tips: build confidence, change your mindset for this test!

princesanortena

Hey everyone, I've been reading and seeing some of the discussions and I've been seeing so many posts of people feeling very discouraged, sad, and I want to share advice to you guys that has helped me fight through this test. Something that I understood was that this test is not only testing my skill, but from several YouTube videos, articles and reddit threads it hit me that not only my skills are being tested, its me as a person, my discipline and confidence. I watched so many videos on how to study, how to prepare, and yes, the cringe advice of sleep and eat healthy will help, IT WORKS!
So, to go down the list that I have added to my study routine let's start with the first thing. (if you're able to do these things, hopefully they help you! I know not all of us are in the same situations, but making small tweaks to your routine can help)

1. Fix your sleep schedule. Please, it's not worth it to stay awake studying until 3:00 am, so the next day you wake up and start studying again you're falling asleep. Your sleep schedule impacts so many aspects of your life, respect it! You'll feel so much better.

2. Eat as healthy as you can. Not meaning to go in a diet, eating healthy its not targeted for weight loss. There are foods that make you feel sick, and bad, and they do not provide any benefit other than make you feel bad! I started meal prepping, and I started to check out all the foods that make me feel bad, because yes, you feeling exhausted, bloated, sad, can be distracting. I'll use myself as an example, I drink a to of water, like a lot. I am lactose intolerant, and also, allergic to gluten! I still eat some dairy, but its only cheese, and I try to find a cheese that its not as processed, and I found some great affordable options. Gluten, I don't eat as much foods with gluten, so that's not a problem. Right now, I am in the process of cutting off sugars (I won't at all, I love my lil treats) but my sugar consumption isn't as high as it used to be. And most importantly, caffeinated drinks. They give me anxiety, and I have enough, so I don't need stuff to accelerate it. Try to find foods that will make you feel energetic, that will give you enough carbs so your body can have the enough energy to LIVE! Another thing is that, I cut off foods that are high in sodium, it makes me feel sick, and in all honesty, I don't want any distractions on test day, my stomach can be one, any pain, gas, etc can be distracting, with anxiety I feel all my nervousness in my stomach (something that I am working on) but also, try to feel and eat clean. Find foods and make combinations that have a lot of nutrients, you'll feel so much better.

3. Create a routine. If you're able, I understand life can be hectic and some of us have more responsabilities than others. I am still working on my routine. Currently I have no responsibilities other than my dog. I was able to quit my job for a while, but I made the decision to push my test date so I could work, and study and don't feel super pressured. For me, I study for 3-4 hours daily. No more than 5h+. Allow yourself to have breaks during your study sessions, but no, the break doesn't mean grab your phone and go on TikTok. Means, go outside, or walk around, drink water, stretch, have a snack, go look at the sun idk. Personally, the routine has been making me feel so much better, and I make sure to give time to everything I needed. I'm also very flexible, life is not linear, but you will feel way more confident if you complete smalls tasks through your day.

4. CLEAN AND BE ORGANIZED. I can stress this enough! My aunt is a psychologist and she always told me that my spaces look like my mind looks. If my car was messy, my room was messy, it meant that I was and most of the time, I was going through something. I organized my room, cleaned my desk, my closet, and created a space for myself, to study, to write, to focus. I keep my car clean, and I try to keep as clean as I can, and of course I have fallouts, and it gets messy, but cleaning it, and seeing how nice and cleans looks encourages me to keep it that way. and I also feel better. I totally understand that not all of us are able to live in clean conditions, and have our own spaces, but if you're able, I recommend going to your public library, and good news! you don't spend money (bc yes, Starbucks isn't always the right place to study). You need a quiet space to be able to focus! and they also have some LSAT study books with resources for FREE, so you don't have to buy the books all the time, you can borrow them! (also, I looked up the power score bible books on FB Market and found even on $20 dollars each book).

5. Exercise, or just MOVE! Walk around, move, workout doesn't have to lifting weights (but they are amazing to help you focus, they had helped me so much to learn how to focus) it can be going down the stairs for 10 min, walking your dogs, using bags as weights, or simply do some stretching there are amazing 10 min stretch videos on YouTube to avoid back/neck/hip/waist/ pain. No need to go the gym (but if you can, slay girl yesss!)

6. pls, please TURN OFF YOUR PHONE WHILE YOU STUDY! ITS A DISTRACTION. My phone played a huge role in my waisting time! and yes, it cluttered my mind. I realized that how many information I was putting into my brain at 6:00 am, by watching TikTok or reels, and just all that content and all the emotions I was feeling, bc yes dog videos can make you emotional and then seeing a funny video and laugh, like going from sad to joy in 7 seconds its not normal, your brain needs time to feel all these EMOTIONS, and process them. I now only have one form of social media, and I am able to do other things to distract myself, and even DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, like we should learn HOW TO GET BORED AGAIN! Yes, those 5-10 minutes you spent just staring at the screen not doing anything important other than mindless scroling are not good for you. Get away from your phone and learn how to control that desire of always wanting to be distracted. Read a book before you go to sleep, 10 pages you'll go to sleep even faster if you don't like reading.

You'll not only feel good, you'll look even better. Studying for the lsat, if you choose to take care of yourself can come with a glow up. It took me a while to realize that this test could also make me a better human. I stopped seeing it as a test that was going to change my life, but an opportunity to be a better version of myself, because, you learn a new way to think, you're more agile, your comprehension skills are better. You are just getting better at being yourself. You are already smart, you're just insecure and afraid. Those thoughts are blocking you, because you are the only person that its stopping you into becoming an even better human, than you already are. I wasn't thought how to be a disciplined person, but I learned how to, and also a part of high school taught me how to because other conditions that are private. But it takes just one small thing to accomplish so you get everything done. Getting a low score in your diagnostic doesn't mean you won't have a huge increase, it's NORMAL. going down 1-2 points, ITS NORMAL. But it all depends on how you see it.

On the reading Power score LSAT bible, in chapter two in one corner says, "A positive attitude perhaps its the most underrated factor in LSAT success. Virtually all high scoring students expect to do well on the LSAT, and that this mindset helps them avoid distractions during the exam and overcome the adversity they might face" it also says, that "This upbeat mentality is something that all high-scorers embrace, and its something that you should strive to establish from the outset, as well.

It's not worth it to study and beat yourself up because you don't understand, stress is mind blocking. Don't block your mind, don't reject yourself, give yourself days to catch up on study in your schedule for me it was every Friday. Give yourself a break and don't say no to yourself. No one is going to make you reach a higher score. Hours of studying, tutoring, and obsessing won't matter if you're not in the right state of mind. Something I heard a lot from my LSAT professors is that, this is like learning on how to ride a bike, you fall so many times, and you get frustrated, and when nothing is working, you STOP, and BREATHE. you clear your mind and all of the sudden you're riding that bike, because unconsciously you found balance. If nothing is working, stop, relax, hug yourself, drink water and strike again. Be kind to yourself and remember, there are so many benefits from taking this test, its not about the score, its about what you learn, don't listen to trolls, statistics, or OTHER PEOPLES LIMITATIONS, they're not yours. and most importantly, don't be discourage and learn to separate yourself from the commentary. I love 7 sage, and I know some people here say stuff like, this is as hardest as it gets on the LSAT (when explaining some of the games) or saying, this is a stupid answer to pick. You're here to learn. You're not those words, there are people that can get extremely discourage from hearing this words, and NO, its not as hard as it gets, for learning there are not limits, I am extremely effective when doing some of the hybrid logic games, but when it comes to the simple sequencing I over think. Words are important, and it's just as important to learn how to control your mind. Some people might say that "realistically" the lsat is hard, or that you need to look at things realistically, but to me that word has never existed and it shouldn't for you. Life is amazing, and yes, life has different situations, and complications as you don't know mine, so, don't be angry or say, "oh she doesn't know hard work" or "she has no responsibilities" or "my life is hard", and like I said, I have also a life, relationships, and they were difficult, and once I learned how to calm my mind, because I realized that 80% of the reason that I was miserable, it was my mindset that made me miserable. (and yes, it can be like that) others, simply live in uncontrollable conditions, that affect them, but if you're studying for this test, and reading this, I hope you find something here that can bring to you some peace, or an answer, or courage. you're already brave enough when you made the decision to take the LSAT.

*sorry for the typos, or grammar errors, I got to excited and English is my second language so yes! I can't always type as fast as I think.

Thank you guys

hollyrose613

Love this post so much - thank you for the tips and words! Especially when everyone's situation may be different, and we don't know who needs to hear this on any given day, it makes all that more effective

doka flo

Thank you. I really needed this perspective that explored some of the psychological issues and tangible solutions to the issues -- I was falling into those insecure traps that I (unconsciously) made myself. I'm following these tips as I move forward towards January.

Thank you so much, again. This really made a difference in my head space. Best of luck in your journey!

kristeng

I needed this, thank you :’)