Preparing for civil service has its own set of charms and challenges.
The over-arching question that any candidate goes through at various stages of preparation is – ” Can I do it ?” or “Will I be able to clear it ?”
The better word for civil service examination should be – Endurance test or Durability Test.One has to endure through Prelims, Mains and Interview.And if at all , you do endure through the exams, then there is a bigger question of how to cope with the job.
Because, the job of a civil servant is not an easy job.You will have respect , you may get job satisfaction but you have responsibility and your decision will have a greater impact-all the time.So , the real question you must be asking yourself is – Do you have the ability to withstand wear, pressure, or damage ?- that is in short “Durability”
Getting in to the job is hard, but carrying out the job is even harder.So, “glory” comes with “Pain” – it is indeed a pure case of “Flowers and Thorns” and neither the journey nor the destination are going to be “smooth”.
So, before you start – do check your plasticity – that is your endurance, durability and adaptability.
Endurance and durability is already understood, but what about adaptability ?
The mains reason why we fail is simple.We repeat our mistakes – again and again and again.
You already know what is needed , yet many of us won’t do it due to procrastination or otherwise.
We have to stop being a broken record and change for good. Inherently, mankind is status-quoist ( Many a time we hear a person saying “I am adaptable” or “I love change” but the truth about mankind is , and as study after study on psychology and human behavior suggest that we are by far remain status-quoist and only change when it is absolutely necessary or our survival is in danger.For instance, just think of the environmental issues and ask yourself – are we changing by any means ? )
So Change is going to be tough, but if you are determined then , no one has the ability to stop you.Don’t let the life control you, take control.From this moment on-wards , you should be master of your destiny rather being slave to the opportunities and circumstances.The Locus of Control should be within you.
Today is a fine Sunday and it is a good day to implement the change.The change that is required to succeed is simple :-
- Follow a schedule
- What has to be done today should be done today- No matter what.Make time for it and give no excuses.
- Master your optional – Read everyday and Revise regularly.
- If joined any test series, take tests regularly and on scheduled date – Not a few days after or before – that makes all the difference.
- Write your Essay tests and Mains test regularly. Because you not only have to master the whole plan but also have to master each and every individual paper and know your strength and weaknesses in each paper so as to work accordingly. After all you will be competing with the best.Remember – Strategy without tactics is slowest route to success but tactics with out strategy is noise before defeat.Same goes for reading and writing.
- You not only have to read and remember but also have to represent and that requires writing.
- So start writing.Not just before Mains , but before Prelims.If you write 10 tests in 2 months time, you will end up writing more or less in a same manner.For writing to evolve you have to write at constant intervals.Write-get reviewed-think on the review-inculcate the change-first in your thinking process and then in your representation.
Nothing can stop a determined person, so set your goals,have a schedule and see it through.Success will be yours.
For time management and schedule :-(If you are following one – then follow that one):-
- You can register at our student portal – http://www.iastree.com/
- Once registered – go to your dashboard- There is to-do list- You can create one for yourself(Set your goals week-wise)
- Schedules are also there for each program, so check and align your preparation accordingly.
- Devote at least 2 hrs for your optional – daily
- You can upload your files and keep them as private ( Click on the DRIVE from your student menu)
- The portal is open to all and can help you in time management.
- Put it to best use and make it a ritual.Yes, RITUAL, that is , the first thing when you wake up , check your to-do-list or schedule and determine how you are going to finish the tasks of the day.Slowly the ritual will become your habit and as they say –
- “Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
- “Your beliefs become your thoughts,
- Registration is open for all.Write your destiny.No one can write it for you.We will always be there to guide but the hard-work has to be done by you.
Feel free to write to us in case any queries.We are here for you and always will be there for you.
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Steve Ovett, the famous British middle-distance athlete, won the 800-metres gold medal at the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Just a few days later, he was about to win a 5,000-metres race at London’s Crystal Palace. Known for his burst of acceleration on the home stretch, he had supreme confidence in his ability to out-sprint rivals. With the final 100 metres remaining,
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Ovett waved to the crowd and raised a hand in triumph. But he had celebrated a bit too early. At the finishing line, Ireland’s John Treacy edged past Ovett. For those few moments, Ovett had lost his sense of reality and ignored the possibility of a negative event.
This analogy works well for the India story and our policy failures , including during the ongoing covid pandemic. While we have never been as well prepared or had significant successes in terms of growth stability as Ovett did in his illustrious running career, we tend to celebrate too early. Indeed, we have done so many times before.
It is as if we’re convinced that India is destined for greater heights, come what may, and so we never run through the finish line. Do we and our policymakers suffer from a collective optimism bias, which, as the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman once wrote, “may well be the most significant of the cognitive biases”? The optimism bias arises from mistaken beliefs which form expectations that are better than the reality. It makes us underestimate chances of a negative outcome and ignore warnings repeatedly.
The Indian economy had a dream run for five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, with an average annual growth rate of around 9%. Many believed that India was on its way to clocking consistent double-digit growth and comparisons with China were rife. It was conveniently overlooked that this output expansion had come mainly came from a few sectors: automobiles, telecom and business services.
Indians were made to believe that we could sprint without high-quality education, healthcare, infrastructure or banking sectors, which form the backbone of any stable economy. The plan was to build them as we went along, but then in the euphoria of short-term success, it got lost.
India’s exports of goods grew from $20 billion in 1990-91 to over $310 billion in 2019-20. Looking at these absolute figures it would seem as if India has arrived on the world stage. However, India’s share of global trade has moved up only marginally. Even now, the country accounts for less than 2% of the world’s goods exports.
More importantly, hidden behind this performance was the role played by one sector that should have never made it to India’s list of exports—refined petroleum. The share of refined petroleum exports in India’s goods exports increased from 1.4% in 1996-97 to over 18% in 2011-12.
An import-intensive sector with low labour intensity, exports of refined petroleum zoomed because of the then policy regime of a retail price ceiling on petroleum products in the domestic market. While we have done well in the export of services, our share is still less than 4% of world exports.
India seemed to emerge from the 2008 global financial crisis relatively unscathed. But, a temporary demand push had played a role in the revival—the incomes of many households, both rural and urban, had shot up. Fiscal stimulus to the rural economy and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission scales had led to the salaries of around 20% of organized-sector employees jumping up. We celebrated, but once again, neither did we resolve the crisis brewing elsewhere in India’s banking sector, nor did we improve our capacity for healthcare or quality education.
Employment saw little economy-wide growth in our boom years. Manufacturing jobs, if anything, shrank. But we continued to celebrate. Youth flocked to low-productivity service-sector jobs, such as those in hotels and restaurants, security and other services. The dependence on such jobs on one hand and high-skilled services on the other was bound to make Indian society more unequal.
And then, there is agriculture, an elephant in the room. If and when farm-sector reforms get implemented, celebrations would once again be premature. The vast majority of India’s farmers have small plots of land, and though these farms are at least as productive as larger ones, net absolute incomes from small plots can only be meagre.
A further rise in farm productivity and consequent increase in supply, if not matched by a demand rise, especially with access to export markets, would result in downward pressure on market prices for farm produce and a further decline in the net incomes of small farmers.
We should learn from what John Treacy did right. He didn’t give up, and pushed for the finish line like it was his only chance at winning. Treacy had years of long-distance practice. The same goes for our economy. A long grind is required to build up its base before we can win and celebrate. And Ovett did not blame anyone for his loss. We play the blame game. Everyone else, right from China and the US to ‘greedy corporates’, seems to be responsible for our failures.
We have lowered absolute poverty levels and had technology-based successes like Aadhaar and digital access to public services. But there are no short cuts to good quality and adequate healthcare and education services. We must remain optimistic but stay firmly away from the optimism bias.
In the end, it is not about how we start, but how we finish. The disastrous second wave of covid and our inability to manage it is a ghastly reminder of this fact.