I once read a newspaper article about a man who was running a marathon a day for 100 days to raise money for charity. Can you imagine doing that? Some people liken bar prep to running a marathon, but I think it’s more – it really is like running a marathon a day. That task may seem overwhelming at first, but remember: you’ve been in training since day one at NSU Law. There’s nothing you are being asked to do in the upcoming months that you haven’t done before. You’ve done a marathon for every exam you’ve taken. The difference right now is the intensity, not your ability to do this.
What do you have to do to “run a marathon a day”? First, it’s important to understand that, like the charity runner, you aren’t trying to win a race. Instead, it’s about finishing the task of the day. The marathon runner knew he had to complete 26.2 miles each day to accomplish his goal; similarly, your commercial bar course gives you a list of tasks to accomplish each day. It’s important that you take that schedule seriously if you’re going to be successful on the bar exam. It’s not who’s fastest in this race that matters, it’s all about who finishes in the end.
What would happen if the marathon runner decided that he didn’t feel like running one day? Still, the miles would need to be done if the charity was to receive its donation. How difficult it would be to make it up the next day, running 52.4 miles instead of the usual 26.2. Even worse to get behind more than one day – if 52.4 miles seems overwhelming, imagine having to run that distance multiple days. Similarly, in bar prep, the opportunity to catch up if you fall too far behind in your studies can quickly become overwhelming, even insurmountable.
What made the marathon runner successful is that he had a routine, a method for approaching each day to make sure that he could accomplish that day’s goal. There was stretching and warm-up before the day’s marathon began. He had the right clothing and shoes to support his efforts, and he’d carefully studied the route he needed to follow. At the end of his run, he cooled down to ensure that his muscles could recover from the day’s run. He ate to provide his body with the fuel it needed to accomplish his goals, and he made sure he got enough sleep at night. Like the runner, you should take a similar approach to your bar studies this summer. Create a regular schedule, starting at the same time each day. Work at a pace that helps you to complete each day’s tasks, making sure you take regular breaks and avoid distractions. And don’t forget that proper nutrition, exercise, and sleep fuel the brain as well as the body. In the big picture, you really aren’t that different from the serial marathon runner at all.
Concerned about setting up your bar studies routine? Schedule a consultation with your bar
coach as soon as possible. Taking the right approach in the early days of bar prep will help you stay on track to run your own “marathon a day.”
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