CAT 2024 will be held in November, 2024.
Life will always be demanding and it takes a toll on us if when we lose control of events. And when we lose control we get entangled in the web of ‘stress. This is the time to feel motivated and not stressed. Situations become more complex for students who have completed their graduation and are looking for various career options and if MBA is the professional line you have opted for then there are number of hurdles you have to overcome as you strive hard to reach your desired goal.
While the above seems to be a herculean task those who are still toying with the idea of ‘change in profession’ and want to opt for MBA only one month is left for CAT 2024. Thus, for these new MBA aspirants anxiety coupled with stress will come as a free package.
In this highly competitive world it is difficult, if not impossible to change stressful situations. What we can do however is change and reduce our exposure to those stressful situations.
‘Stress is a condition or feeling which a person undergoes when demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize."
The matter of fact is "stress is not necessarily something bad”. It is said that you perform better under stress. It all depends on how you take it. The stress of exhilarating, creative successful work is beneficial, while that of failure, humiliation or infection is detrimental. In fact, the simple realization that you’re in control of your life is the foundation of Stress Management.
Stress management starts with identifying the sources of stress in your life. It is the ability to maintain control when situations, people, and events make excessive demands.
Managing stress is all about taking charge: taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment, and the way you deal with problems. The ultimate goal is to have a balanced life.
Let’s see how we can reduce, prevent, and cope with stress:
- Avoid stressful situations : With heap of work surrounding us we tend to forget that we are humans not programmed devices. So try to give yourself a break, if only for few moments.
- Stay aloof from extremes : If you have the ability to replace ‘hate’ with ‘dislike’ and ‘rage’ with ‘anger’ then in the same manner replace your ‘anxiety’ with ‘nervousness’ or ‘depression’ by ‘sadness’. Why to go for extremes?
- Know your real priorities : Reduce the number of events happening in your life and you will be able to focus more on your time and what needs to be done.
- Manage your stress : Having control over stress is not a child’s play. Try to use stress. If you can't remedy, nor escape from, what is bothering you, flow with it and try to use it in a productive way.
- Set priorities : Handle each task as it comes or selectively deal in matter of priorities. Don’t overwhelm.
- Take control of the situation : Look around and try to sort out if you can take charge of something.
- Discover new relaxation techniques : This will provide a soulful experience to de-stress. One way is meditation or Yoga. Both have many wonderful benefits for health and stress relief. Regular meditation can also bring long-term stress relief in the form of mental and physical changes that bring greater resilience to stress. Another healing factor is to laugh or have humour in life. Laughing can help you relieve stress in several ways, which can also enhance your overall health and wellness. If you are shy then smiling will suffice. Smiling is easier, and you can work your way up from grins to giggles.
- Try to be positive : Give yourself messages as to how well you can cope rather than how horrible everything is going to be. A positive attitude is must not only to handle stress but to face the other challenges of life.
Here are some few simple tips and tricks for MBA aspirants that will surely help you crack the tough nut.
- Make out the right optimum strategy. This will help you develop a test taking strategy. Using this strategy you can crack any exam.
- Analyze the exam pattern.Take a lot of CAT Mock Tests.
- Avoid shortcuts. Many students follow the shortcut methods to clear the exam but you will falter in the long run.
- Lastly, relax and take it easy. There have been many cases of candidates with bright academic profile; still they could not crack any entrance test. The reason is simple. They falter in handling too much of pressure taken in the exam and finally drop out. Always keep yourself engage in some activities along with your studies that can help elevate your mood.
Thus, stress and stress management are directly related to personal well-being and specifically to workplace well-being. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. The key to de-stressing in the moment is getting away from or removing yourself from the stressor. Don't let your stressed mind bully your body into believing it must carry the burden of its worries. Give your stress wings and let it fly away.
India’s best selling young author Chetan Bhagat holds the notion, “Don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to have a balanced, successful life. I used the word balanced before successful. Balanced means your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order. Life is not meant to be taken seriously as we all are temporary here. We are like a prepaid card with limited warranty. Don’t be serious, be sincere”.
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