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.

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