Parallels between GMAT Prep and Life #1

I have heard GMAT aspirants say, “It’s a stupid test.”

Why do they say so?

They are frustrated. They are not able to ace it. Since they can’t see its logic, they believe the test must be without logic. Hence, they claim the test is stupid.

Am I trying to say that the test is not stupid and that those people are stupid?

No. Not the second part.

The test is not stupid. It’s a very well-designed test created to assess skills relevant to business schools. (If it were not testing relevant skills, why would the best business schools in the world use it as an important component of their admission process?)

If the test is not stupid, aren’t those people, who call it stupid, stupid?

No.

They are brilliant people with immense potential. Just that they err in this judgment. If a person makes one mistake, would you call that person stupid?

I will not.

So, I’m saying that neither the test nor the people calling it stupid are stupid.

Why do people call the test stupid?

One reason is to simply vent out - they cannot get their target score even after trying multiple times.?

The second reason is that they cannot see the test's logic.?

Now, instead of admitting, “I’m not able to see its logic. So, let me try harder or in a different way,” people start believing that there is no logic.

Why do people not admit their mistake?

Because when they admit their mistake, they start bashing themselves up - “Oh. I’m so dumb not to get it even after trying several times.”

So, you see, many people have just two options: call the test stupid or call themselves stupid. The latter hurts. So, people choose the former option.

What’s the way out?

To not call anybody stupid. Instead, acknowledge that their efforts made so far have lacked either in intensity or direction. Then, take appropriate corrective steps.

It’s as simple as that.

We make it complex by making judgments about others or ourselves. Since the latter is more painful, we resort to making judgments about others, including the GMAT.

That’s what we do with life too. We call this life bad, unfair, messy, or crooked.

Why do we do that?

Because our experience of life is bad. (If our life experience were good, we wouldn’t use such words for life. Would we?)

Why is our experience of life bad?

One major reason is that we don’t understand how life works or even what life is.?

Now, instead of admitting our ignorance and making efforts toward resolving it, we call life bad.

Why do we not admit our ignorance?

Because as soon as we admit that our ignorance is the cause of our suffering, we get into self-blame - “Oh! I’m the source of my misery.”

Once we get into self-blame, we add another, deeper level of suffering to our lives. We are already suffering, and we suffer even more by calling ourselves responsible for our suffering.

To avoid this deeper suffering, we refuse to admit that our ignorance is the cause of our suffering.

However, if we can somehow avoid this trap of self-blame, we’ll be ready to admit our ignorance. And once we admit it, we’ll be ready to take steps toward addressing it.

And once we address it, we’ll be able to move out of suffering.

So, in a way, what keeps us stuck in our suffering is our propensity to self-blame. If we don’t self-blame, we’ll accept our role in our suffering. We’ll then be able to take corrective actions.

My friend Anish recently visited an art exhibition. There, he saw a painting by a Padma Bhushan awardee.?

When he told me, “The painting was good,” I thought that his comment told me more about his tastes than about the quality of the painting.

Since the painting is done by a Padma Bhushan awardee, it has to be good. Now, if you don’t like it, I get to know that you are not able to appreciate the quality of the painting or that your taste doesn’t align with the painting. Your comment doesn’t tell me about the quality of the painting. Given its esteemed creator, the painting has to be good.

Similarly, your assessment of life tells me about you and your experience of life, not about “life.” Life has to be good since it is created by the ultimate creator. If you don’t like life, you are perhaps not able to appreciate it. You have to up the quality of your perspective to be able to see the beauty of life; the beauty has to be there since it’s designed by the beautiful creator.

Am I wrong about all this?

Perhaps. But this is what I currently believe in.