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Psychological factors play a larger role in GMAT performance than most people realize. Beyond knowledge and skill, your mindset—how you think and feel while studying and taking the test—can influence your results in meaningful ways. One key factor to watch closely is self-confidence. It might seem surprising, but your level of confidence can directly affect how carefully and effectively you work through questions.
Think about what happens when confidence is low. If you doubt your ability to reach your target score, you may, consciously or not, approach your studies with hesitation. You might skip steps, avoid difficult questions, or rush through problems without fully engaging. This mindset makes it easy to fall into patterns of small, preventable errors. Over time, those errors add up and reinforce the false belief that you “just aren’t good at the GMAT.”
But confidence is not fixed—it can be built. Every high scorer you’ve read about or watched online has gone through the same process of learning, struggling, and improving. Their confidence grew as their skills grew. What appears effortless is almost always the result of deliberate practice, not innate talent.
If you’re struggling to feel confident right now, you can still take control of your mindset. Use small, daily wins to build momentum. Track your improvements in accuracy or timing. Celebrate the problems you get right for the right reasons. Over time, those small successes compound into a genuine sense of belief in your ability to succeed.
If needed, you can also use a “fake it until you make it” approach. Tell yourself that you are capable, that you will master the material, and that you will perform at a high level on test day. Positive self-talk is not about blind optimism; it is about setting the tone for how you approach the work. Confidence influences effort, and effort drives results.
Ultimately, confidence is not the absence of doubt—it is the decision to keep showing up and doing your best, even when progress feels slow. When you begin to trust your ability to learn and improve, the careless errors start to fade, your focus sharpens, and your performance follows.
Feel free to reach out with any questions about your GMAT prep. Happy studying!
Warmest regards,
Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep
The Link Between Confidence and Performance on the GMAT
Psychological factors play a larger role in GMAT performance than most people realize. Beyond knowledge and skill, your mindset—how you think and feel while studying and taking the test—can influence your results in meaningful ways. One key factor to watch closely is self-confidence. It might seem surprising, but your level of confidence can directly affect how carefully and effectively you work through questions.
Think about what happens when confidence is low. If you doubt your ability to reach your target score, you may, consciously or not, approach your studies with hesitation. You might skip steps, avoid difficult questions, or rush through problems without fully engaging. This mindset makes it easy to fall into patterns of small, preventable errors. Over time, those errors add up and reinforce the false belief that you “just aren’t good at the GMAT.”
But confidence is not fixed—it can be built. Every high scorer you’ve read about or watched online has gone through the same process of learning, struggling, and improving. Their confidence grew as their skills grew. What appears effortless is almost always the result of deliberate practice, not innate talent.
If you’re struggling to feel confident right now, you can still take control of your mindset. Use small, daily wins to build momentum. Track your improvements in accuracy or timing. Celebrate the problems you get right for the right reasons. Over time, those small successes compound into a genuine sense of belief in your ability to succeed.
If needed, you can also use a “fake it until you make it” approach. Tell yourself that you are capable, that you will master the material, and that you will perform at a high level on test day. Positive self-talk is not about blind optimism; it is about setting the tone for how you approach the work. Confidence influences effort, and effort drives results.
Ultimately, confidence is not the absence of doubt—it is the decision to keep showing up and doing your best, even when progress feels slow. When you begin to trust your ability to learn and improve, the careless errors start to fade, your focus sharpens, and your performance follows.
Feel free to reach out with any questions about your GMAT prep. Happy studying!
Warmest regards,
Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep
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