• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Bar Exam Toolbox®

Get the tools you need for bar exam success

  • I Failed!
  • Tutoring
    • California Bar Exam Tutoring
    • Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), MEE, and MPT Tutoring
  • Courses
    • Writing Help: Essays/PT
    • MBE Help
    • Self-Study Program
    • Options – California
    • Options – UBE
    • Options – FYLSE (Baby Bar)
  • Bar Exam 101
  • About
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Login

Should You Start Thinking About Your Bar Exam Mental State Now?

December 29, 2013 By Lee Burgess Leave a Comment

turkish-evening-sea--1430375-mIt is my pleasure to welcome back to the blog Elena DuCharme to chat about mindset and the bar exam. Elena is a lawyer turned performance coach who works with bar studiers to help them conquer fear and anxiety and find bar exam success.

Lee: Many people start worrying about their bar exam mental state after an unfortunate bar exam experience. I would recommend that bar studiers start to worry about their mental state before the exam, so they have coping mechanisms to call on when times get tough. Do you have any tips for law students who want to explore different ways of moving past anxiety and fear before entering bar prep? 

Elena: Well, I don’t want to encourage you to worry if you’re not worried! But if you think there’s any chance that you’ll run into a mental or emotional block that may hamper your performance on the bar exam, it’s smart to look it squarely in the face. And the sooner the better, because it can take a little time to change the way you’re thinking and feeling—you may need to try some different approaches before you feel you can handle the bar with confidence.

And I agree 100% that having coping mechanisms to call on when times get tough is extremely important—not just for people who know they are anxious or worried, but for everyone. Just the fact that you have a coping mechanism is calming in and of itself.

Here’s what I’d say not to do: Don’t pretend that you’re not worried.

You can try to pretend you are over the fear, but it just doesn’t work. It’s going to come out somewhere or sometime that you don’t expect or want it to. This doesn’t mean it isn’t useful to put past negative experiences behind you and move on—that’s sometimes called denial, but denial can be an important coping tool for humans. But when you’re actively worried and afraid about the future, you want to acknowledge it and see what you can do to relieve it.

Then, if you’d like to explore some options for getting into an optimal bar exam mindset, here’s what I’d recommend:

1. Understand something about stress and anxiety.

You don’t have to become an expert, but educate yourself about how stress and worry impact the brain, so you have some context for why you may feel the way you do sometimes.

2. Make sure you’re working with a bar review course or tutor that’s a good fit for your specific needs.

By now, you probably know what approaches work best for you to learn both a lot of information (the law) and also the techniques and strategies for answering the different kinds of questions. Trusting your tutor or bar review course can make all the difference in your mental state.

3. Explore the options out there for training your brain to behave successfully under stress.

Whether it’s a meditation or mindfulness class, the resources in Bar Exam Toolbox, holosync (that’s an audio-based brainwave repatterning tool), hypnotherapy, energy psychology, or a coach or online course like mine that’s specifically tailored to bar-takers. Don’t overwhelm yourself with options – check out a few and see what resonates and seems most sustainable to you.

4. Try a few approaches and stick with what you like.

But always exercise—that’s a must!

So yes, it is good to get some of your worrying about your mental state taken care of well in advance of the bar exam!

Want help getting mentally ready? Check out Elena’s new program, Bar Exam Breakthrough. Bar Exam Breakthrough is an online course that’s designed specifically to address mental and emotional blocks that can sabotage bar exam performance, and build a confident focused, state of mind.  The program uses a powerful combination of neuroscience-based processes that work at both the conscious and subconscious levels of your mind to actually rewire your brain patterns so you are not overanxious while studying and are optimally energized to study, learn and perform at your best on the exam.   

–

Want more useful bar exam advice? Sign up for our free mailing list now!

And check out these helpful posts:

  • Can Yoga or Walking Help You Pass the Bar Exam?
  • Two Simple, Non-Woo-Woo Ways to Calm Your Nerves and Boost Your Score on the Bar Exam
  • Why Your Mindset Matters When it Comes to the Bar Exam
  • Strategic Tips for Unwinding Stress 

Image by NadejdaM via stock.xchng.


Ready to pass the bar exam? Get the support and accountability you need with personalized one-on-one bar exam tutoring or one of our economical courses and workshops. We’re here to help!


About Lee Burgess

Lee Burgess, Esq. is the co-founder of the Law School Toolbox, a resource for law students that demystifies the law school experience, and the Bar Exam Toolbox, a resource for students getting ready for the bar exam. Lee has been adjunct faculty at two Bay Area law schools, teaching classes on law school and bar exam preparation. You can find Lee on Twitter at @LeeFBurgess, @lawschooltools, or @barexamtools.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let us know you are not a spammer! * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.

Primary Sidebar

  • Podcast
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS

About Us

Want to pass the bar exam? Of course you do! We’re here to help. You’ll find lots of helpful free content at Bar Exam 101, in the Bar Exam Resource Hub, and on the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast. For more hands-on help, take a look at our courses and workshops and bar exam tutoring options. Please get in touch with any questions!

Recent Posts

Podcast Microphone

Podcast Episode 241: Overcoming Common Performance Test Problems

Welcome back to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast! Today we're talking about common struggles with the bar exam performance test and strategies for … [Read More...] about Podcast Episode 241: Overcoming Common Performance Test Problems

Podcast Microphone

Podcast Episode 240: Quick Tips — Tackling the Bar Exam with ADHD

Welcome back to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast! If you've recently received an ADHD diagnosis as an adult, you might be feeling daunted by the prospect … [Read More...] about Podcast Episode 240: Quick Tips — Tackling the Bar Exam with ADHD

Podcast Microphone

Podcast Episode 239: Quick Tips — How Journaling Can Help You Stay on Task During Bar Prep

Welcome back to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast! In today's episode, we explore how journaling can be used to help you stay on task, manage your stress, … [Read More...] about Podcast Episode 239: Quick Tips — How Journaling Can Help You Stay on Task During Bar Prep

Podcast Microphone

Podcast Episode 238: Managing Self-Sabotaging Behavior with a Solid Study Schedule

Welcome back to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast! In this episode, we're talking about setting up a solid study schedule to protect yourself from … [Read More...] about Podcast Episode 238: Managing Self-Sabotaging Behavior with a Solid Study Schedule

Self Sabotage and the Bar Exam

Self Sabotage and the Bar Exam

We work with a lot of people who’ve failed the bar exam. Most, if not all, of those people struggle – at least sometimes – with self-sabotaging … [Read More...] about Self Sabotage and the Bar Exam

Need to Pass the Bar Exam?

Sign up for our free weekly email with useful tips!

Footer

  • Podcast
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • I Failed!
  • Tutoring
  • Courses
  • Bar Exam 101
  • About
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Login
  • Privacy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Refunds
  • Contact

Copyright 2023 Bar Exam Toolbox®™