The Final Motivation before Prelims
By Manish Kumar Rank 61, CSE-2017
“THE MORE THE PAIN YOU TAKE NOW IN YOUR PREPARATION STORY
THE SWEETER THE TASTE OF SUCCESS WOULD BE, SWEETER THE GLORY!!”
Dear brothers and sisters,
Thanks to you guys for bestowing so much love to the last article and the wonderful Insights team for publishing it, a true heartfelt gratitude from my end to all . Many of you requested to write one article on this ignored topic- how to keep ourselves positive in last 10-15 days !! The pressure sometimes appear to kill us mentally !! I am reading but forgetting them again and again !! Will I be in that list of 10k coveted students post pre !! What if that day even after mocks I am not able to perform !! I am not able to do from last 2 attempts , i have read but still I feel afraid !! God knows which paper will have more weightage
Kya karun – Static karte hain to Current nahi ho paa raha, Q papers Insights ke lagaun ya Vision ya kisi aur ke …………………
……………………………………………..oh God nahi ho raha mujhse !!!
And the list keeps on growing infinitely!!
Now coming straight to the point we all are surrounded by the CLOUDS OF SELF-DOUBT. The sad part is they appear sometimes every hour, sometimes every minute or many a times every second as well.
The good part is THIS HAPPENS WITH EVERYONE . So this is not something new what I just wrote, but psychologically post reading the same you would have felt better ..Yes I am not the alone one
The Q and the self-doubts are real and there is no shame in accepting we all go through those moments. There is always something I have heard in life
“ Winners don’t do different things, they do it differently”
Well I can tell one thing for sure what they do differently – Manage the anxiety level and keep it below the threshold to focus back on the work in hand.
The fear of failing never lets us perform to our potential . People say one should perform at 100% potential but the sad part is human brain is not equipped enough to perform at more than 60-70% of its maximum potential at any point of time. And everyone is alike. It is just that some people are able to suppress this fear and increase the belief on themselves and they can do it
It is called as the LAW OF ATTRACTION (recently someone told me), for example I always felt I WILL CLEAR PRE, I WILL CLEAR MAINS and I WILL SCORE GOOD IN INTERVIEW AND WILL BE IN TOP 100 and it worked.
Human brain performs on TFA loop -> Thought -> Feeling and Action. For example the Mountain dew Ad that Darr ke aagey Jeet hai implants a Thought to remove fear and your body gives the feeling of readiness and your Action subsequently follows in right direction. This happens at sub-conscious levels most of the time.
Here are my 2 cents of advice based on my limited exploration of Life and cycle of exams
– DON’T MAKE OVER THE ROOF PLANS -> They are bound to fail -> will increase frustration and ultimately the Give up tendency
– EACH ONE OF US IS/ARE DIFFERENT -> Don’t copy paste in last 15 days anyone’s else plan. We need to work on our STRENGTH and should spend time to develop them.
-Remember you can clear PRE with only 66/99 correct (I got exactly 110 marks this year) . So make sure you REVISE things you know again and again
– REINFORCE everyday You will make it to the LIST . This will help in developing positive TFA loop and show that Urgency in your actions to achieve it
-Be SURROUNDED by POSITIVE people and just make yourself distant from any negative person/atmosphere/surroundings
– Keep changing Rooms/ places in case you start feeling BOREDOM at one place. It is human to feel bored after continuous reading
–SLEEP is a must (Ask any Psychology Student). I have suffered once in Pre due to less sleep. Make sure everyday your body refreshes itself ( I would strongly appeal to sleep according to correct circadian cycle for UPSC exam)
-In case if you do have issues with CSAT paper , please do some mock papers (Insights, old year UPSC) before the real test. Many people will say- oh you can easily score but assess your capabilities.
–REWARD YOURSELF -> I used to eat ice creams if I used to revise 4 papers of Insights in one day. Your positive outlook is the most important thing
–Work on MEMORY -> People spend maximum time in LEARNING new things and hence memory is neglected , make sure you make some good acronyms for all things like
BOQKUS for me was GCC -> Behrain – Oman- Qatar- Kuwait – UAE – Saudi (it came directly in UPSC 2016)
– Talk to your parents, mentors , teachers, do some Yoga , or just close eyes for sometime , give yourself break after 2-3 hours of study
-When you actually sit for 3 hours at one go make sure the PRODUCTIVE OUTPUT is high. Don’t diverge your mind on too many things. You need to FOCUS !!
– At time when you FEEL LIKE QUITTING, THINK WHY YOU STARTED !! (I kept this line as my profile pic on FB)
–MASTER one test series than trying to be a JACK of all . Choice is ofcourse yours. I liked Insights and tried to revise at least once thoroughly
–Know your TRUE potential . If you are getting about 80-90 don’t be afraid of people getting 120+. Trust me your performance will be on HIGHER SIDE if you carry a POSITIVE MOMENTUM at the end. Avoid this FEAR PSYCHOSIS
-Make a different kind of time table which keeps you refreshed-> morning hours is when UPSC takes paper so solve 2 papers , Afternoon read from Insights PT modules, evening just glance through some static portion and at night make notes of morning solved papers
-Work on tricks and any other strategies in the test papers you solve and see what will work for you. In real exam though you need to take the call based on the situation there
–NEVER PANIC !!! If you panic then you will fail. In exam also if very difficult Qs come, you just show the TRUST on yourself and tell yourself- This is tough for everyone then
– Listen to good motivational songs – Before Pre I used to hear Dangal & Bahubali songs and just before my interview (in which I scored 201), I was listening from last two three days “ jhuk naa paunga song from Raid” . These give you the new motivation whenever you feel low. Just as a reference link
– Know that the real competition is among 1 lakh aspirant only . So your probability of getting selected is more than what you even think
-UPSC asks simple Qs with relatively different options so your methods will help you there
Finally UPSC for me is
U-> Ur Unlimited | P-> Passion | S-> Strength | C->Courage and Character
Just don’t let yourself down in the final times. If you dream to do it, you should be determined to it and then you actually deserve to be there !!
Final few words
P is for Practice , P is for Patience , P is for Perseverance and P is for passion . P is also for Pyaar . Let these P’s be your friends for P -> Prelims and decrease your P-> Panic
I always used to motivate myself by telling myself this example :
I am the soldier of this country, I am going to fight the battle at LOC to protect my country. I am fully passionate to even sacrifice my life there. I have developed the weapons to win the battle. But first I need to REACH THERE to fight the REAL BATTLE !!
The real battle is Mains where your weapons (astra – shastra) will help you , where you can show your bravery, however for doing that you need to REACH to the LOC first . Make sure you give everything to REACH there .Afterall Your mother country needs you …just keep moving and then kill the enemy !!
A poem I wrote for myself when I failed
It is absolutely fine and humane to fall
But then post that you need to take the real call
Are you willing to stay up and rise
Learn from your mistakes and become wise
As success excuses them who Put up excuse
Success only comes to them who simply refuse
To give up n fight
Every single day n night
Remains focussed, keeps preparing n emotionally fit
As it is not important to just aim, you must also hit
THE MORE THE PAIN YOU TAKE NOW IN YOUR PREPARATION STORY
THE SWEETER THE TASTE OF SUCCESS WOULD BE, SWEETER THE GLORY!!
I will write a detailed write-up on my mains and my interview (201 marks) as well and how I managed everything with CFA 3 and RBI along with UPSC with Investment banking Job. But first let’s reach there. If you have conviction on my article, Insights is the vehicle which will take you to LOC
