{"id":5798,"date":"2013-07-18T10:00:11","date_gmt":"2013-07-18T14:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.manhattangmat.com\/blog\/?p=5798"},"modified":"2019-09-05T16:09:58","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T16:09:58","slug":"paranoia-runs-deep-into-your-heart-it-will-creep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/paranoia-runs-deep-into-your-heart-it-will-creep\/","title":{"rendered":"Paranoia Runs Deep, Into Your Heart It Will Creep"},"content":{"rendered":"

I know what Statement 2 is telling me; it’s saying \u02dcBecome a carpenter!’<\/p>\n

Why is this question here? Why am I here?\u00a0 When’s the civil service exam?\u00a0 Garbage men still have a union. . .\u009d<\/p>\n

\"gmatHave you lived that movie?\u00a0 Paranoia is only human and the old saying is true: Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.\u009d\u00a0 Paranoia is a primal reaction, developed to help protect humans from animals with sharp, pointy teeth.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it is not helpful when one is facing questions with sharp, pointy teeth.\u00a0 Even though the GMAT is out to get you.\u00a0 Failing to control your paranoia is a hidden reason for underperforming on the actual exam.<\/p>\n

On this blog, I and others have discussed many factors crucial for success: foundation skills, strategies, timing, precision, and so forth.\u00a0 And it’s like I say about L.A.—everything you ever read [here] about it is true.\u00a0 However, after honing these skills, after achieving mastery, too many test takers succumb to their paranoia and thus revert when taking the actual exam, especially for the first time.\u00a0 Even 99th<\/sup> percentile skills will crumble if undermined by irrational panic and the results will not be gratifying.\u00a0 (Have you ever watched the Chicago Cubs play a post season series?)\u00a0 \u00a0To succeed, folks must understand the difference between dispassionate, objective analysis—I’ve never gotten a combinatrics question right in life, why do I think I’ll have a divine inspiration today?\u009d—and irrelevant fear—They’re going to tattoo a scarlet L\u009d on my forehead.\u009d \u00a0Just as folks plan question and timing strategies, they must develop tools to banish their internally generated negative visualizations.<\/p>\n

How do you tell the difference?\u00a0 Objective analysis responds to the stimuli on the monitor.\u00a0 Paranoia is a response to internal doubts.\u00a0 (Notice how this is parallel to the nature of the exam—search for the answer on the screen, not in the opinions in your head.)\u00a0 Sometimes, after you’ve read a question twice (everyone has a sinking feeling the first time), you hear yourself singing, I’ve got the \u02dcI don’t know where I’m going but I’m going nowhere in a hurry’ blues.\u009d\u00a0 That’s the truth, not paranoia.\u00a0 Bail out.\u00a0 As one of my acting coaches used to say, Only schizophrenics don’t react to the reality around them.\u009d\u00a0 Conversely, paranoia is when your thoughts of impending disaster revolve around your supposed shortcomings rather than the material on the screen.\u00a0 As I’ve said before, if while taking the exam you find yourself thinking about how big a dumb ass you are, check the question—if it doesn’t read, Which of the following best describes how big a dumb ass you are?\u009d, you’re thinking about the wrong thing.\u00a0 That is paranoia.\u00a0 No kidding—you knew that.<\/p>\n

Well then, why do people recognize the difference between analysis and paranoia but still succumb to the latter?\u00a0 Because they try to do the impossible.\u00a0 They try not to have thoughts of failure.\u00a0 That’s impossible—you can’t override human nature.\u00a0 I have feelings of paranoia, even though I’ve always scored in the 99th<\/sup> percentile.\u00a0 I still have them\u201deven though I don’t really care about my score anymore.\u00a0 Instead, you have to recognize irrationality in yourself and laugh it off.\u00a0 I say to myself, Save some of that craziness for menopause.\u009d\u00a0 Then I giggle, read the question again, and really listen to the words.\u00a0 And if I still don’t get it, I say, Screw them if they can’t take a joke.\u009d\u00a0 And bail out.<\/p>\n

Maybe some of you can’t make jokes to yourself during the exam because you’re worried about your entire future.\u00a0 That’s part of the problem—if a chunk (or all) of your mind is thinking about things other than the words on the monitor, it will lower your score.\u00a0 It’s the difference between worrying about being the hero or the goat and just seeing the ball and hitting the ball.\u00a0 Feelings of failure while taking the exam are like stage fright.\u00a0 That’s what stage fright is—standing up there thinking you look like an idiot.\u00a0 You say, No, it’s much different—they give me a piece of paper that says I’m an idiot.\u009d\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Really.\u00a0 It’s the same.\u00a0 So, I’ve got another suggestion for you, if you didn’t like the first one.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In acting school, to combat stage fright, the coaches would say, Put that energy into the doing.\u009d\u00a0 When you’re acting that meant really<\/em> shake hands, really<\/em> serve the tea, really<\/em> ask the question, and really<\/em> listen to the answer, even though you’ve heard it a hundred times before. . .the last one is the hard part, by the way.\u00a0 It’s the same on the GMAT—put the energy into the doing. \u00a0You want to worry about something while you’re taking the test?\u00a0 Don’t worry about your score.\u00a0 Worry about really<\/em> being specific, not assuming, picking what must follow.\u00a0 Worry about listening to the words.\u00a0 Worry about recognizing question types and responding efficiently.\u00a0 Worry about investing in winners and making good guesses on the losers.\u00a0 That’s putting the energy into the doing.<\/p>\n

And, as in life, it’s really a lot easier if you’re on your own side.\u00a0 Then you can give your full attention to the problems.\u00a0 Just believe in yourself.\u00a0 Banish doubts and self-abnegation—it’s a good idea for life in general but especially while you’re taking the GMAT.\u00a0 You know what they say, Cornerbacks have short memories.\u009d\u00a0 Your internally generated fears are pointless obstacles.\u00a0 They are also fantasies and no more likely than most of your good fantasies (fill in your own joke here)<\/span>. . .if I made one, they’d send me to re-education camp.\u00a0 Here, I’ll sing to you:<\/p>\n

Just like Mary Shelley,<\/em><\/p>\n

Just like Frankenstein,<\/em><\/p>\n

Break your chains,<\/em><\/p>\n

and count your change,<\/em><\/p>\n

And try to walk the line.\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"gmatOkay, I know some of you are saying, Yeah, right.\u009d\u00a0 Or maybe you don’t think you can do so.\u00a0 I’ve got one more pitch for you—-worrying about your score while you are taking the exam is crazy on top of crazy.\u00a0 Because YOU CAN NOT TELL HOW YOU ARE DOING WHILE YOU ARE TAKING THE TEST.\u00a0 You doubt me?\u00a0 Well, as a grand finale, I’ve got a hugely obnoxious story to illustrate that point.\u00a0 Back in the bad old days, before Manhattan Prep reached a concordat with the GMAC, instructors used to take the exam once a month.\u00a0 So my number would come up about once a year—and it was a day shot to hell for me too.\u00a0 The last time this happened, I was talking to Zeke, the founder and then CEO, and I said, Zeke, the instructors always score 770,780, 790; I know we send clerical but an instructor should get a 630 to check on that level.\u009d\u00a0 He said, That’s a good idea\u201dyou go do that.\u009d<\/p>\n

My mistake was that I didn’t outright throw it; I just did it the way I tell my classes not to for nine weeks.\u00a0 In other words—I figure both statements together must work,\u009d That one sounds good,\u009d I think I remember the passage said that,\u009d etcetera.\u00a0 And the questions seemed to be getting easier and easier.\u00a0 And, yes, my paranoia reared its ugly head and whispered in my ear, You’re going to get a 490.\u00a0 This is going to be humiliating*.\u009d\u00a0 And the questions kept getting easier.\u00a0 At the end, with great trepidation, I clicked the score button: 760.\u00a0 I’d knocked off 30 points instead of 160.\u00a0 I know you’re throwing up in your mouth a little now, but the point isn’t how smart I am—that’s just collateral damage.\u00a0 The point is that I’ve been doing this since the LAST CENTURY and I can’t tell within a hundred points how I’m scoring!\u00a0 <\/strong>Let it go!\u00a0 Everyone feels awful.\u00a0 You can’t tell how you’re doing.\u00a0 So it’s crazy to worry about it.\u00a0 Just keep stepping into the punches. . .you know, like Rocky.\u00a0 Be cool.\u00a0 Stay calm.\u00a0 You know what the Spitfire pilots used to say before missions against overwhelming odds?\u00a0 Good luck and good hunting.\u009d\u00a0 Say that to yourself.<\/p>\n

*I was right about one thing—it was humiliating. . .people in the New York office made fun of me for weeks.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know what Statement 2 is telling me; it’s saying \u02dcBecome a carpenter!’ Why is this question here? Why am I here?\u00a0 When’s the civil service exam?\u00a0 Garbage men still have a union. . .\u009d Have you lived that movie?\u00a0 Paranoia is only human and the old saying is true: Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[188,428,431,586],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-5798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-to-study","category-taking-the-gmat","tag-fear","tag-how-to-study-2","tag-how-to-take-the-gmat","tag-paranoia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5798"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17546,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5798\/revisions\/17546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5798"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=5798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}