Taking Stock

"Every battle is decided before the first shot is fired."

One of the most common barriers to excellent performance is excessive awareness of one's weaknesses.

Do you keep thinking about the question types you haven't mastered, the time you haven't put in, the pages of review material you haven't yet gotten to? If so, odds are that you've started to lose sight of all of the very real successes and progress you've achieved to date. And let's face it—each of us is going to gain confidence (and points) not from what we don't know, not from what we're weak in, but from our strengths.

Review your preparation process thus far. List all of the things, large and small, that you are good at doing. Don't leave out all of the things you're O.K. at, and all of the things you've learned

Over the days and weeks ahead, we need for you to do two additional tasks:

• Expand the list every few days.
• Keep re-reading it, and reminding yourself of how skilled you are, and how far you've come.