Motivation tips for CAT Preparation
Examinations have always been stressful be it at any level; school, graduation, or competition. But when the examination decides your career and its trajectory, it becomes even more stressful. Most of the time stress is a major factor that affects motivation. Preparation for MBA entrance exams is not as exhaustive as for an engineering entrance or CA finals or medical entrances. It requires smart efforts consistently. So let’s look into how you can stay motivated for CAT throughout your preparation period and not get overwhelmed by this important exam.
Positive Self-Affirmation:
When you are not able to solve any quant problem even when you have spent half an hour solving that problem and you are feeling like dropping the subject, remind yourself that all the students who are preparing for CAT are going through the same struggle and give tell to yourself 5 times aloud that “No one is smarter than Me” and then get back to solving the problem. Give enough positive self-affirmations to yourself all the time, right from you wake up in the morning, that will keep you motivated and you will not feel bad about the hard work you are putting in.
Failure is a Part of the Process:
When we take a closer look at the great thinkers throughout history, a willingness to take on failure isn’t a new or extraordinary thought at all. Instead to quit play it safe, fly below the radar, repeating the same safe choices over and over again gives you a reach to success. Slow and gradual increase in your mock scores is a sign of success but you need to be motivated at your fall too. A continuous practice instead of dropping that subject or question is must.
Reward your hard work:
Set a daily goal, like solving 3-4 area tests correctly in limited time or may be finishing a topic that day. Once you achieve your goal, reward yourself with small joys like your favorite chocolate or may be a little extra time than usual surfing the internet. Do this frequently, this will help you rejuvenate your mind and body and encourage you to set and achieve bigger goals.
Progress:
Simply tracking or rewarding your progress is not enough. This will help you keep moving with full dedication and positivity. How to do it? For example, if you are going to start with quant, never start it from first chapter. Instead, take a in-depth knowledge of important chapters from the syllabus. Based on this you’ll be able to allocate the time for every topic/chapter. This is always a good way to start and finish a section.
Company Matters:
Success in CAT also depends on your company. Although we are not generalizing here, it is usually seen that the outcome will be good if you join a group of smart chaps and vice versa if you are in a bad company. Hence, try to stay away from negative company and stay focused towards your goal.
Here are some additional points to keep in mind:
- Do not be the person who just dreams of good scores in CAT. Work for it. Enjoy the journey, the ride. Embrace the quality of work and the efforts you need to make it happen.
- You need to be smart about the preparation cycle and analyze your individual situation accordingly. Many a time students lose their motivation during the preparation as they follow someone else who cleared the test before or any tutor who has asked them to follow a certain routine. Do take the positives from them but tweak the journey according to your own situation to make your efforts more effective.
- Look at your strength, work on your weaknesses, and find the best time for you to study. Maybe you need more practice at some things that others don’t or find your technique to do a question in a better or faster way. Once you start to see the result there is no looking back. Your previous day’s self will keep pushing your today’s self to be the motivation for your tomorrow’s self.
- Do keep track of your journey and analyze the things you wanted to cover by this time of the year. Your planning should not be overly optimistic, yet it should be sustainable to your individual condition. The consistency of your study comes with the embracement of good days and bad days. The idea is to ‘Bounce back’.