The Cat Chronicles

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The CAT Chronicles
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The CAT Chronicles
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A journey into the last month of CAT

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Abhishek Thakore

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The CAT Chronicles
A journey in the last month of CAT
Dedicated to
You
for undertaking this brave journey towards actualizing your dreams
The CAT Chronicles
Version 1.0
E-‐Book
(c) Abhishek Thakore, 2009 as original author.
Copyright Lisence -‐ (cc)(sa)(nc)
This book is under a Creative Commons licence. You may freely distribute this book for non
commercial purposes. If you do modify it or make derivative works, they too should be under the
same licence.
Downloaded from http://www.pagalguy.com/

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Preface

I’d love to write a long preface to this book but I will just get to the point.
Read this book.
Then apply it.
Then read it again.
Then apply it even more.
The entire idea of ‘gyaan’ is that it needs to be applied for results. Else its just a sheer waste of your
time. And that time, in this last one month of CAT is precious.
Thats it.
Abhishek Thakore
Mumbai
November 2009

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Contents
Preface................................................................................................................................................... 3
Ch 1: The end......................................................................................................................................... 5
Ch 2: The checklist ................................................................................................................................. 6
Ch 3 : The Mail ....................................................................................................................................... 7
Ch 4 : The Chat....................................................................................................................................... 8
Ch 5 : Take what applies ...................................................................................................................... 10
Ch 6 – Its not only in the head ............................................................................................................. 11
Ch 7 : The ‘game’ changes now ........................................................................................................... 12
Ch 8 : Push v/s acceptance .................................................................................................................. 13
Ch 8 : The strategy ahead .................................................................................................................... 14
Ch 9 : On the day tips........................................................................................................................... 16
Ch 10 : You can do it!........................................................................................................................... 17
Ch 11: The beginning ........................................................................................................................... 18
About the book.................................................................................................................................... 19
Epilogue ............................................................................................................................................... 20
The Inner Game of CAT.................................................................................................................... 20
About Abhishek Thakore ..................................................................................................................... 24
About The Learning Company ............................................................................................................. 25


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Ch 1: The end

As he walked out of the exam hall, Tiku gave a satisfying look back at the center. There was a smile
on his face. The CAT was over – at last!
The effort that he had put in for a long year had at last fructified. Life was good again.
His hands reached his pocket.
‘Gotta pick up the mobile phone and call up Kutty’ he said
Moving out of his center at Jai Hind, he started to walk towards his favourite marine drive. The
afternoon sun shone mercilessly on the stretch. The wind was cooling.
Phone unavailable.
Tiku’s thoughts raced back...
He was on track to preparation – like any other typical student.
He opened his journal to the first page – he had started to record progress only after Kehsihba had
come into his life.

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Ch 2: The checklist

Nov 1st
The challenges I face:
-‐ Fluctuating marks make me tensed up

-‐ I don’t feel motivated enough
-‐ I waste my time away doing other things
-‐ I don’t feel that my prep is enough
-‐ The pressure is just increasing
-‐ I don’t know whose advice to listen
-‐ I am not doing well at Quant but well in Verbal
He was like a typical student. But this was now only a month before CAT – and that meant that he
needed to do something urgently to solve these issues!
Actually he already knew most of his issues.
But he was doing this because his elder sister Aku had asked him to do it. She said that someone
called Kehsihba will mail him.

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Ch 3 : The Mail

Dear Tiku,
This is Kehsihba. You don’t know me but I am related to you by a chain.
This chain is a chain of people who have passed on some very important ideas to each other. These
ideas are called the CAT Chronicles.
I know you through your sister who is a good friend.
But before I start a little bit about me.
I am a first year student at IIM Bangalore. Did my commerce at NM College in Mumbai and took CAT
right after that.
It was almost the same time as you are in now...just a month before my preparations...when I was
contacted by someone by the name of Thakur. He, at that time was a first year IIM A student. And he
too found me through a strange connection.
At that very critical stage he passed me what he called the CAT Chronicles.
Its a collection of very simple ideas – and yet they are as profound as they are simple.
Add me as a friend on Gtalk and we shall chat about this.
My email id is kehsihba.erokaht@gmail.com
Cheers!
Keh

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Ch 4 : The Chat

Tiku : Hey hi
Keh : Hey hi Tikku, good to see you! So whats up?
Tiku : Prep going on. But before anything ahead, tell me how did you spot me – or rather how did
you select me to speak about the CAT Chronicles? I am really curious to know....
Keh : Heheh....actually this is like a kind of a tradition. These are ideas that were penned down years
ago by some one from IIM A. It is rumoured that it was from the first batch of IIM A....I’d like to
believe it was CK Prahlad who wrote these in his days there... 
Tiku : WOW! So whats the deal here?
Keh : Well ever since then, these ideas have been passed. There is nothing new or exclusive about
these ideas. Yet the way they are expressed in the Chronicles is unique. And every year they are
passed onto someone who is preparing for CAT....
Tiku : So how do you choose who that person is?
Keh : Well the way it is instructed in the Chronicles – you acquaint yourself with a circle of people
who are taking the CAT attempt. Get some idea about them, and how they are performing. From
those, pass it onto any one person who your gut feel points out to.
Tiku : Hmm....life changing secrets hyped as ‘Chronicles’ huh? What if I tell you that I don’t need
them – either ways if i am going to make it i will and if i am not going to make it i wont...
Keh : Sure, suit yourself. I am forbidden to offer it to anyone else – so if it doesn’t get passed it dies.
For every year since these started out these were passed – and were graciously accepted too. You
don’t need to take them though.
But remember at the same time that these are not some secret formula that will transform you
overnight into a CAT champion. In fact the Chronicles themselves say that change doesn’t happen
overnight.
However what these will do is to help you – right now.
Tiku : A month before the exams!!
Keh : Yes. A month before. Thats when they are meant to be passed on. Anything earlier doesn’t
work and anything later is pointless
Tiku : So why create this hype of Chronicles and stuff? Why not just write a newspaper article and
get done with it?

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Keh : Maybe because CKP believed in branding and exclusivity! Well seriously speaking these ideas
do not resonate with everybody – coz not all are responsible enough to handle the ideas it speaks
about. You are totally free to speak about these ideas to others – knowledge is to be shared. They
are shared as chronicles and passed on to someone deserving (or who I believe is deserving!) is so
that they are preserved and passed on....
Tiku : Okay kewl I get it. So whats the deal now?
Keh : Nothing much. I pass you the Chronicles. You read them. You apply what makes sense to you.
You discard the rest. You speak to people about it. And when you make it next year to your dream
business school, choose a worthy suitor and pass it onto him.
Tiku : Ah! So the secret formula to make it to IIM B?
Keh : Not really! Not necessary that you get into the best B School in the country...but you will surely
get into what you truly deserve – these Chronicles will streamline your attempt and give you that
push which you need. I believe in you. And hence this knowledge is yours to keep
Tiku : Hmmm...great! So that makes sense....I have made a list of my issues – do you want me to
share them with you?
Keh: No that was for your own reference... keep it with you and see how these chronicles work on
those
Tiku : Well thanks – so how will you pass it to me
Keh : I will send it to you by email – as an attachment with a password. You will receive the password
by SMS.
Tiku : well you are making it sound totally mumbo jumbo cryptic
Keh : Well thats how its meant to be done 
Tiku : Great!

Keh : So cool then...stay in touch by email...and apply them!
Tiku: Yeah cheers!


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Ch 5 : Take what applies

Tiku unzipped the attachment he received. It opened into multiple word documents. He opened the
one marked 01.doc
“As you come closer to CAT, the amount of advice thrown at you will increase...dramatically...
There will be news articles, friends, family members, teachers, siblings, b school grads and everyone
around....
And then your situation actually makes sure that you will try and act on each one of them.
Advice however is quite a retrospective insight. People do what they do and then try to provide
explanations for what happened – that’s what advice boils down to.
So the basic idea is to be very careful with what you apply. If you keep listening to and trying out
different suggestions, you will keep swinging like a pendulum.
By this time you should have had a fair idea of what works for you and what doesn’t.
And what works for you will not be a long list – it will only be one or two things, and those things
only you know.
Its useful to read ‘topper speak’ – what people who cracked CAT did. But what they did worked for
them. Its totally not necessary that it should work for you at all.
Its like this. Someone could say that ‘I scratched my nose with my left hand each time I took the
paper’. The cause effect relationship may appear but may not be true at all. Atleast, you scratching
your nose with your left hand will not work!
There are two ways you can try to understand what is working for you – one is using your gut feel.
Ask yourself what you feel comfortable with. What strategy seems to be working.
The other way is to go by data – look at your actual performance to understand what is happening.
Remember to filter all that you hear, see and read from the lens of common sense”

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Ch 6 – Its not only in the head

CAT is not what happens in your head alone. It is what happens in your gut.
The motivation for CAT will keep moving – it will keep dwindling and rising. But what will retain it is
the constant desire to make it there.
If your motivation is fluctuating it only means that your vision for yourself is not clear.
Instead of beating yourself up, try and find out why your motivation has dwindled. Refocus on what
is your vision for yourself.
What will move you? What will move you to wake up every day in the morning with an unstoppable
desire to make it happen? What will make sure that you are at the best of your performance in the
exam?
Its not your thoughts, your intellectualization.
It is your emotions.
So also, be very careful of the emotions that you experience closer to CAT.
Jelously guard your brain, your psyche from negative and unwanted emotions.
No fights with girlfriend / boyfriend. No arguments with friends. No disturbing movies. No irritating
conversations.
Handle your emotions with kid gloves so that you are in the peak emotional state when you appear
for the exam.
Remember, as important as thinking and intellect is your heart and gut.
Often that differentiates people who make the difference from those who don’t.

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Ch 7 : The ‘game’ changes now

Its the last month of CAT – and this is when the game changes. The old rules no longer apply. The
same principles do not make any sense. Its time to revise strategy.
It is now too late to learn anything new. If you expect to learn something dramatic in the last one
month, forget it.
That time has gone.
Now is the time to consolidate. To be certain about what you know and what you don’t.
There will be some topics that you are absolutely certain about. You are totally clear on these
concepts and you can mostly tackle any question in this subject. Mark those topics out.
On the other hand there will be topics that you are absolutely dismal at. Maybe you missed the
concept classes. Maybe you could never figure out what the whole thing really meant. Either ways
there is no time now to work on this.
Just revise your basic concepts to make sure that you don’t miss any sitters in the subject. But
beyond that any further investment is a waste of time and energy. A lot of research in self
development shows that we must focus on our strengths. So focus on your strengths to make it
happen for you.
This is time for revision and test taking.
You also need to be careful not to over practice.
We will talk about this in the coming chapters.
But one thing is certain – the rules of the game have changed and wont remain the same. What you
have been doing so far is not a great idea to do in the last one month.

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Ch 8 : Push v/s acceptance

Over the last months you have been very hard on yourself. You have shouted at yourself for not
performing. You have tried to push yourself to do more and more.
Now is time to stop being harsh on yourself. It is time to accept.
If your performance / preparation for CAT right now stands at 6, you have been aiming for 10. But
now its time to be realistic. Aiming for 10 will only add pressure, tension and frustration to you.
Instead, aim for a 7 or an 8. It is now realistic.
Very often, and typically achievers tend to push themselves very hard to achieve – and do really well
for themselves. However coming very close to the exams, too much pushing can actually have a
counter effect.
The challenge thus is to balance the pushing with acceptance. When you accept your limitations,
suddenly you are free to focus on your strengths.
An entire branch of psychology called Acceptance Commitment Therapy is based on mindful
acceptance of limitations – so its scientifically proven to work.
Mentally tell yourself ‘I accept myself as I am – and I will give my best’
The mere act of giving your best will transform you – you will be able to look at yourself in the eye,
when you look into the mirror. You will respect yourself. You will have no regrets – all because you
gave your best to the situation, to whatever existed.
The first step to giving your best is to stop being overly harsh on yourself.

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Ch 8 : The strategy ahead

People spend overnights studying for CAT. Thats a great idea – but not closer to the exam.
Look at this last month as a ‘net practice’ to the exams. Think about it as something that will get you
prepared for the real exams.
Having said that, you don’t want to burn out or injure yourself on the nets.
So the actual CAT practice needs to come down – maybe a test + analysis every day + a little bit of
touching on concepts. Typically 6 hours a day should suffice.
What do you do in the rest of the time? Do not let your mind rest for sure – let it be active. Read
newspaper editorials. Solve Sudokus and puzzles. Do anything that relaxes you.
Also then avoid anything thats too much of an eyestrain like using the computer or TV. These will
automatically affect your energy level and hence the energy that you bring into the test.
It is important that you give yourself physical exercise as well – so make sure you take brisk walks for
atleast 30 mins each in the morning and evening.
Another practice that will do you really good is to meditate – just close your eyes and sit at a relaxed
place. Be very still and concentrate on your breath. If your mind deviates, gently bring it back to the
breath.
The time of the meditation every day should be just before your actual test taking time. So for eg. If
you plan to take a test in the 10 am slot, you should meditate 9 30 every day.
Sleep is also important – you will have to take care of sleeping patterns. Typically on the day of the
exam people tend to wake up nervous and too early. Others might still be groggy because they are
used to waking up late.
So fix up a set time to sleep, and ideally not after 11pm. Wake up at a set time – ideally targeting 8
hours of sleep, but customized depending on your sleep requirement.
Finally take care of your diet – you need to make sure that you stay away from junk food, refined
flour and basically ‘anything that comes in a packet’. These are difficult for your body to digest.
Instead, try and eat dry fruit, greens and raw foods as well as fruits. These are healthy.
Drink plenty of water.
Finally do not discount the power of prayer. So regularly pray for strength and faith.
Now thats a lot of suggestions already – so instead of reading them, please actually apply
them.

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Ch 9 : On the day tips

On the day of the CAT you need to wake up early in the morning. Be in a relaxed frame of mind, and
have a nice long bath and a good breakfast.
Reach the center early enough to familiarize yourself with it. Take some time to get centered – a
little bit of breathing meditation will help.
Get into the frame of looking forward to the test – being ready to ‘crack’ it.
In the actual test always make sure to give a few minutes to go through the entire paper and
mentally formulate your strategy.
Start with taking those topic questions where both your accuracy and attempts are high. Pick the
easy ones first and get done with them. Once you jump into a question, remember to follow through
till the end – try and finish the question because you have already invested time in it.
Having said that, its also important to maintain accuracy – the challenge again is to keep getting
questions right and avoiding negatives. CAT is an exam that clearly rewards accuracy. So instead of
going all out and attempting, be careful to only attempt that what you are sure to get correct.
Hence the next set of questions you will attempt are those where your accuracy is high and the
attempts are relatively lower.
You should keep a watch for sitters – if there are any that is 
Again I also recommend taking an assessment of where you are every half an hour – that will make
sure you don’t get lost in the paper and keep on track.
Give your best to the test, and on God leave the rest.”

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Ch 10 : You can do it!

CAT is a game. Thats what it is.
And you play a game just to enjoy it. When you are playing the game you give your best to it. You try
to give it all you have. But at the same time you remember that its only a game.
Whatever you want in life, you will get if you believe you can – sooner or later. CAT or no CAT.
But don’t let that affect your motivation for the exam. Instead, look at CAT like a game – a game that
you are playing. Enjoy the game. Give it your best.
Ultimately this is a great way to test yourself – to test how you react to pressure. To test where you
are good and what you are bad at.
CAT is a wonderful exam. It is an exam where you are not forced to answer everything – you have a
choice. It is also an exam with limited time.
To that extent its pretty much like life. You have loads of choices. And then you have limited time.
The challenge is to make the right choices and follow through to make the most out of them.
There is no guarantee about CAT. There are so many factors that govern your performance – most of
them are out of your control.
But you will focus on whats in your control – and that is your own effort. When you give complete
effort to it, you will be surprised at the kind of effect it has on you.
No one can tell what the CAT paper will be like. No one can tell which B School you will get into and
what percentile you will get.
But one thing is for sure – that when you give your best, YOU CAN DO IT!

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Ch 11: The beginning

As he walked out of the exam hall, Tiku gave a satisfying look back at the center. There was a smile
on his face. The CAT was over – at last!
He mentally thanked Kehsihba for choosing him to pass on the Chronicles.
It was now time to start preparing for the GD PI.
As expected, Tiku got all six calls. He converted B, L, I and K. He was waitlisted for C.
He took up IIM Bangalore and had a great time. It was around November next year that he
remembered the Chronicles – almost accidentially.
He decided to put them all in one book – The CAT Chronicles.
It was time to pass them to someone worthy. Someone who would apply the knowledge and also
share it with others.
Tiku decided that its been too long that this knowledge has been exclusive. It should now go to as
many people.
I trust that these Chronicles will reach the person who needs it – and will apply it too.
Right now, that person is YOU.

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About the book

The CAT Chronicles was born out of seeing the stress and tension of the last one month of CAT.
I often say that CAT is a great excuse to talk to youngsters about more important issues in life. This is
true for this book too.
Instead of trying to publish the book through a publisher and wait for it to hit the markets, I decided
to make this a ‘post-‐paid ebook’
I trust you to apply all that is outlined in this book – and if you do, this book will benefit you for sure.
Once it does, you can pay it back / pay it forward. There are various ways in which you can do this:
-‐ Forward this book to people who you think will find it useful (I’d love to say that forward this
to 10 people and your CAT percentile will improve by 1% but I won’t).

-‐ Drop in a mail to me at abhishek.thakore@gmail.com to tell me how it helped you, your
feedback and anything else you’d like to see added to this book.

-‐ Pay for the book. Or donate (if you like to call it that). You paying for this book will let me do
more of this kind of writing – which in turn will mean we can together help more people.
You can do this in multiple ways – simplest would be to courier cash to my home address.
302 A/B Sonakiran, Kanderpada, Dahisar (West), Mumbai – 400068.

-‐ Join into a workshop that I am running. That will also ensure that we meet face to face and
can work together.

-‐ Organize a talk at your college or organisation by TLC.

We are trying to experiment with a new economic model that moves away from the ‘rational human
being’ assumption to put trust in people. The belief is that given enough value, people will
contribute back to the same system, and together create a thriving ecosystem where knowledge is
freely shared.
We hope you join us in this experiment, in which ever way you can.

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Epilogue

Tiku also authored an article to share ideas around soft skills – none of this was in the Chronicles,
because it was more to do with preparation before the last one month. None the less, he decided to
attach the article to the Chronicles.
The Inner Game of CAT

Its interesting that a majority of factors for CAT aspirants are similar. They are all graduating (though
from different streams). They all have access to CAT coaching classes. And to the Mock tests. They
have equal time to prepare. And there are thousands with a similar ‘IQ’ – intelligence level.

What then, makes the difference between those who make it to the business schools of their
dreams v/s those who don’t?
It’s their mindset.
The external, visible part of the CAT preparation is what we may call the ‘Hard’ side of CAT. It’s same
for most, and it’s measurable and visible. Hence it is also every easy to work on it.
The invisible side is however, the mindset. This comprises if everything intangible that affects the
CAT prep. It is the attitude, the beliefs, the motivation levels, the discipline etc. This is the ‘Softer
side of CAT’. It is that part which is most unaddressed, and yet the one that makes the greatest
difference to the actual performance. In fact, it is the greatest differentiator of mediocrity v/s
excellence.
With the clock ticking, and CAT coming closer, it is even more important to manage oneself. This is
typically the time of ups and downs in motivation, slips in discipline and lousy feelings. And this is
where the mindset really counts.

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So lets talk about what constitutes the CAT mindset, and how we can apply it in our preparation,
starting now.
1. Managing feelings

Managing your performance is in a large part, managing how you ‘feel’. There are times
when you feel lazy and a lot of us are not able to break out of this feeling. Similarly feeling
tired, demotivated or not being able to concentrate are also ‘states’ i.e. feelings.
Essentially, a ‘state’ is created by multiple factors – facial expressions, posture, voice,
physical movement etc. It is widely believed that our feelings affect these factors, which is
true. However research has also proven that it is true the other way round as well i.e.
changes in these factors can change how we feel.
Similarly what we focus on, in a large part makes a big difference in how we feel. Hence,
instead of focussing on your failures and misses, it is important to focus on successes and
achievements – this will again help you feel better.
Feeling lazy can for example, be overcome by thinking of times when you were actually
active. Similarly if you go for a jog or exercise, your feeling of being lazy will pass away.
2. Managing Stress

The entire CAT exam is about maintaining a cool head in face of immense pressure. The way
to do this is learning to manage stress.
A certain level of stress is actually conductive to the preparation and performance. However
this becomes dysfunctional when the stress exceeds its optimal level.
Managing stress essentially is about learning to relax. A good way to do this is to sit in a
quiet secluded place with closed eyes. You may use some relaxing music, and then pay
attention to each part of your body and relax it consciously. You can maintain the state of

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relaxation by holding a beautiful picture in your head – of a beach or a mountain. Having
done this for a few minutes, come out slowly of it, and get back to your surroundings.
Deep breathing is also a great way to relax. The idea is to be able to generate the ‘relaxation
response’ at will and use it to our advantage
3. Visioning

A lot of times, the motivation to make it to our dream B School dwindles. Often, while there
is intent to get into a business school, it simply feels unreal. To work on this, we must use
the power of visioning.
To be able to do this, firstly, you need a few pictures of the dream B school you want to be
in. These are freely available on websites – download these, and if possible print them in
color for you to see.
A typical visioning exercise will be where you completely relax yourself first. You then see
yourself entering the business school of your dreams – through your own eyes, in full color,
motion and with sound. Create the feelings that you would have, when you would actually
be entering the B School. Let those feeling stay and magnify them.
You can also make a ‘treasure map’ – a graffiti of pictures that show you in the dream B
School.
The idea is to make it real for the mind – with the principle that ‘what your mind can believe,
you can achieve’
4. Beliefs

A belief is a feeling of certainty about something. Its an unquestioned command that
compels us to act in a certain manner. The interesting bit is that beliefs can be formed
through experiences that are both real and imagined.

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A disempowering belief like “I am bad at quant” can hamper your performance. Conversely,
a belief like “I can always give my best and keep improving on it” is an empowering belief.

So how do you work on your beliefs? The first step is to list down your beliefs. Typical beliefs
begin with “I am…”, “I can..”, “CAT is…” etc. After listing these down circle the
disempowering ones.
The way to break through these is through questioning. When a belief is questioned enough
number of times, it begins to become weak. So for example, the belief is “I am lazy”. You
need to ask piercing questions. Have I always been lazy? Was there any time when I was not
lazy at all? What will having this belief cost me in the future?
Magnify the negative as you imagine the outcome of having the disempowering belief –
because the mind will respond to pain much faster.
When you take on a new belief, do atleast one action that is congruent to your new belief
before you leave the site and time of changing the belief.
With empowering beliefs, surprisingly, the effort you put into the preparation will become
effortless.
Doing well in CAT begins with a decision. And you need to make that decision now – to give your
best and only your best. Once you have done this, there is nothing that can stop you from achieving
your dream.

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About Abhishek Thakore

Abhishek Thakore is a gold medallist from IIM Bangalore. He is currently pursuing his PhD from IIT
Bombay.
Abhishek is the CEO of The Learning Company, an enterprise in education and self development. He
is passionate about helping youngsters find their inner calling and actualize their potential. He is the
Chief Catalyst of Blue Ribbon Movement, a youth NGO based in Mumbai.
He is the author of three bestselling books which have together sold over 50,000 copies.
He has worked with organisations like Deutsche Bank and BCG. His training and consulting
assignments span various sectors including cement, textiles, telecom, heavy engineering and auto
ancillaries.
He was the Zonal Rotaract Representative of Dist.3140 in Rotaract. He has also won over 50 different
competitions including Mr. Malhar and Mr. Umang. He was the best outgoing student for NM
College.
He loves to write on spiritual humor, poetry and self development. He is into trekking and is an avid
reader. He experiments with improvisational theatre.
To know even more about Abhishek, google for “Abhishek Thakore” !
You can mail him at abhishek.thakore@gmail.com

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About The Learning Company

The Learning Company exists to help individuals and organisations actualize their potential.
It is into a broad range of activities related to self and organisational development.
TLC conducts training seminars and talks on various personal growth and management topics. Its
consulting division provides training and consulting for various corporate organisations. We have
also initiated the ‘Million Super Students’ program to take effective studies to one million students
by end of 2011. Apart from this TLC does school syllabus consulting and is planning to enter into a
chain of self development centers.
We’re ‘happy to help’ – get in touch with us with your issues and we will do our best to help you
with them! 
Mail : abhishek.thakore@gmail.com

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About PaGaLGuY.com

PaGaLGuY.com is India’s biggest and most trusted MBA preparatory resources website, used by over
500,000 MBA applicants every month to:
1. Seek help to prepare for MBA entrance exams such as the CAT, XAT, SNAP, JMET, CET (India) and
GMAT, TOEFL, IELTS (International) and related admission interviews.
2. Make smart and informed decisions about joining business school in India and abroad.
Since it started in 2002, PaGaLGuY.com follows an online community approach to create smart and
useful products to make MBA applicants’ lives easier. You might have heard people say:
‘PaGaLGuY.com is among the handful of websites that pioneered true and robust online
communities in India.’ We started with the PaGaLGuY.com MBA Forums in 2002, which now have
1.57 million discussion posts written by over 320,000 users solely on MBA preparation and
admissions. We have also built trend-‐setting services for MBA aspirants that combine technology
and community to empower the MBA aspirant community.
MBA perspectives and analysis: http://www.pagalguy.com
MBA forums: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum
B-‐school Rankings: http://rankings.pagalguy.com
Prep for CAT/XAT/MAT: http://www.pagalguy.com/prep

27

About CPLC

A number of ideas of this book have been inspired by Prof. Parag Chitale from CPLC.
CPLC is a test prep institute located in Mumbai. It has branches all over the city.
CPLC is founded on the basis of value education, personalized for each individual.
“ We, at CPLC are committed to help students achieve their goals and thus our all activities are
student centric. We are proud of our students' achievements and remain committed to building a
long term career platform for each one of them.

Our core team is called the Nucleus and consists of best professionals from the industry with huge
experience of preparing students for the kind of examinations one is aiming for.
Founded in December 2002, it has trained over 3000 students for various competitive business
school entrance exams and within 6 years of its personalised and dedicated training to students,
CPLC has established itself as one of the leading training institutes.
Why is CPLC better than any other institute? What brings students here despite being bombarded by
the biggies competing in the same field? "The kind of attention every student enjoys here is
unmatched", says Ankur from NM College, who's currently studying at CPLC. "Parag sir knows every
single student personally. You can approach him any time, and he willingly takes on the role of a
mentor, and a very able one at that", adds Pooja, another CPLC student.”
You can visit CPLC at www.cplc.net.in or contact Prof. Parag Chitale on 9 702 702 000


28

I wish you all the best for your exams – and hope that you will apply all that you know to the fullest.
Do share your CAT story with me – I’ll be happy to hear, and to help you out with any issues that you
might have
Till then, just GO FOR IT!
Cheers!
Abhishek

The Cat Chronicles

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Onefinedayoutofnowheretikurecieve

for undertaking this brave journey towards actualizing your dreams

The CAT Chronicles

(c) Abhishek Thakore, 2009 as original author.

Copyright Lisence -­‐ (cc)(sa)(nc)

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Read this book.

Then apply it.

Then read it again.

Then apply it even more.

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Ch 1: The end

His hands reached his pocket.

Tiku’s thoughts raced back...

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Ch 2: The checklist

The challenges I face:

-­‐ Fluctuating marks make me tensed up

Actually he already knew most of his issues.

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I know you through your sister who is a good friend.

But before I start a little bit about me.

My email id is kehsihba.erokaht@gmail.com

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Tiku : Hey hi

Tiku : WOW! So whats the deal here?

Tiku : A month before the exams!!

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Keh : Well thats how its meant to be done 

Tiku: Yeah cheers!

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Ch 5 : Take what applies

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Ch 6 – Its not only in the head

Its not your thoughts, your intellectualization.

It is your emotions.

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Ch 7 : The ‘game’ changes now

That time has gone.

This is time for revision and test taking.

We will talk about this in the coming chapters.

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Ch 8 : Push v/s acceptance

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Ch 8 : The strategy ahead

Drink plenty of water.

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Ch 9 : On the day tips

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Ch 10 : You can do it!

CAT is a game. Thats what it is.

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Ch 11: The beginning

Right now, that person is YOU.

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About the book

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The Inner Game of CAT

It’s their mindset.

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Copyright Lisence -‐ (cc)(sa)(nc)

-‐ Fluctuating marks make me tensed up

B-‐school Rankings: http://rankings.pagalguy.com