What, like it's hard?
We've all been there - dreaming of that magical Elle Woods moment when we score that near-perfect 179 LSAT score. But does that dream do us more harm than good? Probably!
One of the biggest challenges of LSAT success is getting past our (very human) desire for perfection. How often have you found yourself in the middle of a practice section and digging into a long-winded or dense argument, determined to figure out what it's saying? In the moment, it feels oh so important to crack that code and get the point - but the clock doesn't care about our wants; it is going to keep counting down no matter what we do.
LEGGO MY EGO
The LSAT is a constant lesson in the dangers of giving in to our egos - that desire to be right on every Q. More often than not, the quest for that one point is more tragedy than triumph, and the satisfaction of having nailed that tricky Inference Q is cold comfort when the result is a whole passage we didn't have time for. In fact, the test is specifically designed to reward us for going around the biggest obstacles (there are usually friendlier Qs on the other side).
So, while I love Elle Woods as much as the next girl, I want you to remember most of her fellow students at Harvard Law and other top schools had plenty of wrong answers on their LSAT. You can get 3 or even 4 questions wrong per section and still land in the top 10% of applicants!
IT'S NOT ME, IT'S YOU
It's one thing to know we should move past a time-waster Q, but it's a whole other thing to actually do it. It can feel like defeat - like we're admitting we can't do something - but it doesn't have to! Instead, take another page from Elle Woods and make it about choosing what's best for you.
Try telling yourself, "It's not that I can't answer you, it's that I choose not to." If you start to see skipping as an act of empowerment - choosing to spend your time where you will get the most reward - it can get easier to dump that loser Q and find a better one.
What can you tell yourself the next time you're stuck, to get more comfortable breaking up with that toxic Q?