Thinking differently will boost your chance in competition

For an exam that is given by lakhs of students, with the same or higher knowledge and skill set than you, how can you boost your chances? The answer is simple- Think Differently. In the herd of people, how you distinguish yourself away from the crowd will decide how you perform in the face of relentless competition.

The one attribute that defines a crowd is herd mentality. Herd mentality describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviours. While preparing for a major exam such as CAT, which happens once every year, students tend to adopt practices followed by their peers, even if they are not suited for them. For instance, a person may be able to devote six hours to studies without a break. Another person, who does not have the same attention span as the first man would, nevertheless, adopt that practice and force himself/ herself to study for six hours, even if it doesn’t work for him/ her. This herd mentality compels aspirants to blindly follow the path taken by successful candidates without understanding what works for them best. Instead, they should be courageous enough to break away from the herd mentality and carve out their own path to success.

In the face of competition, it is common for a lot of aspirants to feel the pressure and become nervous about their chances in the exam. It is very easy for aspirants to fall into a negative mindset, especially when they compare themselves with their peers who are ahead of them in terms of preparation and skill set. They develop a fear which engulfs them and stops them from being the best that they can be. Aspirants should keep a positive frame of mind and not allow themselves to be affected by competition.

Aspirants must have courage, conviction and self- confidence to think differently and not blindly follow others. The CAT exam rewards those who can think differently. It is one exam which has a lot of unexpected twists and no fixed pattern. The people who have flexibility in their minds rather than rigidity in the way they approach the course, are in a better position to tackle CAT successfully. Even when you know that your friends are following a particular strategy and taking guidance from a popular source, you must apply your mind to see if it will work for you and if you really need it.

Aspirants who think differently and create their own path, find a way to beat their competition. They would look for shortcuts to save time and would work their way through the preparation smartly. An aspirant following the rut, would not be able to prepare customised plans and strategies and would react to the competition. On the other hand, an aspirant who comes up with his/ her own strategies and focuses mainly on his/ her work, will be in a better frame of mind going into the exam.

Great people don’t do the same things in the same way as other people. They create their own paths and don’t hesitate from swimming against the tide, if need be. MBA aspirants need to adopt this trait and think differently.

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