efforts were not enough.
Maybe for the first time, a humbling moment. Maybe not your first time, even more painful.
How do you face your family and friends? How do you face yourself?
You “trusted the system.” What needs to be changed?
I’ll be the first to admit that it is difficult for me to concentrate, to achieve flow. I’ll be the first to tell someone “I can’t focus because I have the brain and charisma of a goldfish.”
Yet at one point I was studying for the bar 12 hours a day and getting stuff done, from getting up to going back to sleep. Part of it was an honest admission that I need to work around the fact that I can’t concentrate for long.
I dub it the 20/10 cycle. I used the 20/10 cycle to crank the productivity dial to a level worthy of my middle name (Danger, unofficially) and churn out those condensed outlines, cooked essays, and even time for entertainment.
You can also tweak it to suit your needs. Maybe you can even make time to “work out” or “have brunch” or “watch the game” or “travel” or “sign up for Barbri” or whatever weird activities you people do.
Continue reading “The 20/10 Cycle: How I Hacked My Motivation to Study 12 Hours a Day”