Last Updated on May 12, 2023
Too often GMAT aspirants fail to reach their full potential on the GMAT because they give up too soon in the study process. Preparing for the GMAT is a game of perseverance. When you continue studying hard and smart while your peers begin throwing in the towel, you position yourself to earn a GMAT score much higher than the scores they earn.
In fact, in almost 15 years of teaching the GMAT, I have seen perseverance be the number one predictor of which students will earn top scores on the GMAT and which students will settle for scores far lower than what they had the potential to earn.
It turns out the relationship between perseverance and success has been well-researched.
For example, math teacher turned psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth studied public school students, teachers, salespeople, cadets at West Point Military Academy, and National Spelling Bee contestants to find the common predictors of success among them. Surprisingly, the one characteristic that the most successful people in all these different groups shared wasn’t IQ; it was grit.
Grit is the motivation to stick to your goals no matter what. It is viewing success as a marathon, not a sprint. This is an important concept to integrate into your GMAT strategy. The road to a high GMAT score may be long and winding, and you can’t rely solely on “being smart” to carry you to the finish. Even the smartest of us may be unwilling to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and try again when we don’t perform as well as we think we should.
This is also an important point for those test-takers who are worried that their grasp of GMAT concepts isn’t up to par. Anyone can learn concepts provided they work hard enough and long enough. The key is to keep going and to view your setbacks as stepping stones rather than as walls. Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck calls this way of thinking a “growth mindset,” and simply having this mindset can make you more likely to reach your goal.
I want you to watch this video:
https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance
Then keep going!!
Scott
