Around this time of the year, many students write to me expressing their fear of writing AIRCATs. In case you feel that way at this stage of your CAT prep, you are not alone. And that suggests that it is natural to feel this way. There are so many who feel similarly.
A very bright student wrote to me similarly expressing her completely contrasting comfort levels in VARC versus DILR and Quant, with the latter pulling her down and giving her “visions of failure”.
And this is what I wrote to her:
“What you are feeling and have expressed is a very normal, natural reaction for a significant percentage of students. It is a part of the journey where self-doubt and prophecy-fulfilling data points combine to concoct very believable limits in the mind. And hallucinations (you mentioned visions) of failure appear stunningly real. See it for what it is – these are mind games that test your resolve and self-belief which success invariably requires.
In fact, seeing failure so clearly should make you fearless because that’s already the worst, right? It can only get better. Life goes on – even after the biggest of failures. The only real failures are the ones we allow despite having the ability to avoid them – self-doubt, not trying our best, giving up, failing in the mind before we actually fail – now these are the failures to avoid. If you can avoid these largely over your life, you will excel beyond your beliefs.
Enjoy the blips and the bloopers, the falls and the poor scores and laugh in their face, as you try your best. See them melting away into oblivion by the time it actually counts.”
The basic question you need to ask yourself – why are you preparing in the first place? What is the purpose of your CAT prep?
The purpose is to have a better shot at succeeding, right? If that is true, then rather than thinking about the AIRCAT results, think whether you will have a better shot at CAT having made some mistakes during your CAT prep or just going in there without any practice of a similar kind?
Whether or not getting a poor score now is a good thing if you can use it to improve even 1% each time?
Thinking about the results won’t get results, doing the right things is what will ensure the best CAT preparation experience for you. Believe in yourself and believe in your preparation. If you want to visualize – visualize yourself succeeding! That’s a choice you can make. So, whenever a negative thought comes to your mind, push it out with a positive one.
Enjoy the journey and don’t worry about the destination – that will come if you stay on the right path. Till then believe that you will get there.
Keep working, keep dreaming and keep believing!
About the author: Deekshant has sleep-walked through several 100 and 99.9 %iles in practically every section of the CAT. That he is a cricket fan and he writes okay is evident from most of his posts. 1000s of our students swear that he can motivate almost anyone to double his/her percentile through very simple yet powerful inputs. And that’s why every MBAGuru student has direct access to him via mail and Telegram. Oddly, he somehow also finds the time to write songs professionally. And yes … almost missed this … he is an alumnus of IIT Delhi & IIM Cal 
It’s great to be with MBAGuru for my CAT Preparation . It’s a lovely environment here for Your CAT Preparation
Very informative post. This kind of post always helps and boosts confidence among students. Thanks for it.