“If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges” – Pat Riley
This is what I chose to keep my mind occupied with during the times of challenges. After having completed my undergraduate degree and a job offer in hand, I was bewildered about which path to choose- take the job which I was not very much inclined to or take a year off and prepare for competitive exams to pursue management studies. In the conflict between heart and mind, heart always wins and so I ended up joining a coaching institute to prepare for CAT. The excitement lasted only till I found my scores deteriorate day after day. Soaked by guilt of having taken a year off and bad scores, I decided to give my best shot no matter what it costs. Five months passed by and I saw a ray of hope – an improvement in my scores. Though the change was not drastic, it was sufficient enough to keep my motivation up. Sleepless nights and stressful days was what had become my daily schedule. As the D-day closed upon me, I realized fear would only make it worse – positive or negative, good or bad, I decided to cool my nerves. I started taking mock tests by various vendors. I spent my days either taking these tests or reading success stories on Quora, hoping to share mine one day. I gave my best in the exam hoping to get into a decent B-school. The results were declared, and whoa I had scored way more than what I had expected. This boosted my confidence and I landed in one of the top 20 B-schools in India. This period of one year has been always been and will be a magic potion to keep me motivated and confident.