The Success Principles Work for Everything

I want to share a very personal journey with you.  Eight years ago, I was planning to move to California.  I did not have a law or nursing license there so I decided to take the California Bar Exam.  I hired a coach and started studying.  I was relearning subjects I had not looked at in 25 years!  The California exam is all essay for attorneys and the pass rate was 32% at that time.  Yikes!  My coach kept saying “you can’t think like a lawyer to pass the bar.”  I wondered how else can I think, it’s only been 25 years.  I let the statistics and negative feedback get to me.  I thought all the studying was taking me away from my clients, so I quit.  I am not a quitter but I did. Was it really because of my clients?  No.  It was fear, plain old-fashioned fear because what if I failed?  I would be embarrassed and ashamed. I had already failed by quitting.

However, last year my son passed the Indiana bar and we decided to study together to take the California Bar.  This time was different.  Why? Because of my mindset.  I did not let the low pass rate and negative feedback on my essays derail me.  I persevered.  Having a study buddy really helps! However, I realized that I still was not telling anyone for fear that I might fail.

When you undertake a project (business), you have to be committed whatever it takes.  Commitment does not stick and life will get in the way (as it did 8 years ago).  Every minute you have to renew your commitment to do whatever it takes to help you win. 

Next, you get to create your intention.  An intention is a predetermined outcome that will happen no matter what.  Even though I thought I wanted to take the bar 8 years ago, based on my results (quitting), my intention was really not to take the exam.  This time was different. My intention, which I reminded myself often, was to pass the California bar exam on the first try in February of 2024.  Your intention must be specific. If my intention was to just pass, it could have been on the 2nd or 3rd try.

Lastly, intention plus action equals results.  I can’t just intend for something to happen, I had to do the work.  Your comfort zone will always pull you back in.  For me, I kept getting pulled back for my clients so I did not study as much as I would have liked.  

When I pass, it was due to commitment, intention and hard work (study).  If for some reason I don’t pass, it was because I did not do whatever it takes.  In order for me to get a result, I had to get out of my comfort zone and face the fear and do it anyway.  

This process has been a journey of self love and self care. I wanted to be my best for the exam so I have been losing weight and eating Keto to improve my brain function.  I also did neurofeedback to get all parts of my brain talking to each other.  It was easy to eat keto and do the neurofeedback but to get myself to sit down and study was another matter!

Whether I pass or fail, I did it and it was an incredible journey!