Mental preparation for JEE Advanced

Around 20 days are left for the exam you have been waiting for since the past few years. I assume that your syllabus has been completed by now.
This post will focus on "the" day. How to mentally prepare yourself for the exam. I will try my best to expose to you every inch of my final day so that you can get an idea of how it goes.
Firstly I will be describing my thoughts during the last month.
Then I will be talking about "the" day

The last month was a bit rigorous. JEE was on the head and the sun as well. Scorching heat. Can't imagine a life without an air conditioner. But wait!!
"You won't get an AC in the examination hall" - I said to myself.
So, I remained in my room with AC switched off. I always tried to keep the AC off so that I don't face problems on the final day.
Next - my study methodology during this month.
I mainly focussed on past year JEE problems. I was enrolled in FIITJEE AITS but I stopped giving it during this month. It is extremely hot outside and it's better to stay at home and do some self study. The test centre was more than 10 kms away from my home so I preferred not to go there. I stayed at home and practised a lot.
For chemistry, I did the complete FIITJEE archive once again.
For those who don't know what an archive is - It's a collection of past year JEE problems from 1980 onwards. You can purchase it from the market if you don't have one. It's extremely important to give at least 1 try to the past year JEE problems. I assume that you are not in the crowd. You are a bit ahead of the crowd.
For maths and physics , I focused on subjective problems of the past years. The idea was to solve the subjective problems and try to frame objective questions from it - this is what they will do in JEE as well.

My study hours were increased to as high as 14 hours a day!
It's tough to maintain that. But there was a driving force - A hunger to study in the top college of India - A greed to "choose the branch" and not "be chosen by the branch".
Just think it yourself - A month more ; rather less than a month more to go. Why not be a true warrior ? Don't accept defeat. Fight till the end. JEE main marks have come now.
If you have got less marks - accept it as it is, and try to do better in JEE advanced.
If you have got good marks - take it as an achievement and try to do well in JEE advanced as well.

Mental scenario : The fear , the anxiety , the nervousness , excitement. I also had to bear all that. Same thoughts went onto my mind - 
what if maths section is tough ? 
What if I make a bubbling error ? 
What if I go completely blank ?
What if I am not able to do well ?

Well I had one plus point - A huge plus point indeed. I was discussing it with my friend yesterday ;) . My parents never bounded expectations from me. They never "hoped" anything. They always motivated me - told me not to take any pressure. They never expected a 2 digit rank from me. Never told me - "we expect a lot from you" or any other thing like that. And that was very important for me. I didn't have any burden on me.
Father always said - "don't take any load on yourself. Your father's business is always open for you."
This way , JEE preparation was fun for me. I enjoyed it.
Just stay focused and motivated.

Now, I will be talking about "the" day

June 2 , 2013 was the day for me.
June 1 , 2013 - it was a beautiful day. It rained slightly and we all were happy that the weather is not that hot.
By evening, I had packed my bag with all the relevant documents , pens , etc.
Next, I went to sleep at my usual time - 10.00 PM
I felt restless.
Couldn't sleep at all.
Something scared me - something was going in my mind - something that didn't let me sleep at all.
I became worried - "what if I am not able to sleep now and what if I feel sleepy tomorrow during the exam ? "
I Explained the situation to my mother who was still awake.
She told me to mentally read "Hanumaan Chalisa" and told me that I will fall asleep if I read it.
I tried it but still couldn't sleep.
Meanwhile I realized that it's 12 and I am still awake.
Finally don't know how, but I fell asleep.
At around 1 o'clock, the phone rang - I was extremely irritated. It was my uncle who wanted to wish me best of luck for the next day. I was frustrated a lot - "why on the earth did he call me NOW. Didn't he get any other time ?". Anyway , I talked to him - ended the call - murmured something to my mom (I was angry because she didn't put her phone on silent mode).
Finally I had fallen asleep.
Next day I woke up at 6.30 or something (I don't remember exact time).
It was a horribly hot day - sun shining brightly right on the head.
It was so hot - I was sweating already.
We were worried because today was "the day".
I got ready within half an hour or so. Left home at 7.15 with my father (Keeping some time extra in case car breaks down or something unexpected happens).
Reached within 30 minutes to the centre because it was a Sunday morning and there was almost no traffic.
I was practically the first student to reach there (there were a few although).
It was so hot - I was sweating. Father gave me his handkerchief as well (besides my own).
Finally after a lot of wait , it was time to enter the examination hall.
Went inside.
Prayed to God to make the things go well.
I remembered all my past achievements - in order to gather strength - the mental strength to boost my confidence.
I was a bit scared by now.

But then I thought (I am putting the exact words) - "You have worked hard - extremely hard. You cracked those olympiads. If you are scared today , then who the hell isn't scared. Come on man - you have fared well in the toughest of the FIITJEE's tests - you can do it. Do it for your mother and father - make them proud man - come on."

Yes!! these were the exact words (in maybe a jumbled order) - I still remember them.
Speaking all these to myself gave me a lot of confidence - A LOT OF CONFIDENCE indeed.
Meanwhile the invigilators started distributing the papers. We were instructed not to break the seal of the paper until instructed to do so.
I completed the OMR (personal details). 
Realized that it was a 180 mark paper with negative marking everywhere - that scared the hell out of me !!
"MORE THAN ONE CORRECT QUESTIONS WITH NEGATIVE MARKING"!! - What the hell is this!!
Any ways - Started with physics - Did quite well - couldn't do 1 integer type question because it needed some sort of series expansion and I couldn't figure it at that instance.
Physics went well.
I had left a few questions though.
Moved on to chemistry - "TOUGH", I said to myself - it was indeed very tough for me - all theoretical questions with negative marking everywhere - it was difficult to do.
Anyway, it went on
I was sweating like anything
I had 2 handkerchiefs.
By now both were soaked with sweat.
I realized that maybe OMR gets damaged if sweat falls on it.
So, I safely kept it in the desk provided.
Paper went on. After some 1.30 hours, physics and chemistry were over.
Time for maths - "WHAT IS THIS ??" - it was very tough for me - I wasn't that strong a maths - Paper seemed to be slipping from my hands.
Any way - the painful 3 hours ended.
I came out
soaked in sweat with 2 wet handkerchiefs - maybe stinking (Yes - I literally seemed to be in a beggar like state).
The paper banged me - heavily
My face was down.
Then I saw my father.
Seeing my face my mother said - "Was the paper bad ? Will you get IIT Kanpur CS at least ?"
I said nothing - didn't have words to explain.
My parents then realized that I have screwed the paper - screwed it badly.
I was taken to the car.
My mother gave me cold water - poured some drops of gulabjal into my eyes.
She sat on the back seat of the car and I lied on her lap - disheartened.

Then my father came to me - "Son. Listen. I know the paper was tough. I can read it on your face. But do remember that the paper was tough not only for you - but for everyone - if you cannot do it , no one would be able to do it. Your score might go down but your aim of an under 100 rank will go nowhere. So relax. You are a TOPPER my son."

Those words gave me immense strength. I realized the importance of his words. Each and every word was indeed true.
I haven't screwed the paper. It was tough but I didn't screw it - everyone must have done badly. So, I kept calm.
Meanwhile mother took out the tiffin and gave me my lunch.
Then, she gave me some fruits.
I felt relaxed. We got some cold drinks and finally I was back in the race.
I realized that I should keep calm. I should not do the same in the second paper. I should not lose my calm at any cost.
Finally, I entered the hall once again for paper 2.
Again attempted in the same order but this time a bit more careful.
Again the negative marking in the multiple correct questions bowled me completely.
Physics and chemistry were over.
Came to maths.
Clean bowled.
Made 1 bubbling error as well.
Chemistry was tough - now maths again!!!
Scared I was completely.
Next comes the interesting part
2 minutes left
Stuck on a paragraph in maths
Bell rang
Paper collection begins
High pressure and heat
Fortunately I was sitting in the corner seat and it took time for the examiners to collect my paper.
In those 2-3 minutes, I managed to get that paragraph - "CORRECTLY"
Well , this way ended a journey of 2 years.
Paper 2 went way better than paper 1.
Although I was disheartened a bit.
Came out - met my father.
Finally went back home.
I realized that my rank may go beyond 500 - Trust me I never thought that I would end up with what I got.
Then when I reached home , my sister was present at home.
I was sad - my parents and sister cheered me up.
Finally I got a call from my friend Kartikeya asking me how I did.
Then my sir called me up and asked how the paper was.
I mailed him the photograph of the copy of my OMR sheet.
I explained him that the paper went bad.
Extremely sad and depressed - But finally it was over so I was relieved a lot.
I remember I didn't eat anything that evening - "I was crying - literally crying alone" - "What have you done ? You have completely spoilt the paper. Forget your dream. Forget IIT Bombay - forget CS".
Believe me - there were tears in my eyes at that time. Yes I was crying!!
Somehow ate something and slept.
My parents didn't say anything to me - I told them to leave me alone and they know that when I am sad, I need some time with myself - Only myself.
Got up next day. By that time, my sir had checked my answers and also got reports of how other students performed. I was still asleep.
Woke up - saw that my father is extremely happy - I was shocked!!
He told me - "Manoj sir called us. He is saying that you have done very well with respect to others. Under 50 rank is sure under any circumstances". 
I didn't believe him - he must be saying that to make me cheerful.
Then I called my sir - He told me all the statistics which he had gathered.
Aaahhhh - sigh of relief. He told me that my score would be in the range 290 - 300.
I didn't expect a good rank with that score but then he went on - "I got reports of very few (fiitjee) students who are scoring that much. You have done very well. So keep calm".
That statement made me feel happy - I felt relieved. I talked to my friends and found that indeed I had performed very well with respect to others.
Any ways - It was all over and I was convinced that I am in the top 50s for sure.
Played
Enjoyed
And cherished the moments when the result came
IIT JEE is a beautiful journey - a journey that will leave a mark in your life - an awesome journey that will teach you a lot - patience , motivation , confidence , perseverance , accepting defeat , fighting spirit and many more good qualities that will help you throughout your life.
You won't experience another such journey in your life.
Enjoy it now.
All the best.
That was my story.
Feel free to post all kinds of doubts