A restless urge to compete impels all great success in a way that less ambitious emotions cannot. Often, we are competing with others for some coveted prize or championship. Other times, we compete with ourselves, to beat our best time or turn out our most perfect effort. Even when we strive against the seemingly unyielding barriers of space and time, we are competing; those who break speed records or delve impossible depths compete against reality itself, and sometimes even win.
The highest test scores often go to the fiercest competitors. Make no mistake: greatness will not simply fall into your lap. Championships, awards, and glory go to those who fight relentlessly for them.
On the day of your official ACT or SAT, your competition is far greater and more vast than you can probably imagine. If you want to earn a 99th percentile score, you’ll have to best more than 1.6 million test takers to secure your spot at the top. Will you accomplish that with any less than your best?
Athletes know how important it is to play until the final whistle. Test prep demands the same commitment.
— Prep right up until test day.
— Fight for every point on every section until time is called.
— Maintain focus, commitment, and ambition right through to the end of the last section.
Only then will you be sure you’ve earned your very best score.
“I can’t promise we will win, but I can promise we are going to teach our guys to play like winners. Number one, we are going to be in good shape. We’re going to be fit, we are going to be able to play the whole game and we’re not going to poop out.
Number two, we’re going to play with a lot of effort. We’re going to play with full effort from snap to whistle on every play the entire game.
Number three, we’re going to play very smart and we’re not going to beat ourselves. If the other team is better than us and they just out execute us and play better then we can live with that, but we’re going to play smart and give ourselves every opportunity to win the game.
Number four, we’re going to play like winners, play the game the way it’s meant to be played. Don’t get full of yourself if something good happens. Don’t get too depressed when something bad happens.”
— Ol’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier
Mike Bergin