The Swindler in your CAT Prep

The Swindler in your CAT Prep

Negotiations happen all the time with everyone either with themselves or with others. The art of negotiation lies with picking up on facial cues, tone and many such subtle aspects. But today we aren’t going to deal with how to negotiate with others but with the Swindler during our CAT prep (keep thinking in the meantime as to who is the Swindler in question). Let’s make the negotiations for CAT prep smoother so that we find fewer bumps in our prep journey. Before getting into negotiations let’s deal with why we need to negotiate and with whom.

Read this article only if you accept the following terms and conditions – one needs to hammer into their head and heart that their whole life is NOT dependent on the 2-hour CAT exam which we are all going to write on the 27th of November 2022.  I believe you have accepted the terms and conditions so here is the official CAT exam notification https://bit.ly/3zJAnf3. Apply soon!

Finding Common Grounds

We all will be happy if all the days are the same as the days before. But what’s fun about that? Life is exciting when it’s a rollercoaster and that can happen only if each day is like a puzzle that we have to figure out.

Every individual is born different. One is tall while the other is short. One is lean while the other is on the heavier side. In the same way, there are differences in people who start their CAT preparation at different times. For some, writing the CAT exam is like clearing an item from their bucket list. For some, cracking the exam is a dream that they want to turn into reality. Some people take the exam because it’s a necessity. A small number of people have no clue why they are taking the exam. (I hope the last one is not you.)

Days are different and people are different so what is the common element in everyone’s CAT prep journey? Everyone spends time and effort exploring what they are capable of and the extent to which they can push themselves. Sleepless nights, tricking the brain into solving an extra problem, figuring out weaknesses and overcoming it. All these experiences irrespective of the reasons for preparing for CAT are going to be the same.

Who is the Swindler?

Now that we have built some common ground let’s see if we can make the CAT preparation journey more pleasurable and less regrettable. Before getting into the whole process of extracting fun from your CAT prep we need a big favor from the Swindler who resides in each of us. The Swindler sits safely below the meninges and it’s paradoxical to think that one can trick them. But this Swindler is open to negotiation so the key to making them work for us lies in what we say to them.

The word Swindler makes them seem like a villain even though they are the biggest helper that we have at any point in time. So let’s call them “The Brain” instead. I’m not going to go deep into the workings of the brain because first it’s too complex and second we don’t need to. All we need right now is to get them to help us so that we can ACE the CAT exam. So let’s just focus on that for now.

The Why Effect for CAT prep

The Brain works in two ways: one is with reason and the other is without reason. The unconscious doesn’t require reason at all. You don’t need a reason every single time to breathe. But for each and every conscious act, one needs to give a reason to the Swindler aka The Brain. The Brain will then decide whether to accept or deny the reason that you had put forth. (Make sure to be kind in the words that you use to give reasons to your brain)

So first and the most important part for you is to tell the Brain why you are preparing for CAT. Give a solid reason that connects with who you are and your past. Also, make sure your reason helps you imagine what you will become say 5 years down the line. Your reason should be so good that the Brain rewards you with adrenaline points whenever you provide this reason to it.
(Part 1 of Negotiating with the Swindler for CAT prep is done)

Picking you Zen Time for CAT prep

Another important piece of information that one needs to take note of, is energy expenditure when doing conscious work. The well dries up sooner than you think. So figure out when you are the most active during the span of 24 hours and fix that time for your prep.

The peak concentration window varies from person to person. If the window is shorter it’s most likely because your brain is not used to maintaining high concentration levels for a long duration. Keep exposing your brain to a high dose of concentration and it will definitely get used to it.

The “C” in CAT stands for “Consistency”. You can easily deduce that I’m making this up but let’s just go with it for now, shall we? Consistency is vital in your CAT prep. The brain becomes happy whenever it engages with new things but remember that it also gets boring if you feed it with the same situations repeatedly. Reasons can help in convincing the brain but that’s just one aspect. The words that you choose to communicate with the brain are also important. Tell the brain that by solving another problem or by reading another article you are learning something new. The word “New” always works with the Swindler.

The brain has its own James Webb telescope to look into the unknown and it gets excited about it. 

Adrenaline levels are at its highest during the first and last week of CAT prep. I’m not going to ask whether you have encountered it or not because I’m pretty sure this is the case for everyone. I’m going to focus more on the reason why this happens. The reason is very simple: you are about to try new things that you haven’t before. So to maintain your adrenaline level (at least) at an above-average level during your CAT prep journey, you would need a solid answer to “Why CAT?” and an attitude of learning something new every day and deriving joy out of it (Part 2 of Negotiating with the Swindler for CAT prep is done).

There are going to be times when both your reasons and attitude might not work. During those times, turn to a pick-me-up – the good old coffee that would give you the much-desired Caffeine kick. Or chocolates if coffee is not your thing. Or Chai if that’s what you prefer.

Sleep like a Baby

Every non-living thing needs a service and so does your brain.

Have you ever woken up on any particular day and felt that this is just not going to be your day? Well, it’s because you didn’t properly tender the tiny but high-maintenance brain. By tender I mean you did not nourish it well with sleep.

So make sure your brain gets at least 7-8 hours of sleep. A proper 8-hour sleep irrespective of whether you are an early bird or night owl helps the brain stay fresh and consequently, it will actively listen to you.

Last but not the least, try not to stress yourself too much. We have all crossed the stage where people fooled us by announcing that the world is going to end by 2012! (I was fooled for sure). We are not the same person anymore. So stay calm and don’t overcomplicate things. Set targets, targets that are manageable and achievable. Stress pops up when you set a goal that you thought you could achieve but couldn’t. So don’t let overconfidence cloud your judgment. After every seemingly big task (like taking a mock and analysing it), treat yourself. A treat can be anything (healthy) that gets your brain excited. It can be going out with friends, watching a movie, or simply anything (again healthy!) that makes your brain happy and relaxed.

Immerse yourself in CAT preparation and enjoy the experience. Have fun with it! Last but not least make sure the Swindler is happy and healthy. All the best!

NOT A DOCTOR – Shreeram