One of my big goals this year is crushing the GMAT exam and getting 4-5 stellar business school application apps in by mid October. I need to be able to score within a certain range of the GMAT in order to be competitive for certain programs. I’ve been studying on and off for the past 4 months and have invested a LOT of money and time into it. I feel super confident in the Verbal section, but not as confident in the Quant section. I took a practice test 2 weeks ago and scored within my target range-WOW! AMAZING FEELING! I soared for a week. I was thrilled! Happy! Ecstatic!
Then I took a practice test last week, and got completely clammed up Question 1. I got super nervous, ran out of time during the exam and let my negative thoughts completely sabotage the exam. Result: scored 100 points lower (which is a lot). I spent the whole day trying to recover from this as I tried to not let my worst fears and thoughts take over. I listened to your “Creating Confidence” and “How to Fail” podcast to reorient my thinking to push through. Really helped me realize that I need to produce the confidence feeling BEFORE I get the result. And that if I fail, I’ll have my own back and will know that “this is part of the deal” and the journey.

I sit for the exam this Saturday and I’m working really hard on creating AS MUCH CONFIDENCE as possible in my brain so I don’t let my fears/nerves/anxiety get the best of me. I really do believe that I will perform better if my thoughts are strong. Here are some so far:

1- It’s just an exam; just one part of the application process
2- I’ve been working really hard and am way closer than I think I am
3-I can do this
4- Breathe

Any other ideas for thoughts, or on how to take the pressure off just a little?
Thank you!