In this podcast, I discuss the upcoming changes to the California bar exam (effective July 2017).

I also discuss some awesome tools and study aids you can use to help you pass the California bar exam.

For links to all the tools and study aids discussed in the podcast, go to BarExamMind.com/california.

And, don’t forget to subscribe using iTunes or RSS!

What is hiding out there? Must be something….

This podcast is a bit off topic, but I think can be very helpful for many of you.

In the show, I discuss the cynical and skeptical lawyer personality and how it can help you as a practicing lawyer, but can sabotage you while you prepare for the bar exam and live your daily life.

Do you agree with the statistics in this show about the lawyer personality?

Are you a cynical lawyer?

Do you disagree with anything?

Let me know in the comments.

Listen to the podcast below:

Subscribe via iTunes or RSS.

LINKS:

“In it together?” from May 2015 Oregon Bar Bulletin (unfortunately, the sidebar referenced in the podcast does not appear on the website).

The lawyer brain blog

In this episode of the podcast, I discuss common bar exam problems that can lead to bar exam failure.

The problems I discuss are issues I have noticed with bar exam coaching clients, from bar exam repeaters I’ve chatted with via email, and by reading posts by bar exam repeaters discussing what they had to change in order to pass.

The problems discussed are:

• using too many bar prep books and supplements;
• failure to practice;
• wrong kind of practice;
• getting lost in details;
• watching lectures over and over; and
• problems with schedule and routine.

The discussion of common bar exam problems you will hear is taken from the BarExamMind.com Bar Exam Self-Evaluation Audio Program. The Program is designed to help bar exam repeaters diagnose what went wrong with the prior bar exam(s) and to correct those problems.

Click below to listen to this episode:

Download the mp3 by clicking here.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast using RSS or iTunes.

If you are like most bar examinees, you will be taking the written portion of the exam using a laptop computer.

Listen to this podcast episode for some tips on what to do before the exam to make sure that your computer is as ready as possible so it won’t let you down during the exam.

This is important.

Click on the arrow below to listen:

You can download the mp3 by right-clicking here.

If you would like to read the blog post on which this podcast is based, click here.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast using RSS or iTunes.

In Episode 012 of the Bar Exam Mind podcast, I discuss the differences between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset and which one is best for the bar exam.

Spoiler: It’s the growth mindset.

The credit for discovering these two categories of mindset belongs to Carol Dweck, a world-renowned psychologist at Stanford University, who has spent decades researching success and achievement. She is the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

I also discuss how to encourage a growth mindset if you are a fixed mindset person.

Click the arrow below to listen to the podcast:

Right-click here to download the mp3.

If you would like to read the post on which this podcast was based, click here.

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or RSS.

In this tenth audio blog, I read a post filled with networking stories and advice.

If you would like to read the post, click here.

Otherwise, click on the arrow below to listen online.

Download the mp3 by right-clicking here.

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In this audio blog, I read a post called “Catch the Success Virus.”

This post looks at a famous study, the Framingham Heart Study, which collected a metric sh*t ton of data about people, their health, and their social relationships.

One of the conclusions of scientists who have studied the data is that both good and bad habits are contagious.

This audio blog suggests ways to use this to your advantage as you study for the bar exam.

Click the arrow below to listen to the audio blog:

Right-click here to download the mp3.

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In this short audio blog, I read from a post entitled, “Overcoming Bar Exam Obstacles.”

This audio blog contains a series of questions to ask yourself in order to identify external and internal obstacles to bar exam success.

Once you have identified the obstacles, you can find ways to remove them so that you can pass the bar exam with less stress and anxiety.

Click the arrow below to listen:

Right-click here to download the mp3.

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In this episode of the Bar Exam Mind podcast, I discuss some fascinating information about how your brain behaves when it is in its resting state.

By “resting state,” I mean whenever the brain is not focused on completing a specific task that requires most of its attention.

A resting state can occur when you are relaxing, but it can also occur when you are bored.

The basis of this podcast is a very interesting and compelling audio program I recently listened to called The Neuroscience of Change: A Compassion-Based Program for Personal Transformation, by Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D. (You may know McGonigal as the best-selling author of The Willpower Instinct.)

Unfortunately, when our brains are at rest, we tend to engage in mental chatter.

Neuroscientists have identified 4 basic types of chatter:

1. Commentary
2. Time travel
3. Self-referential processing
4. Social cognition

This podcast explains what these 4 kinds of chatter are, and suggests ways to limit their influence on you so that you can reduce anxiety, worry, and mental suffering.

Click the arrow below to listen:

Right-click here to download the mp3 file.

RESOURCES:

McGonigal, The Neuroscience of Change

My review of The Willpower Instinct

Real Happiness, by Sharon Salzberg (contains a 28-day meditation course)

Post about how to eliminate digital distractions

Information about how to get a FREE audiobook of Bar Exam Mind

This is the seventh audio blog.

Since this is going live in the middle of May, I thought it would be a good time to read a post about reflecting on your current situation as you begin bar exam study.

I feel that it is important to take some time to assess your situation and think about any potential problems you may face when studying for the bar exam.

By doing this now, you will be able to stop problems before they happen.

I call this pre-bar exam assessment a bar exam level set.

Click the arrow below to listen:

Click HERE to download the mp3 of this audio blog.

To read the post from which this audio blog comes, head over to Bar Exam Level Set.

To download the Level Set Checklist mentioned in the audio blog, click here.

In this sixth bar exam audio blog, I read a new post about how to avoid bar exam burnout.

When studying for the bar exam, it is important to pace yourself and not overwork. This can be a difficult balance. I know, I have tipped the scales the wrong way myself.

I hope you find this audio blog helpful. Click the arrow below to listen:

You can click here to download the mp3 file directly.

Click here to read the post I read for this blog.

Don’t miss an audio blog or podcast episode, subscribe via iTunes or RSS.

In this fifth audio blog, I read an older post entitled, “Bar Exam Essay Advice.”

I also tell you how you can get a copy of my editable MBE outlines (a $27 value) for FREE. (You can also read about the offer on my main blog.) To get the free outlines, you must act by midnight on May 17, 2014.

Listen to the complete audio blog by clicking the arrow below:

You can also download the mp3 file by clicking here.

Click this link –> Bar Exam Essay Advice <– to read the post from which this audio blog was taken.

In this tenth Bar Exam Mind podcast, I discuss some of the common concerns for people just getting started on the journey of bar exam prep.

In particular, concerns about being overwhelmed and about your initial practice test scores.

Plus, you get to hear my awesome guitar skills.

To listen to the podcast, just press the arrow below:

Or, right-click HERE to download the mp3 file directly.

Related Resources:

Thoughts about your first MBE practice tests

How to begin your bar essay prep

Bar exam study is overwhelming, at first

Book Review: Strategies and Tactics for the MBE

Bar Exam Basics: A Roadmap for Bar Exam Success

If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or RSS.

In short, I think it is a great book, and if you are having any problems with the MBE, you can benefit from reading it.

To listen to the audio blog, just press the arrow below:

Click this link if you want to read the written book review.

And, don’t forget, you can subscribe to the Bar Exam Mind podcast at iTunes or using RSS.

The call of the question may seem like nothing more than a simple prompt, but if you look at it critically, you will understand that it provides a road map for crafting a great bar exam essay.

This audio blog gives you four examples of calls of the question and provides you with some basic thoughts on how to analyze each call.

If you want to read the post instead of listen to the audio blog, head over to Bar Exam Mind.

You can listen to the audio blog by pressing the arrow below:

In this audio blog, I read my post about how to evaluate the results of your first MBE practice questions.

The first MBE questions you do can be really disappointing.

Most people score very low.

But, as you will learn in this audio blog, that is completely normal and nothing to worry about.

If you want to read the post instead of listen to the audio blog, head over to Bar Exam Mind.

Take a listen below:

I plan to select only the most useful posts to turn in to audio blogs.  This way, if you aren’t able to check the Bar Exam Mind blog often, you will still get the best content via your podcast subscription.

If you would like to read the blog post from which this recording was made, please click here.

You can stream the audio blog right here:

In this episode of the Bar Exam Mind podcast, I offer you a pre-bar exam pep talk.

I discuss what to do in the final few days before the bar exam, how to decrease any anxiety you might be feeling, and offer you a couple of stories about how luck helped some people pass the bar exam. Never underestimate the power of luck or fortune!

Links to Things Mentioned in the Podcast:

Free Bar Exam Visualization Audio (scroll to bottom of page)

How to Get Better Sleep

Bar Exam Mind book

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In this episode of the Bar Exam Mind podcast, I ask you to relive your first semester of law school.  Seriously, my intentions are good.

If you reflect on your first semester of law school, it will help you understand how to approach the bar exam because the bar exam is, in many ways, law school in a miniature and time-compressed form.

You begin law school confused and overwhelmed, but you eventually learn how to approach your classes, learn the material, and pass the tests.  In fact, for many people, law school becomes boring near the end.

As I discuss in this episode, studying for the bar exam takes you through analogous stages.

Links for more information:

Feeling overwhelmed by the bar exam

Information about bar exam prep courses and more

Free MBE outlines

The Bar Exam Mind book

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iTunes

In this episode of the Bar Exam Mind podcast, I offer suggestions about how to spend the last two weeks before the bar exam.

The final two weeks are especially important because bar prep courses are done and you finally get to have entire days to yourself to memorize the information and practice for the test.

Topics covered in the podcast include:

• Memorizing
• Practice tests
• Sleep schedules
• Testing arrangements
• Keeping stress down

Links to items mentioned in the podcast:

Memorization podcast

Posts about how to memorize: Lee Burgess and Psych Your Mind

Retrieval practice video

Use Google street view for visualization

Positive visualization

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This episode of the Bar Exam Mind bar exam podcast is about the four mental states people have when they are one month away from the bar exam.

These four states are:  hopeless, worried, cautiously optimistic, and overconfident.

If you are feeling hopeless, I offer some advice about how to break out of that state and move forward with passing the bar exam.

I also discuss how to continue studying for the bar exam if you are in one of the remaining three mental states.

Resources:

Negative visualization to overcome fear and anxiety

Positive visualization for confidence

MBE Study Tips

Bar exam essay tips

Performance test help

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iTunes

RSS

In this episode of the Bar Exam Mind Podcast, I discuss MBE study tips.

For me, the MBE felt like the biggest obstacle to passing the bar exam.  Based on comments I have received on my blog and via email, I know that many of you feel the same way.

So, I put together this episode to give you my thoughts about how to prepare for and do well on the MBE.

Mentioned in the Podcast

Adaptibar

My post about MBE Study Tips

Free MBE Outlines

Advice from other bloggers about the MBE:

• Lee Burgess
• I Passed My Bar Exam
• Sean Silverman

Other Resources

Strategies and Tactics for the MBE (affiliate link)

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In Episode 004 of the Bar Exam Mind podcast, I discuss various ways to help you memorize the massive amount of material you need to learn in order to pass the bar exam.

I discuss both well-known and more obscure techniques to help with memorization, including:

• various methods for organizing material,
• using flashcards, self-talking, and
• audio recordings.

Additional Resources

How to make bar exam flashcards

How to make bar exam outlines

Passing the bar exam resource guide

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In this episode of the Bar Exam Mind podcast, I discuss some bar exam test day tips.

In this podcast, I address questions like:

• where to stay during the bar exam;
• how to choose a hotel;
• where to eat during lunch breaks;
• what to bring to the testing site;
• how to do a virtual walk-around the test location;
• and more.

Mentioned in the Podcast:

Bar exam test day tips post

Links to other bar exam test day tips

Use Google Street view  for visualization

Please subscribe using iTunes or the RSS feed.

Don’t forget to connect with me on Twitter @barexammind and on Facebook at facebook.com/barexammind.

In this episode of the Bar Exam Mind podcast, I dish up some bar exam tips and discuss what I believe are the three pillars of bar exam passage:

1. Diligence;
2. Anticipation of Conditions; and
3. Stress Reduction.

I have also written extensively on these concepts, so if you would like to explore the topics beyond what I say in the podcast, please check out these posts: Diligence, Anticipation of Conditions, and Stress Reduction.

Additional Resources

Visualization exercises

Why practice tests matter

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iTunes

This episode explores some questions to ask yourself as you begin your journey to bar exam success.

In this episode, we will look at how to perform a bar exam level set by looking at addressing such questions as:

• where to study
• when to study
• reducing or eliminating stressors
• finances
• and more

Mentioned in the show:

Link to video about using anti-anxiety medicine during bar study.