Hi All.
First of all, I thank you all for showing your interest by posting your comments on my 1st post.
As I mentioned in my last post that I will be writing about ‘How to prepare for MBA in long run’, here it comes.
Lets Understand 1 thing first. People(CAT experts) say that CAT is an aptitude test. My ques to that statement is, what kind of aptitude does it check. My ans when I don’t want to ans is, It checks ‘Managerial aptitude’. What I have not told here is, what is managerial aptitude? Now, my suggestion to all is, tell me what do u think is the managerial aptitude?
What is my understanding of managerial aptitude, I will post that soon. Not posting for I want all of you to brain storm about it. BRAIN STORM: thats one of the things which makes managerial aptitude. Hey guys, so if u read all my posts carefully(over a period of time), u will understand what it is, though I will write explicitly what it is.
In this post my focus is on, what to do to develop that managerial aptitude.
So, here I a few things you should do on a regular basis(daily) not till u clear CAT but even in those 2 years and years after that.
1. Start reading DELHI TIMES. Hey, I am marketing TOI for no salary. Most of the CAT teachers will say, be away from DELHI TIMES. Guys, see it from my eyes. There is SUDOKU, KAKURO, SPELLATHON, CROSS WORDS, MIND BLENDER, LOOP THE LOOP etc. in all 7 or 8 such things. I suggest start spending time on these things. Initially you may end up spending 2 to 3 hours on these, but soon, with a little practice your time will come down to 50 minutes approx. As of now, try solving these spendng as much time as you can, per day.
2. Pick up some puzzle books. There are 3 books by Shauntala Devi. They are good. Pls note here that Shakuntala devi has not written these books for CAT and other MBA entrance exams. So many puzzles there, u may not feel that they are useful for CAT. Never mind. Since you do not know what is useful for CAT and what is not, in thise books, I suggest you better concentrate on solving those puzzles. Guys, 3 books taken together, you have to solve just 5 puzzles per day. And beware. Solutions are there at the back. DO NOT, DO NOT for god sake refer to solutions till you have tried solving a puzzle at least 5 times, on 5 different days. Just match your answers.
3. Start reading some novels. U should be an avid reader. U shud have 1 novel going, always. I know some of u hate reading novels. But then a manager has to read many reports he is not interested in. So u will have to develop this habit of reading. To name a few good novels, I will say, ATLAS SHRUGGED, GONE WITH THE WIND, THIRD WAVE, FUTURE SHOCK, POWER SHIFT, MADE IN JAPAN, BUSINESS @ SPEED OF THOUGHT, GOD OF SMALL THINGS, LEE IOCOCCA-An Autobiography, CHICKEN SOUP(all editions), THE TOYOTA WAY, ZEN & ART OF MOTOR CYCLE MAINTENANCE, DAVINCI CODE, SOPHIE’S WORLD, PRIDE & PREJUDICE are some good ones to start. For those who will start reading novels for the first time, 5 POINT SOMEONE, 1 NIGHT @ CALL CENTRE, ALCHEMIST, Books by Sydney Sheldon, TO SIR WITH LOVE, WHO MOVED MY CHEESE, 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE, WHALE DONE, RICH DAD POOR DAD are some of the good ones. Typically 1 novel should be finished in 4 to 10 days, spending about 2 hours a day. For those who don’t have time to read that much, I will suggest use, ‘time of travelling’, ‘time of waiting for ur turn at doctor’s clinic’ etc., to read.
4. Read at least 1 newspaper a day. I like TOI bt for MBA prep I will suggest HINDU as 1st choice, INDIAN EXPRESS as 2nd. I suggest start with any 1.
5. Read a Financial Newspaper, daily, at least Mon to Fri. I like ET, you may start with any other as well.
6. Subscribe EPW, a weekly magazine, Economic & Political Weekly. www.epw.org. If I can recall properly, in 2004 there was a RC which was a part of one of the articles from EPW. Read THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, TIMES MAGAZINE, AND ECONOMISTS. You should read these regularly. A must for your good health.
7. Read a general magazine like Outlook, India today etc. and a business magazine Business world, business today etc. regularly.
8. Play Minesweeper. Play Chess. Play Poker, teen patti of and on.
9. Solve some puzzles on internet, average 10 puzzles a week.
10. For Grammar pick up Raymond Murphy(Beginner) and read 3 chapter a day. And read them 2-3 times till u get everything in your head. U may like to pick Wren & Martin. Ok with me. 1 Chapter a day.
11. Word power made easy – by norman louis. Read a chapter a day and follow the instructions inside. In addition, pick up any tutorials word list and start mugging up 25 words a day. Its a boring exercise. What do you say? Follow my method. Learn 25 new words of A the first day. 2nd day 25 new words of B and revise old words of A. 3rd day 25 new words of C and revise old words of A & B and so on. Revise maximum 4 old alphabets. In additon, you the tricks given here by Bhuvanesh. They are good.
12. And now the last thing, my favorite subject. Maths or Problem Solving as it is called. Don’t worry. This is the easiest subject to learn. U don’t believe me. Ohh i c…
Lets see what are people’s comment abt what i said, that its the most easiest subject to learn.
Guys, I want your feedback, not with respect to what u feel abt what I have written, but with respect to how you feel after following this schedule religiously for at least 5 to 7 days.
Happy START of your preparations…
Wait for the next post for tips on Maths…
Bye. VM
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Prashant
For YEAR BOOK, get in touch with Bhuvanesh @ 9990709663 or bhuvanesh@zioneducationonline.com
All the Best
VM
hi i’m in third year student i want to know that how to start the prepration for mba and what material are referred
Hi Shilpa. Is it possible for you to talk to me over phone or come to our centre and discuss things at length. It will be easier for me to explain everything, than doing it here in writing(typing). My no. is 9891638000. All the Best.
sir!! i find that i have been already inclined to your methods partially, though following them on a regular basis is a tough task. i am fond of playing chess and poker and regularly solve the puzzles in the newspaper. however, obtaining issues of all the given magazines is difficult. will certainly try reading a few and provide a feedback.
Nishant.
U should at least start. At least read everything, if not together, may be one after the other. That will start serving the purpose.
hey i m a final year engg student going to start preparations for mba, found it a lot useful. i already solve the puzzles and all tht kind of stuff nd also fond of reading…….
Thats good swapnil. If you need any help just let us know. We will be obliged to help you.Even we can refer you some good instis.
i wanna ask apart frm d above wht other things should i start for my preparation, nd will i b able to crack the cat by preparing for if i appear for it d nxt year?????
One thing you shoul do is reading. Read…. Read….Read….thats the major thing you should go for…
sir thank you for sharing such golden methods for us to start with our preparation….
thanks a lot sir, found it very useful.
sir plz tell me the name of shakuntla devi’s books
dear sir,
i m already preparing for CAT and i think it is goin in nice way…….m already following many of the advices u hav given here……..bt i want more material for practice……i usually end up finding almost the same material over the net. sir plz tell hw do i get more material for practice since practice is the only key to CAT…………
Ah!!! finally someone to tell in clear terms what to read and how to read.
Will be starting my prep soon and your tips sure is more than helpful.
Though I find it nearly impossible to read so many books(Novels, magazines, newspapers, puzzles) in a single day.
hi sir i am so confusued i want to know that how to start the preeapare for mba?&which material are used?