On May 22, Jose Mourinho led Italian club Inter Milan to the UEFA Champions League title (European club soccer's highest honor), defeating German side Bayern Munich in the final in Madrid. Most managers will never lift the trophy, but this was Mourinho's second triumph. In 2004, he took Porto, one of Portugal's largest clubs, on a Cinderella run to the trophy. As one of only three managers ever to win the tournament with multiple clubs, Mourinho is a master at getting the most out of his players, both on the field and in preparation. In fact, he is renowned for always having his team ready to play from the first whistle. What can we learn from the Portuguese manager's approach? As Mourinho says, "when I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started." While we won't be fielding questions from reporters the day before we take the GMAT, his approach to the last few days before a game can guide our own final preparation.

While taking the GMAT and playing ninety minutes of soccer have little in common, they are both endurance contests. For this reason, Mourinho (and most managers) have their players do very little physical preparation in the final few days before a game. In their minds, the chance to put in a new tactic or set play is not worth the extra exhaustion and possible muscle strains their players might carry into the game. How does this work for us? In the last few days before for the GMAT, we should limit the amount of preparation we do. At this point, hopefully we've mastered the concepts, strategies, and techniques we need to score well. Even if we haven't learned everything we'd hoped, the last few days are better spent resting and gearing up for the exam than doing long practice sessions. The additional fatigue will certainly overshadow any small gains in knowledge we might make; one more correct answer is easily outweighed by a couple of silly mistakes.

For Mourinho, the day before a game typically consists of the press conference and a walkthrough practice with his players. We don't have to worry about the press conference, but the idea of a walkthrough can help us. In soccer, the players walk through their formation, tactics, and anything else they may use during the game; it's more mental than physical. In our preparation, the day before the exam may be used to brush up on basic concepts. It might be a good idea to gather a small set of problems that cover the the concepts and knowledge that you're likely to see during the exam. The idea is not to learn anything new but to reinforce what you already know. Like a soccer player running through a free kick routine that he's practiced hundreds of times, going through solution strategies we've done multiple times can help ensure that we don't make silly mistakes on the exam.

Finally, test/game day is here! For soccer players, their final preparation begins a few hours beforehand. They arrive at the stadium, get dressed, warm up, and go through final instructions. Before the GMAT, it's definitely a great idea to get the mental juices flowing (especially if you have an early test time!). Sudoku, crosswords, and GMAT problems are a good way to get your mind warmed up for the upcoming mental battle. We won't learn anything new, but hitting the exam ready to go is much better than taking a few questions to get into test mode. As we start the test, hopefully we are ready to put our tactics and techniques to use and get the score we want.