GMAT with CJ

Here's a message I recently received from a GMAT aspirant: "Hi Chiranjeev, I have been reading your LinkedIn posts, WhatsApp status, and your CR solutions too. And this is the perspective I want to have. But I don't have that yet. As I read in your previous blog, I want to achieve excellence (remove the average tag off my shoulders) and awareness too. Would the MBA be able to give me that? Or it comes with other things such as reading and active reading and questioning what you read and maybe sometimes the beliefs." Here's my reply: First of all, I'm glad to know that you want excellence and awareness. I respect these goals. Now, to your question: would MBA give you that? An MBA from a top institute can help you in your journey of excellence. However, excellence is a journey undertaken not over one or two years but over one's entire life. A top MBA program will expose you to peers who are pursuing excellence or who are far ahead of you or who are both and thus nudge you significantly in the direction of improving yourself. However, no program or external object can make you a lifelong learner. You need to make that choice. In short, while you can pursue excellence without an MBA degree, a top MBA program or any top program will help increase the pace of your pursuit.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗚𝗠𝗔𝗧 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗮𝘂? We need three things to succeed on the GMAT: Knowledge, Concepts, and Skills. Knowledge is the most superficial and can be gained quite easily. Concepts require a deeper level of understanding and take some time to master. Skills are fundamental intellectual capabilities and take months/years to build. The fastest improvement comes from accumulating GMAT-specific knowledge. However, more knowledge wouldn't lead to a better score after a certain point. You need to go deeper and understand the concepts and how they are applied. This, too, will lead to a score improvement until a point. After that, more concepts won't help unless you improve your skills. This is what many of us don't understand. When we see our score improve by gathering knowledge and understanding concepts, we start to think linearly - that more of the same will lead to more improvement. This is where we go wrong. We won't realize our true potential unless we work on all three aspects.

As I solved a quant question in front of a student, he remarked, "I highly doubt I can ever get there!" Here's how I replied: I'll agree if you say you can't do this in 3 months. I'll have doubts if you say you can't do this in a year. If you say you can't do this in two years, I'll consider that a nonsensical statement. Think about it: I was not born with this skill. I've learned it over time, doesn't matter how much "natural" it seems to come to me now. Similarly, you can learn this skill over time. You doubt yourself so much because you're focused on this vast difference between your skill and mine. And then, as you think about reaching my level, the task seems almost impossible, just as the task of running would seem to a newborn who can't even walk properly. So, of course, you can get to where I'm now. However, you need not think of reaching my level every day. Just think of understanding 20 questions thoroughly every day. Does that also seem impossible? No. Right? And the fantastic thing is that if you keep learning and growing daily, you'll eventually reach any level you aspire to. That is beauty. We don't need to think about building a house every day. Just a few bricks a day, and we'll have a house in a few months.

Many students say that one of their problems is 'overthinking.' I have seen students claiming so on forums and, sometimes, in person while conversing with me. However, whenever a student calls 'overthinking' one of his problems, I always object, saying that 'overthinking' is not a problem; wrong thinking is. If the diagnosis of your problem is wrong, you will take the wrong treatment, which may worsen your problem. For example: if you believe overthinking is your problem, you'll probably try to think less and not get deeper into the questions. The solution to your 'diagnosed' problem will likely worsen your problem rather than heal it. Overthinking is not a problem. Rather, one of the biggest reasons for my conceptual clarity is overthinking, i.e., thinking beyond what is 'required' to solve a given problem. When you think beyond what is 'required', you discover, learn, and understand new things that others don't, and these understandings eventually help you in unexpected ways.

What if we ask a different question? Instead of asking, “How do I get my desired GMAT score?” we can ask, “How do I deserve my desired GMAT score?”. Wouldn’t that bring about a big difference in the way we look at the whole journey of GMAT preparation? Wouldn’t that make us ask questions very different from what we have been asking till now? I think that may also determine whether we succeed on the GMAT and, even more importantly, whether we learn from our GMAT preparation.

“The power of belief is so strong that it can even trump reality.” I think this statement applies to GMAT aspirants as well. Here's an excerpt from the book ‘Peak’ by Anders Ericsson. “A key motivational factor in deliberate practice is a belief that you can succeed. In order to push yourself when you really don’t feel like it, you must believe that you can improve... The power of such belief is so strong that it can even trump reality ...Gunder Hägg, who broke fifteen world records in the early 1940s, grew up with his father, a lumberjack, in an isolated part of northern Sweden. In his early teen years, Gunder loved running in the woods, and he and his father became curious about how fast he could run. They found a route that was about fifteen hundred meters long, and Gunder ran that course while his father measured his time with an alarm clock. When Gunder was done, his father told him that he finished the distance in 4 minutes, 50 seconds — a remarkably good time for that distance in the woods. … Gunder was inspired by his performance to believe he had a bright future as a runner, so he started training more seriously… It was only many years later that his father confessed to him that the actual time on that day was 5 minutes, 50 seconds”

It's surprising when people ask me whether they 'can' ace the GMAT. I always ask, perplexed, "Why can't you?". Today, on a call, a lady answered my question by saying that some of her known ones had told her that reading comprehension ability could not be built; either you have it, or you don't. I asked her, "Do you believe that if you have the right direction and are willing to put in the required efforts, you'll still not grow?" Of course, nobody is born with a reading comprehension ability or a critical thinking ability. People learn these over time. How can we ever accept that we cannot build certain abilities?!

In GMAT quant, we say that if the calculations are too tedious, you are not doing it the right way. Can we extend it to life as well? If situations seem overly challenging, perhaps you aren’t looking at them the right way.

“Do you think I can ever crack GMAT?” Over the last few months, I have been asked this question by a few students. The question reflects the despondency that one experiences on failing after trying hard. Lately, I’ve responded by asking, “What if I say ‘No, you can never crack the GMAT’? What would you do then?” As they introspect on the question, they realize there is hope in their hearts that will not be extinguished even if I say ‘No’. It’s as if their hearts already know that it cannot be impossible. That is my purpose for asking that question. Nothing is impossible for a human being to achieve, especially a thing that so many others have already achieved. It’s just a matter of time and direction. If you are ready to invest time and if your direction is right, you’ll eventually reach wherever you want to reach, no matter how far the destination is right now. The distance from the destination can only dictate the time it’ll take to reach there; the distance cannot make the journey impossible. Believe in yourself! And look into the deepest part of your heart; it already believes in you!

How much time did I take to prepare for the GMAT? One of my distant relatives, who had been preparing for a few months for the GMAT and was still quite far from her target score, asked me this question some time back. “More than 10 years”, I replied. “You won’t need as much.” What GMAT primarily tests is one’s way of thinking, and I believe I have been thinking in that way since high school. So, when it came to GMAT, I didn’t face many problems and didn’t need much time separately to prepare for the same. However, the fact that I didn’t need much dedicated time to prepare for GMAT shouldn’t discourage you from putting in the time and effort. Nor should it be used to label me a genius. It’s not that I could solve these questions since birth. It has required a lot of effort over the years, and now it looks to people as if everything comes naturally to me. I tell my students, “You may be sharper or more intelligent than me. But what has taken me years to build would need more than a few days for you to build. Have patience. See my ease with questions not as a sign of genius but as a result of effort. In such a case, you’ll cherish efforts and not run away from them, considering them a sign of a lack of intelligence. “

GMAT tests you not 'on' these questions but 'through' these questions. GMAT tests you 'on' the skills that help you succeed in MBA and beyond: comprehension, critical thinking or reasoning, understanding of the English language, comfort with numbers and mathematical concepts, etc. Therefore, GMAT prep has to be about building these skills. You can, of course, use test prep materials to build your skills. However, it doesn't matter how you build the skills. If you have the skills, you'll get the desired score. GMAT cannot be a test of knowledge; it cannot be testing you on certain question types that you will never see in your life again. Do you think you will see such questions in your life again? If not, then why should B-Schools place a lot of emphasis on your score? The reason is that the schools consider the score a decent, if not good, reflection of your skills, not of your ability to solve multiple-choice questions. Thus, as you prepare for the GMAT, ask yourself: am I building my skills? Am I becoming a person with better comprehension, more critical thinking ability, and more comfort with mathematical concepts I can use in real life? If the answer is no, you are probably not preparing the right way!

In 1984, Swedish psychologist Lars-Eric Unestahl turned the world of sports psychology upside down by declaring: “𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗳 𝗵𝗲/𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹.” Dr. Unestahl had been observing world-class athletes for years to discover the habits of champions. What he found is that top athletes focus on tasks, not trophies. Their primary goal is to beat their own current level of performance, not somebody else’s. - From the book 'Find your focus zone' by Lucy Jo Palladino I think this observation is very relevant for GMAT aspirants as well. Are you focused on the final score or on learning from the question in front of you? Excellence in tasks leads to trophies; fantasizing or worrying about the trophies leads to a waste of time.

A student who's been preparing for the GMAT for over 2 years just had his baby boy born prematurely. The baby will need to stay in the hospital for 6 weeks. When he expressed his sadness about likely missing another year of business school applications, I shared this perspective: "Right now, your wife and baby's health must come first. It's perfectly natural to feel sad both about your family's situation and your delayed GMAT plans. However, fighting reality by thinking, 'this shouldn't have happened,' will only multiply your suffering. Instead of draining your energy by resisting what is, channel it into being present for your family. Your positivity can make a real difference – helping your wife relax and bringing joy during hospital visits to your son. While we can't control what life throws at us, we can choose how we respond. Working with reality, rather than against it, will serve both you and your family better during this challenging time. The GMAT will still be there when the time is right. For now, focus on what matters most."

Why don't people improve their GMAT scores even after preparing for long? One reason is that they don't face their confusions; they suppress their confusions. Let's take a couple of examples to understand how people suppress their confusions. Example 1: Suppose you read a statement. You think it's saying X, but you have a little doubt inside. "Perhaps, it means Y." In such a case, some people just move on, assuming that the statement means X. They don't spend time and energy to figure out why it should not mean Y. Why do they not spend time resolving their confusions? Because it's time-consuming and they have other questions to do. Besides, in their minds, having confusions is not a good thing since that means they, perhaps, need more time to prepare. Example 2: In a quant session, a student solved a question. I asked her to explain the logic behind moving from Step 1 to Step 2 in her solution. She thought for 3-4 minutes, and then, with exasperation, she said, "That's why I don't overthink. The more I think, the more confused I become." I told her that thinking deeply is not a problem; thinking deeply is just bringing to the fore the confusions that lie latent within her. The solution lies not in suppressing her confusions but in letting those confusions come to the fore, writing them down, and resolving them one by one. --- Your score will improve if your clarity improves. Your clarity will improve if you resolve your confusions. Thus, don't suppress your doubts. Encourage them. Whenever you have a doubt, don't ignore it. Write it down, think about it, and resolve it.

Why do I have this itch to prove myself superior to others? There are three factors that contribute to this itch: 1. I am unfulfilled from within. (If I were fulfilled from within, I wouldn't feel any need to claim superiority over others. I would just be at peace with myself.) 2. I constantly feel inner discomfort because of that lack of fulfillment. 3. When I think I am better than or superior to others, I think, "I am not that empty. I am better than this person." So, this itch to prove oneself superior over others is an attempt to seek temporary relief from this constant inner sense of lack. The more unfulfilled I am, the more discomfort I feel within, and thus the more frequently I will seek such temporary relief. However, I don't understand that proving myself superior to someone is a temporary relief, not a solution. Unless I fix the cause, the problem will be there. The cause is my lack of fulfilment. Given this cause, the solution lies in my inner fulfilment. How can I get fulfilled from the inside? That's a good question to spend time on!

“If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.” It’s much easier to grow intellectually when you’re surrounded by smarter people. If everyone around you is less smart than you are, you may stop growing. If you find yourself in such a situation, you can, of course, try to change the room. Or, you can try to change your perspective of the people in the room - they may not be less smart than you are; the lens you are wearing may be precluding you from seeing their smartness. Or, if indeed you’re smarter than everybody else, you can grow by helping others come to your level. Proclaiming superiority over others may not be a sign of excellence but a sign of degeneration.

Many believe that I am against setting a deadline for GMAT preparation. I am not. I am 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 preparing in 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 ways to meet a particular deadline. If you prepare productively - that is, focus on maximizing your learning rather than on completing a set of concepts or questions - you can set a deadline. No problem with that. However, many people set deadlines for their GMAT preparation based on their desires and b-school admission timelines and then go about preparing in rushed, unproductive ways to achieve those deadlines. Of course, unproductive preparation leads to unwanted scores and wasted time. Please understand that whether you set a deadline for six weeks or six years, it doesn't matter. What matters is what you do daily. If you give your best every day, you'll get done with the GMAT as fast as you can. Thus, whether to set a deadline or what deadline to set should depend on what helps you give your best every day. If setting a stringent deadline motivates you, set such a deadline. On the other hand, if setting a stringent deadline stresses you and makes you indulge in unproductive practices, don't do that.

I am so full of doubts. Even when I talk about GMAT prep, about which I have an extensive understanding, I always speak in terms of "This is what I think," "I believe so," etc. On the other hand, I see many people confident about many things. I don't envy them. Previously, I used to wonder how they could be so confident. Now, I think that they are ignorant of their ignorance. Am I saying that I am aware of my ignorance while many others are not? Yes. Isn't that arrogant of me to say so? Perhaps. But this is what I currently believe.

A common trait of successful people is that they are very open to learning. Why are they very open to learning? Because they are aware of their ignorance. Why are they aware of their ignorance? Because they are comfortable with their ignorance. Why are they comfortable? Because they don't feel small on seeing and admitting their ignorance. Why? Because they are secure in their skin. What does that mean? Being secure in their skin means they are not constantly evaluating their worth. Their worth is assumed to be there. They are not trying to prove themselves constantly. The need to prove comes from an image of inherent lack. (I feel lacking. Thus, I try to prove myself - my worth.) ---- In other words, your self-image that you are not worthy pushes you away from accepting and admitting your ignorance and thus makes you mediocre.

When a person is behaving nastily, we suffer. Why? We feel that the other person doesn't value us and considers us worthy of such behavior. In light of such a low assessment of our worth, we doubt our worthiness, and our love for ourselves goes down. When our self-love goes down, we suffer. To address that suffering, we blame the other person since his nasty behavior led to our reduced self-love and thus suffering. However, our self-love need not go down in the face of others' low assessment of our worth. If we do not suffer in the face of another's nasty behavior, we open up the possibility of seeing that person's suffering behind his nasty behavior. A joyous person cannot be nasty. His nastiness is a symptom of his lack of joy and self-love. We can see that only if we aren't suffering, only if we are loving ourselves fully and unconditionally :)