How Discomfort Can Actually Help You Improve in GMAT Verbal

You may be surprised to hear that cultivating sheer determination to find correct answers no matter what can add five or more points to your GMAT Verbal score. But it is true. Developing the ability to persist through discomfort when answering Verbal questions is a key skill that many overlook. The Verbal section is not just about grammar, logic, or vocabulary. It is about focus, resilience, and your ability to work through things that do not come easily to you.

I cannot overstate the importance of learning to sit with your discomfort when a question feels confusing or difficult. In fact, this discomfort is often a sign that you are right where you need to be. If you can remain calm, keep thinking, and push forward instead of giving in to the urge to skip or guess too soon, you’ll gradually train yourself to handle the more complex reasoning required on test day.

There is plenty of research that supports this mindset. Studies on test performance show that how we interpret anxiety and challenge matters. People who reframe discomfort as a normal and necessary part of learning tend to perform better. Developing grit, as psychologists call it, is not just useful for long-term goals. It can make a measurable difference in your Verbal score.

If every time things get tough you stop and tell yourself, “This is too hard,” you’ll stay stuck at the same level. But if you train yourself to keep going and to work through confusion with the goal of understanding, you’ll get better. Over time, questions that once seemed impossible will become manageable, and then even easy.

So if your goal is to improve your GMAT Verbal score, get comfortable being uncomfortable. That discomfort is not a sign of failure. It is part of the process of getting better.

Reach out to me with any questions about your GMAT prep. Happy studying!

Warmest regards,

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep