If you’re a person who tends to get anxious and stressed throughout the day, if you let the small stuff bother you, it’s going to be difficult to walk into the test center and be cool. After all, each day you’re training your body to be on edge.

If you allow yourself to be flustered by every gust of wind that comes your way, you’re going to be blown off course. Your strategy is to try to remain calm each day. There are many books and courses that can teach you to better manage stress. There are strategies you can employ to be calm under fire.

For example:

Work to be more patient with the people around you. Don’t allow yourself to be rattled by little annoyances such as a friend’s being late to meet you or a disagreement with a family member. Make a conscious effort to keep your cool, and recognize that doing so may actually help the situation. Your boss is being a jerk? Perfect; use that as an opportunity to improve your people skills. Make it your goal to become your boss’s favorite person in the office.

Develop the ability to be comfortable sitting in traffic. What good does getting flustered do? Stress won’t get you to your destination any quicker. Do the same for delayed flights and long lines at the supermarket — just be cool.

Practice not being hard on yourself during the study process. If you get a question wrong, don’t agonize; use it as a learning experience. If preparing for the GMAT Focus Edition is taking longer than you planned, recognize that this process can be unpredictable, and continue to do your best.

In general, realize that the problems and situations that are stressing you out are probably quite small compared to those you could face.
While it’s important that you don’t let little annoyances derail your day, you should also seek to transform your pessimistic thought patterns related to the GMAT Focus Edition.

Warmest regards,

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep