Thanks for the plug, David! And I do hope that people heed that advice...nerves happen to just about everyone, but those who handle them effectively have a distinct advantage.
Since David mentioned it, I should probably admit that Friday night, the night before my first Ironman - the biggest event I've ever been a part of - was the most nervous I've ever been, so I guess I'm even more of an expert now to comment on managing nerves than I ever have been. A few thoughts on what worked for me:
1) Embrace the nerves. What else can you do? They're there, and stressing about the nervous energy ("Oh no - I'm so nervous I can't even sleep. Bad just became worse!") is only going to worsen the situation. So talk yourself into nerves as a good thing. For me, it was "how fun is it that a 32-year old adult can still get insanely nervous over a sporting event...this is why I do this!". For you it might be "If I wasn't nervous that would be a bad thing...nerves prove that I've worked hard for this and care about the result, and those items will translate to success." Nerves are going to be there, but you can make them a positive...trust me.
2) Don't try to fight the nerves the night before. I slept probably a grand total of an hour the night before my race even though I hit the pillow with the intention of getting about 7. But the worst times were those that I really fought my lack of sleep and "tried harder" to get to sleep. I didn't get real REM cycle sleep too much, but the times I laid back, closed my eyes, and listed state capitals or prime numbers in my mind to try to lull my brain away from nerves and closer to sheer boredom I at least was able to drift, reduce my heart rate, and rest, and in the end that was enough.
3) Remember that you're not hoping for a miracle! You've prepared for this and you have every right to expect success; the nerves are caused by adrenalin - your body's way of preparing for a big event - and not by fear of low odds of success. You can rationalize the nerves better this way - even if your body feels "fear" (a remnant of that fight-or-flight instinct of our ancestors), it's really just energy...you don't actually have any reason to fear the test.
4) Focus on the process and the steps. The GMAT is too big to fathom while you're taking it - you're much better served working on each problem as it comes because that's where your energy can actually help you. Thinking of anything bigger or more tangential - how well you've done thus far; whether you think you'll see any more permutations problems; whether that odd question you struggled on was experimental; etc. - will only waste energy and exacerbate nerves. Each question alone? You know how to do that. I was telling my coworkers here that I was amazed during my nearly 13 hours of triathlon on Saturday that I really only thought about what I was currently doing at each point in time. On the swim, I thought about the swim (where is the clear water away from traffic? Glide and conserve energy. Pick up your head to sight the next buoy so you stay on course). On the bike, I thought bike until the last few miles when I finally started to realize that after all that I had a full marathon in midday heat to go...and I immediately forced myself to re-concentrate on just the bike. One thing at a time. On the run, it was all about that current mile and my current state (body temperature, waiting until shade to push the pace, strategizing the next aid station to make sure I stayed hydrated and cool...). And doing that made it possible - that late in the race day I couldn't have signed up for 26 miles, but it wasn't too hard to sign up for one, and then another, until they melted away and I was on my last lap. Focusing on the steps to get there turned all of my nervous energy into something productive and kept my mind from drifting all the way from "nervous" to "despair". Despair is hard to recover from. Nervous? That's good energy that you can harness to help your cause.
Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep
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