“You have to motivate yourself with challenges. That’s how you know you’re still alive.” Jerry Seinfeld
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Lao Tzu
In her recent book, Super-Better, Jane McGonigal considers the notion that life’s challenges can be vanquished by turning them into a video game with these seven steps:
1. Challenge yourself.
2. Collect and activate power-ups.
3. Find and battle the bad guys.
4. Seek out and complete quests.
5. Recruit your allies.
6. Adopt a secret identity.
7. Go for an epic win.
What is involved in challenging yourself, starting this minute, to kick the you-know-what of the last barrier to your joining a profession that can be said to have begun with the orators of ancient Athens?
Step 1: Get Real
We need to start by being frank. This challenge isn’t an invitation to a walk in the park. It is a throw-down, a call to battle. It isn’t easy. It isn’t comfortable. It counts for an awful lot, and it isn’t a sure thing. And, the uncomfortable fact is that no one can succeed on the Bar Exam by running away or denying the truth. Whatever anyone says, you are going to have to bear down and really really prepare.
Step 2: Know Thyself
It’s understandable that you could be scared to death of what’s ahead, and trying deal with the avoidance, ambivalence and anxiety that can attach to all fears. You’d have to be pretty checked out not to be. If you are a little (or a lot) tweaked by the whole thing, your first call to action is to acknowledge these feelings and focus on moving forward in spite of them. Remember that not every worthwhile challenge is a comfortable one, and this challenge is very worthwhile.
There are many healthy ways to handle these feelings. Here are some suggestions to get you started.
– Remember the challenges you have already conquered. Getting through your 1L year might be a good place to start. What did you do then that you can repeat now?
– Find resolve to move on by asking yourself how you would like to look back on how you handled your bar preparation. I presume you’d like to recall that you prepared and performed with resolve and courage. If that’s the way you feel, move your attention to that goal and away from your anxieties.
– If you can’t replace anxiety with something more positive, consider a few minutes of meditation daily. It will teach you to calm yourself and to regard typically frightening things with more equanimity. Headspace.com offers a free 10-session starter course on meditation. Try it out.
Step 3: Start Small – (But Start!)
Although there is very much to do, if you start now, you have plenty of time. The July 2016 Bar Exam is over 300 days away. So start! And start small, by taking on tasks that you can accomplish each day in under a half-hour. Here are some ways:
– If you haven’t chosen a bar prep course yet, devote a few minutes each day to interviewing and carefully comparing the providers at this week’s Bar Fair.
– You don’t need to study in advance to take advantage of doing 10 MBE practice questions a few times each week. You will not only be using them as assessments of what you do and don’t remember, you will also be practicing the techniques that you’ll need to get through MBE Day on the second day of the Exam. As the days go by, you’ll be less and less a person who is thinking about taking the Exam and more and more a person is studying for the Exam.
– If you’re not even ready for this level of involvement yet, set aside a half-hour in the next few weeks and come in for counseling. All that some students need to kick-start rising to their Bar Exam challenge is a little of the right kind of conversation. I’d love to see you. Please e-mail me to set something up. aferber@scu.edu
