Just for fun, here are some of my GMAT takeaways that may be applicable to real life for some of you when you think beyond GMAT:
1. Be confident, always keep your cool
2. Keep track of time, don’t let it drag you
3. Take a deep breath when you get stressed
4. Put intermediate targets to reach your ultimate goal
5. Read everything very carefully
6. Try to understand problems very well
7. Pause 10 seconds before starting to solve a problem and find an easy / fast way to solve it
8. Understand what is given and what you need to solve the problems
9. Usually you can easily eliminate most of the choices
10. Deconstruct the whole into pieces, understand the function of each piece
11. Try to detect patterns
12. Understand the sequence of the events
13. Follow the intended meaning in texts / conversations
14. Always try to first understand the conclusion of arguments
15. Distinguish between facts and arguments / judgments
16. Think about explicit premises and implicit assumptions in the arguments
17. Know how not to waste time dealing with problems you can never solve in time
Feel free to add yours.
Good luck for before / during / after the GMAT!