Never give up!

How to never give up?
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1) Stay Alive
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Yes of course! This is the most important thing. There will be a lot of situations which push you down, which make you feel sad, which make you worry and also make you think that life is over. But find a way to stay alive. There will be light in the darkest corner of the sky. Just ensure that you are there to see it. It is very easy to give up and put your hands on your head and say it is all over. You can do that any day. It takes guts to stay alive, it takes guts to believe, it takes guts to stick to your guns when everything around you is falling apart. Success doesn’t lie in never falling, it lies in getting up as soon as possible and STAYING ALIVE

2) Lower your expectations
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It is very optimistic of us to say that we are going to invent a product and the next day there would be a queue of people who would want to buy it no matter what price we quote. I am not here to shatter that dream of yours but I am going to tell you that inventing is just a part of the business. There is marketing, there is sales, there is brand building, there is negotiation, there is compromises and so much more. Though I would like to shoot to the stars, I would also like to know that it is sometimes unreasonable that a star comes in search of you. It takes time, it takes effort but it does come. Over 99.9% of the success has taken time, it has not happened overnight. So.. respect the time and cling on to your belief, it is bound to come with the right approach

3) Don’t be a wimp!
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You are way stronger than you tell yourself and others know you as and infact stronger than you yourself know you as. You are more capable to handle the pain than you think. It is very natural and easy to drown in the glory of self pity and keep feeling sorry for yourself. If you keep feeling sorry about the way things are, you will keep feeling sorry for the rest of your life. So.. Buck up, it is going to be a tough wind out there, brace it. You were not born or raised to be a quitter!

4) Persist!
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We don’t mean to say that you should be stuck in the same loop forever. If plan A doesn’t work, go for plan B and then plan C. You have 26 letters there and if that doesn’t suffice you have A1 to An and then keep going on.. Point is, it depends on how much you believe in the dream, how much you believe in whatever you have put in for it. Nowhere on the birth certificate was it said that you would succeed at everything you put your hands on in life. You are going to miss out on a few things and the reasons might be as simple as a wrong timing or a big trust issue. But you gotta persist, the moment you give up or think of giving up, the dream dies and so does all the effort to get there.

5) Fake it!
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If you are falling short of motivation, FAKE IT! Think of how it will be to succeed. Think of all the dreams you would be realizing, think of how people around you would respond to it. You don’t have to wait for that one final day when success will sweep you off your feet, you can celebrate each day, be motivated by every event and that drives you forward and keeps driving you forward.

6) Don’t compare!
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Your life will always be different compared to your peers. The efforts they have put in and the efforts you have put in are different. There is something very special told about an entrepreneur – success comes to you like an exponential scale, all the effort that you have put in, all the sacrifices you have made will pay you back. You just have to wait till the tipping point where the scale changes. It will never be similar to what your friends or peers have but it will be that much better. So don’t worry about comparing, you are fighting with a bigger target here.

7) The night is the darkest before

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We have heard of a hundred inspirational stories where people have flipped their lives in that one decisive moment the moment where they decided to persist, it may be SONY or KFC or APPLE or MICROSOFT, they have all had those bad days, the days which have made them think whether they should wind up. But what made them stay was that they decided to test the waters a little more and that little more made a hell lot of a difference !

©2016 ssccglprep, krigolivros inc.

13 wisdom of EVER Genius Albert Einstein

13 words of wisdom
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1>> "Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein
2>> "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" - Albert Einstein
3>> "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science." - Albert Einstein
4>> "People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and futureis only a stubbornly persistent illusion." - Albert Einstein
5>> "The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." - Albert Einstein
6>> "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger andmore complex... It takes a touch of genius --- and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - Albert Einstein
7>> "When forced to summarize the general theory of relativity in one sentence: Time and space and gravitation have no separate existence from matter."- Albert Einstein
8>> "For every one billion particles of antimatter there were one billion and one particles of matter. And when the mutual annihilation was complete, one billionth remained - and that's our present universe." - Albert Einstein
9>> "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality." - Albert Einstein
10>> "I don't believe in mathematics." - Albert Einstein
11>> "Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it." - Albert Einstein
12>> "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible." - Albert Einstein
13>> "I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research." - Albert Einstein

©krigolivros inc

Myths & Mistakes to AVOID

Hello friends,
I am sorry for the huge delay in posting this article. Had to visit my village where electricity is a luxury and internet connection a futuristic notion.
Let me introduce myself. I am Kumar Ashirwad. I have done my schooling from Darjeeling and Jamshedpur. I did my graduation from IIT Kharagpur in Civil Engineering. I passed out in 2011 and then went to Mukherjee Nagar on 12th June 2011 to start my civil service preparation. It took me four attempts and five years to clear the exam. If on that day someone had told me that success would elude me for 5 years, I am not sure whether I would have continued my preparation. Thank God for our inability to know the future.
During these 5 years I have committed every MISTAKE that a candidate can make in their Civil services preparation. And hence I humbly put forth that I have a lot of suggestions that I genuinely feel will help you to avoid the same mistakes that I made. This will be the first in a series of articles I will be posting on insightsonindia, that I personally feel will be helpful in your preparation.
Let’s begin.
I will first list the MYTHS of UPSC exam . These myths wasted a lot of my time and effort, and it is imperative you avoid these :
1). You have to study a lot for this exam.
WRONG! ABSOLUTELY WRONG! NOT ONLY USELESS, BUT HARMFUL. This approach wasted a lot of my time. You need a
broad COMMON SENSE understanding of a wide variety of issues. Not a deep understanding of any issue (here I am talking of GS, not Optionals). I have seen candidates study much less than me and crack the exam in 2 attempts. Why? BECAUSE THEY FOCUSSED ON DEVELOPING A BROAD UNDERSTANDING RATHER A DEEP UNDERSTANDING. And most importantly because they studied INTELLIGENTLY. Let me demonstrate. Take the XAXA report on tribals for example. Person A reads the entire report (takes 5-6 days) and feels immensely satisfied (Between, person A is me). Person B types “salient points of XAXA report” on the net and reads only that and bookmarks it for revision.
This has 3 advantages. First, the time saved. More importantly but less obviously, there is a second advantage. An average answer is of around 175-200 words. YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME OR SPACE ON THE ANSWER SHEET TO WRITE ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU HAVE READ IN THE REPORT. Only two or three points of the report that are relevant to the question asked and that you REMEMBER, which is the third advantage. REMEMBERING STUFF IN THE EXAM HALL. Person A has read too much – too many reports, too many “bahut zyaada achha articles ” in The Hindu, too many books. But because of this he/she cannot REMEMBER 99 percent of what he/she has studied. Person B has read important points of XAXA report, uses those few points in the answer because he/she REMEMBERS them as he/she has read COMPARATIVELY LESS.

2). Choosing an OPTIONAL.
The parameters for choosing an optional are sometimes not rooted in reality. F or instance do not make “interest in the optional” the only criteria . Yes, you should not hate the optional subject. But the interest holds only the first time you read the subject. Revisions are never interesting. So while choosing an optional please also take into consideration the recent performance of the subject (many deserving candidates with Geography could not make it to the list, because of UPSC’s genocidal policy towards Geography), the length of the syllabus, the objectivity/subjectivity of the optional etc. While studying an optional for the first time go through the previous years question papers frequently and see whether you can answer the questions. You will, for instance, find that while Anthropology questions can be answered as soon as you read the topic, Public Administration questions cannot. So choose an optional that in your opinion will fetch you THE HIGHEST MARKS PER HOUR SPENT STUDYING THAT OPTIONAL.

3). Read THE HINDU/INDIAN EXPRESS etc daily.
This is another VERY HARMFUL MYTH. You should read newspapers for a maximum of one and a half years since you began preparation. The aim is to develop a broad understanding of important issues. That’s it. The Hindu is not published as a GS material for UPSC candidates. So after 1 to 1.5 years, STOP READING NEWSPAPERS IN DETAIL. SIMPLY GOING THROUGH THE HEADLINES WILL DO. YOU CAN ALSO COMPLETELY STOP READING IT (I have not read it since 2 years, it’s my personal opinion and was my option!).
BUT, WHY? Isn’t The Hindu, The Bible of UPSC? (religious pun unintended). NO. Let me demonstrate. A question is asked on The Whistleblower Protection Act or the ease of doing business. Person A has read 5-6 “bahut zyaada achha ” articles in The Hindu but scattered over a period of 3-4 months. Hence he does not have a coherent “in-one place” memory of all that he/she has read about the Act . Moreover he/she has read around 1000-1500 articles of The Hindu (2-3 articles per day). So against he cannot remember the points related to the question asked. Person B has stopped reading The Hindu. But he/she has read the monthly news compilation of Vision Ias or
insightsonindia . He/she remembers more points in a more systematic manner because he/she has read them in one place as opposed to reading them in a scattered manner in The Hindu. And obviously Person B also saves much more time and effort. This point is also in agreement with my 1st point of not studying too much.

4). Simply joining a test series takes care of the Answer Writing.
WRONG AND FALSELY REASSURING. Why? First the objective of the test series should be to improve the quantity and quality of your answers. Test series in Delhi can take care of the first (to some extent), but not the second. Because they enroll too many students and hence the quality of checking suffers. Personal guidance is obviously impossible. They do not have enough time to write meaningful comments that will actually help in improving your answers.
In this matter, I was extremely lucky to have the guidance of Vinay Sir in insightsonindia offline test series in Bengaluru. However this will not be possible for the vast majority of the students. You will have to ANALYZE the answers yourself. Read your own answers yourself after a few days of the test. Get it checked by your friends. Find someone who has gotten good marks in UPSC and mail them a few answers. Follow answers posted on insightsonindia website that you feel are better than yours. Most importantly note down the flaws at the back of each answer sheet . Read them for at least half an hour before the next test. Resolve in your mind that you will not repeat the mistakes this time around. Take up 2-3 random questions and imagine how you will write the answer so as not to repeat your mistakes.
Do these things immediately before each and every test.
Approaching any test series in a perfunctory, non analytical manner is a waste of time. In a nutshell, EXTRACT AS MUCH IMPROVEMENT AS YOU CAN FROM EVERY TEST. WRITE. RE READ. ANALYZE. RESOLVE TO IMPROVE. VISUALIZE THE DESIRED IMPROVEMENT. WRITE THE NEXT TEST INCORPORATING THE DESIRED IMPROVEMENTS. REPEAT THE CYCLE. AND DO NOT GET DISHEARTENED IF RESULTS DO NOT FOLLOW IMMEDIATELY. The flaws in your answer writing are akin to an ingrained bad habit and like any bad habit will take time to be weeded out.

5). UPSC requires 14-15 hours daily.
WRONG AGAIN. MISLEADING. You must have read many interviews of toppers who say they studied for so many hours daily. Most probably they are exaggerating or followed a tougher than necessary route to success. 9-10 hours daily is enough. But most importantly BE CONSISTENT . Give up the habit of studying for 14 hours a day, four days continuously, and then feeling so pleased with yourself(actually myself) that you give yourself a break for 2-3 days. Why? Because firstly, this approach will result in lesser number of hours studied on an average per day. But more importantly, you will forget a lot of what you have studied in those four days. You will have to study it again leading to an entirely avoidable duplication of effort and wastage of time. Take a day off every 9-10 days. But the rest of the days stick to your routine of 9-10 hours daily religiously. BE CONSISTENT. A steady beam of energy results in light. Rapid, short-lived bursts of energy lead to shock. Pardon the scientific inaccuracy of the above statement, if any.

6). The unending quest for TIPS and more tips.
We all love to gather all the tips , all the current wisdom available with successful candidates, coaching classes and other UPSC war veterans. I have, in the past, been guilty of this myself. It inherently feels satisfying to gather as many tips as we can. There are two dangers here. First, no two people are alike . One man’s meat is another man’s poison. The same goes for women. # Gender Equality. The point is the person giving you tips has a different approach, a different intelligence level and a different perspective of things. Do not blindly follow all tips . Use the filter of reason or logic and follow only those which seem suitable to YOU. You are unique and know yourself better than anyone else. So feel free to accept, reject or modify any tips including mine. I have wasted at least two years due to blindly following wrong (for me) advice from well-meaning people. Do not repeat this mistake. Secondly, too many tips lead to too many tips not being implemented. Take a few tips which you feel are logical and the most important ones and then IMPLEMENT THEM IN YOUR PREPARATION. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT HERE. TRANSLATING THOSE TIPS INTO ACTION.
I realize that it is already a long article. But I feel it is very important to know what NOT to do before knowing what to do. I think Chanakya said that. Even if he did not it still holds. In my next article (will be posted shortly), I will dwell upon WHAT TO DO. We will cover Prelims , Mains, Essay and Answer writing in detail. I will also try to upload some of my answer sheets from
insightsonindia test series. Hope this article was of some help to you.
Thank you & Best wishes,
Kumar Ashirwad
Rank-35, CSE – 2015
                             My Marks
Essay – 136,
GS – 1 – 95
GS – 2 – 91
GS – 3 – 87
GS- 4 – 102
Anthropology – 1 – 119
Anthropology – 2 – 133
Interview – 193

Now or Never !

Failures & Toppers

Overcome Failures and Try to become a Topper
Failures, small or big, affect us all. They dent confidence. They derail our routine. They create self-doubts. They instill fear. Well, that’s negative part.On the other hand, they make us strong. They teach us valuable lessons for life. Failures make us realisethat there are better ways to do things and helps us open our eyes to new avenues in life. You know stories of lots of great people who failed and then became great. If you choose to let failures affect you negatively, you will be injured for life. If you learn from failures and start chasing your dreams with renewed vigour, chances are more that you will succeed.When you started preparing for this exam, you knew the challenges. Most people around you, even parents might have doubted your abilities. Some might have stared at you with that indifferent look and told you that this exam is the toughest and you better be happy with what you already have, or aim for something smaller. Even some might have sympathised with you for wasting precious time of your life chasing the impossible.Yet, you made the decision and started this journey. Will you quit just because you failed in one of the stages of this exam?At present you must belong to either one of the following categories: Gave interview but didn’t see your name in the final list; Have given multiple attempts including Mains and now worrying about how to succeed in 2016; A beginner ardently readingtopper’s interviews here and there and trying to be one of them next year; Have failed prelims 2-3 times or more and depressed thinking what’s going wrong in your preparation; A beneficiary of extra attempts and trying to win the battle at any cost as you know that both age and attempts are not on your side; Or aperson who got rank but not at all satisfied with what you have got, and wants to figure in Top 50 next year.The common desire is to get a top rank. You might have already dreamt multiple times about getting first rank and becoming a national celebrity. But somewhere in your preparation journey, this dream of getting a top rank wanes and waxes – with your level of commitment to the goal you have chosen and with the number of failures that you have faced.Every failure that you have faced is a lesson. For some of you who never failed in life, these failure may be shocking and overwhelming. For some of you who have seen so many failures, this one more failure in this exam might be unbearable. Will you quit the race?Some quit. They see no point in struggling for too long when they have some other opportunities in their life. For some, IAS or IPS might be just another good job and their interest in them will not last long. But for you, what’s the motivation to get into IAS/IPS/IFS?Give it a serious thought. If your desire to get into these services is very strong, then have no self-doubt, even if you fail many times, you can still go for it and achieve it. Right attitude matters when you are after something that’s very dear to you. You know that you have that desire and determination to get a good rank in this exam, yet self-doubt keeps lingering in your head. Am I movingin right direction? Am I studying right materials? Am I following right strategy? Will I be able to score sucha high Marks as scored by Tina  Dhabi and Ira Singhal? What if I don’t clear prelims? What if I don’t get good marks in my optional? What if I fail? Do I have ability in me to clear UPSC civil services exam?Almost everyone gets these doubts. Topper will not know he/she would become topper. But, they will for sure know that they will get a good rank. They become better by working hard. Once they come out of exam hall, they know that they have given their best shot. They will know that their name will figure in the final list. This confidence stems from strong self belief, which in turn comes from very good preparation.Every day you have a chance to follow the right thing. You have an opportunity to correct past mistakes and push yourself towards your goal. If you think you lack ability, work hard and harder. You will gain the ability. If you think you are weak in optional, put more hours into optional preparation. You will master it. However  you work hard,  you will still get self doubts – especially while preparing for UPSC Civil Services Exam. But have faith and keep working hard. Gradually, self doubts get defeated by your consistency in your hard work. There are many who fought many odds and got top ranks despite spending so many years into UPSC civil services exam preparation. What distinguishes them from others who can’t make it finally?It’s ability to overcome failures and making course correction at right time. Don’t experiment all the time. Stick to the plan that’s giving you confidence and push yourself to improve efficiency and productivity.To give an example, we have seen students who used to complain that it used to take 4-5 hours to answer 2-3Securequestions. We told them that in the beginning it will consume lots of time, but if they push themselves and stick to writing for 15-20 days, they will get better at it. Some quit. But some who didn’t quit are today writing answers toallSecurequestions injust 2 hours.Shed cynicism. It’s a very dangerous attitude. Someone might tell you – he/she was the best and tried their best in this exam, yet failed. This might discourage you. But, you are not he/she. You are you. You should know what’s your weaknesses and strengths. Work hard to overcome your weaknesses.Try to improve your strengths. Follow one strategy that worked for most toppers, or that’s working for you, and no matter what people tell you, stick to the strategy.Don’t get lured by overwhelming amount of sources that are released in the market both online and offline. Everything seems important. But, can you digest everything? Whatever you see in market are just different shades of same colour (You will get current events and other stuff from so many sources, followany1-2 sources only). Go with the one you like and trust most.There is nothing wrong in aiming for a top rank.  To get there, you must be a ‘Serious Aspirant’. Most people mistake serious aspirant for the guy/girl who spends more hours ‘reading’ all kinds of books; or the one who appears very serious, always  roams around with 2-3 books in his/her hand; or the one who pretends to know everything.Appearances and attitudes can be deceptive. Don’t get disheartened by looking at thousands of ‘SeriousAspirants’ around you. A serious aspirant is the one who is determined as hell to win this battle at any cost. They are people of actions – they write whole year, they revise at regular intervals, they know their strengths and weaknesses, they know that with eachpassing day, they are getting closer to their goal. They are least worried about failures. They not just dream of becoming topper, they work towards achieving this goal. And their number is very less.There are very few serious aspirants around you. Their number may be less than 5000. Be one of them. You can be one of them. It doesn’t matter where you stand now in terms of preparation. You can still push, push and push yourself harder and inch closer to achieving your dream. You don’t know what are your limits unless you try to push them. Everyday push your limits. Youwill go on gaining confidence, and one day after writing mains, you will say – yes, I will see my name in the list even if I get 130 in interview!Yes, there are uncertainties in this exam. Even after giving your best, you might still not get a good rank. Will you quit? Unless we try our best again and again, we will neverknow what the future holds for us. This year you might have missed a rank by 1 mark, or failed prelims by fraction of a mark. Who knows, you can be a topper next time. So, never rest or quit. Neither complain nor protest. Silently work hard. Even though there are just no days to prelims, believe us – if you push limits, even if you start now, you can clear it. Gather all your strengths and go ahead. Right now, there are so many hopes on you by so many dear and near ones. Don’t disappoint them this time. Overcome inertia. Start again. If you rest, someone will take you rank. At the end of the day, it’s just competition. You have everything to win this competition. And you know what to do. Just do it.☺

ATTITUDE & YOU

“Attitude & YOU”-
Remembering Dr Abdul Kalam
Yesterday, one of the guiding lights of this generation has left us in body, only to motivate the stars now.
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, our Missile Man is no more.
It now falls on our mantles, on the youth of this country to ensure that his legacy is continued to make his dreams for this country our own, to make his dedication, perseverance and excellence a hallmark of the people of this country. Now it is up to us to keep him alive, not by making idols (as we did with Gautam Buddha) but by each one becoming Abdul Kalam in his own sense. Now how can we accomplish this? Is it impossible to be like him? Was he the “Chosen One” –
“One in a Billion” . In his own words, “ Attitude makes a man” . Dr Kalam has time and again enforced the point that there is nothing like “God-gifted”. It is only your actions in life that decide your destiny. Now let us pay our homage to Dr Kalam and strive to imbibe values that he always stood in all our actions, including preparing for this prestigious examination. Success is bound to follow.
All of you are full of energy at this moment. Thousands might be at the excited level of preparation, some at the middle of transition to reach the excited level and rest, either being pushed by high energy protons or still juggling to realize how to cross the ground level?
Can you relate any one of the levels, mentioned above?
This article tries to unearth one of the most important and a sensitive aspect of one’s life that is, Attitude and related attributes while remembering our beloved President Dr Abdul Kalam.
Attitude is a subjective term. Here we’ll discuss varying types of it. You are preparing for a coveted exam and this in undeniably your dream. As rightly put by Dr Kalam
“Great Dreams of Great Dreamers are Always Transcended”.
Who can better to know about attitude than Civil Service Aspirants rather Potential Civil servants? Attitude or should we say, Right Attitude determines the success in Civil Services and life in general.
What’s the point of preaching all this, right now? Why are we bothered? The answer, AGAIN, is 23rd August, 2015.
We think our Attitude is perfect just because we are preparing for UPSC? Let us explore further
You know, they say
“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do BUT Attitude determines how well you do it.”
Naturally as the exam nears the fuss, the fear and discouragement of an aspirant is at the apex. There are different kinds of aspirants with different sets of attitudinal behaviour. So, what we intend to do, is to direct this article towards ‘THREE’ broadly classified ‘TARGETS’:-
Over-Confident
Under-Confident
Mixed-Bag of Confidence
Let’s come to the first one i.e. OVER CONFIDENT :- Most Dangerous
Laxmikanth -CHECK, Bipan Chandra-CHECK, The HINDU- CHECK, et al-CHECK.
“I have studied everything. I’m doing excellent at mocks. I can relax”
NO, You Cannot.
‘I know almost everything’ – is a sign of non-seriousness. I have revised around 10 times and remember each and every word by heart, is a peculiar attitude that leads to perfunctory approach. At this moment (1 month before the exam), revision is the key.
What do you understand by revision?
It is not to re-read everything again. Revision is a successive reading wherein you make sure to go deep in learning concepts that you missed in first reading. Similarly, consecutive revisions are meant to assimilate all those left out or missed concepts.
Unfortunately, most of the aspirants falling in this category behave otherwise. Their revision is only to boast themselves since their mind is already convinced that “ I have studied everything. I’m doing excellent at mocks. I can relax” .
You cannot,WHY?
Because it doesn’t matter if you’re getting 95+ Questions right in the mocks, until and unless you replicate this performance on D-Day, there is no point in doing all this and your complacency won’t get you anywhere but a ditch of despair after the exams. Let’s tell you something which you might already know:
Typically F1 cars drive at 300+ speeds for ‘n’ no. of laps. The one who is leading the race doesn’t say that I’ve clocked 350+ so I can go slowly in the final lap unless of course the difference between the 1st and 2nd is very large (unlikely in F1 and in CSE alike). Driver keeps the throttle high till the time chequered flag is waved again
You are scoring well. NICE . You have studied everything under the SUN. VERY NICE . Re-visit them. Revise. Fill in the lacunae in your system. There is a shloka in Katha Upanishad
“ARISE, AWAKE, AND STOP NOT TILL THE GOAL IS REACHED.”
So keep striving. Keep Improving.
Now, the UNDER-CONFIDENT ONES :-
Hey! There. Just take a deep breath and think, of the journey in the past months (or Year; depending upon when you started preparing) It’s been good, isn’t it?
You have learned so many new things, new concepts, you have seen yourself transform; You have become a better human. That’s Wonderful, isn’t it?
You, guys have covered all the basic concepts, the books; you’re doing the current affairs diligently, you seem to be doing OKAY/Not-OKAY in the mocks. You know WHAT, It’s Okay! It’s an exam albeit an important exam and you are losing your sleep, meals, health over it. It will do you more harm than any good.
We have a stupid yet practical advice for you
Remember when you were in 6th standard and you had a Unit Test, next day. A whole freaking Unit had to come. You were prepared yet under-confident still you topped the class by scoring 50/50.
Think on the same lines. Usually we are over-awed by the magnitude of the task, so why can’t we look at it, microscopically. We are all small fragments of matter. Aren’t we? Divide the damn pressure building blocks and let it release.
Anyways it would in no way help you by thinking that you wont be able to make it, it is absolutely pointless to think like this. Just study in the remaining time as much as possible, give your best. Who knows what the result might hold for you!! You may TOP the exam. Just be confident
As they say
“There can be no positive result through negative attitude. Think positive. Live Positive”
Now, the last one MIXED-BAG OF CONFIDENCE:-
One day, you are BATMAN and the other day, you are JOKER (not Heath Ledger, but JOKER :P)
You have studied everything, did the mocks diligently and become (over?) confident. Next Day, you can’t seem to remember a certain function of the politico-administrative set-up and BAMM! On the ground, you fall.
It has been a periodic phenomenon for you to be pernicious and guess! What? You’re the most vulnerable ones of the lot with a potential to go from “Arsh se Farsh”(top to bottom) and vice-versa. Chuck!
All your fears, apprehensions and inhibitions should be channelized properly into a monk like embodiment of yourself. Even Achilles had a heel. Come on! Buckle up! Make this attempt your last (by succeeding). Devote yourself to the idea of becoming an IAS. If the driving force is big enough then nothing can come in between.
Let us quote a dialogue from Batman Begins for you
“ If you become more than a man, devote yourself to an ideal, then you become something else entirely”
Become that something else. Become an epitome of success so that People look up to you.
So, everyone! Rise up; conquer your fears and weaknesses. Fight your inner demons and Shine!
“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude”
So what is the CORRECT ATTITUDE then?
Pulkit Garg- UPSC-2014 Rank Holder- IIT Delhi, First Attempt
I would like to bring some points from my preparatory phase last year which helped me to score decent marks in Prelims. The fundamental strategy comprises primarily to :
Stay curious and hungry for knowledge – the desire to know – to emotionally relate with everything would provide you holistic coverage and good retention capability as already mentioned by
IASbaba through this wonderful piece of writing- A Must Read
This is succinctly put in 3 Idiots – “Dont run behind success. Strive for excellence, Success would come running behind you” .
So in the last 1 month before prelims exam, I made sure that I studied as much as I possibly could.
1. My main focus was on revising the most important standard books for main topics, such as :
2. Laxmikanth – Polity
3. Spectrum – History
4. NCERTs – 11th, 12th – Geography and E&B
5. CCRT – Art and Culture
6. NCERTs – S&T
7. 11th, 12th NCERT + Economic Survey – Economics
8. You are already getting the Daily doses by IASbaba
These are the core topics of the Prelims from which a huge number of questions come in the exam. It is of utmost importance that these books are done with utmost care and precision without fail. wards. Doing this well could fetch very good marks in Preliminary Examination. Daily Tests is covering them all. You just need to learn the concepts from them. Don’t rush for magazines and compilations. Won’t help much other than killing your time and energy.
Giving as many mock tests as possible and learning from them- But not at the cost of revision and conceptual learning. saying in Bhagwad Gita goes – “ Karma kar, fal ki chinta mat kar” – I did the best I can and did not worry about the result. As long as you are giving your best, it is pointless to worry about results as it does no good in any way. It would just waste our precious energy and reduce our efficiency in studying. Just keep studying smartly and stop letting emotions dominate your intellect.
To cut the matter short, just focus on studying and revise as much as possible. There is no time to think if you would do very well in exam or if you might do well in exam or if you won’t do good in exam. It is useless to think on these lines at least at this moment.
On Difficult times like this one, Dr Kalam has rightly said ” Man needs Difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy Success”.
Let us pay homage to our Great Leader and Human Being by pledging that, we all will strive towards excellence with a positive attitude since “Problems are common, but attitude makes the difference!!!”
Share your thoughts and let us form a community of strong people with strong determination.