Doing well on the LSAT means no excuses
As the February LSAT quickly approaches, I have been fielding many calls from worried and anxious students each day here. To be fair, test anxiety is real and we all want to excel in areas where we have invested considerable time, mental energy, and money. The LSAT and all of its test-takers are no different. However, what I have been recommending to students is to keep in mind the concept of attribution theory, especially for all you Type-A students out there.
What this means in lay-man terms is (pardon the language): Suck it up. Know what you can and can’t control. Be honest about your skills and your ability to excel. Be prepared for the worst because Murphy’s Law is alive and kicking.
I realize that this is much easier said than done, but cultivate your own fearlessness. Successful people do not believe in external attributions. Successful people believe that their successes are a result of 3 things:
(1) The reason for the success is a result of an internal cause: “I am awesome at rock band because I have great hand-eye-coordination.”
(2) The cause of the success is stable and reliable. “Because I have practiced and thoroughly reviewed assignment logic games so many darn times that I dream about them, I have developed a comprehensive arsenal of skills that I will be able to rely on even when under immense pressure on D-day.”
(3) My success is a direct result of my efforts, which are under my control. “I didn’t just get lucky at work. My boss liked my pitch for a new marketing campaign idea because I spent hours preparing a convincing argument and had answers to counteract questions from any detractors.”
What this all means for you is to prepare for the unexpected and cultivate a “can-do” attitude on the LSAT. Do not justify failure with external excuses.
Your testing center conditions will not be ideal and you WILL get stuck next to the only, coughing sick person in the room. (Or worse, you WILL be that only sick person in the room!) Reality is that the LSAT is only given 4 times a year though and even if you’re a little sick or your dog kept bothering you as you tried to sleep the night before, you need to work through these excuses. You have put in the hard work preparing for the LSAT and just because your proctor decides to be Chatty McChattersons, you cannot let that detract from your main goal: plowing through the LSAT using all of the skills you’ve worked on augmenting for however many months!
No excuses, now stop procrastinating and get back to studying! Don’t forget – bring a few logical reasoning questions or a game with you to warm-up your brain while you wait for the start and bring a banana for the break. Good luck!