The Morning ( and Days ) after Mains Results – For Both Have’s and Have Not’s

I met Himanshu a few years ago.

He was remarkable when I met him, back then.

Most aspirants – color their life in black and white – Getting Selected means success, everything else means failure. This categorization becomes rigid especially after every result.

But Himanshu was different. When he thought he had failed, he would do something about it.

Some people, who resolve to not quit the exam after a failure, actually quit working towards the goal – and merely keep writing the exam.

Himanshu taught me that not quitting means not stopping the hard work. All throughout the year for the next year.

He taught me that if you don’t quit – by which I mean

• not quitting on the hard work
• not quitting on building a new strategy
• not quitting doing all those things which one should do as a new comer.

you can improve. He not only told me that. He demonstrated it to me.

He reached me again when he secured rank  44 last year. And made it to the IAS.

A big reason why people fail after they fail is because of two reasons

• because they may not have quit on the goal, but have quit on the path
• because they think they know, and hence they dont need to do anything more, and begin from where they thing their knowledge ends – which probably does not end because they already know everything – or at least half of everything – which is  an equally bad assumption to make.

In the past five years, I have met at least 5 people who went to get under 50 ranks –  who were only able to improve ranks , or make remarkable progress in later attempts – thus altering theirentire life trajectory – only because they would do stupid things.

They would begin afresh.

And its not easy.

Himanshu, in his third attempt, for example, joined the Forum Prelims Test Series. And he was not a guy who had failed in Prelims earlier.

He had the ability to start afresh.  ( To be honest, I do not have that ability, but thats another story, for later times.)

So last night when Himanshu messaged me, inviting me for the most important social ceremony of his life – I asked him. You’ve gone through this, why dont you write something. Its about giving back, remember?

And he wrote.

And here is his message

by Himanshu Jain, AIR 44 , @riseoftitan, IAS Batch 2016

Firstly, congratulations to all those who made it to the interview.

Do prepare well for the interview and don’t stop until your day comes.

Among those who have cleared, there are 3 kinds of people –

• first, those who are working since mains got over,
• second, those who are working but only half-heartedly, and
• third, those who haven’t started at all and are totally unaware about the interview process.

People of the first category will feel a little relaxed.

People of the second category will feel a little anxious.

And those of the third category would be out and about by now, approaching different coaching centers for guidance for interviews.

I will post a detailed strategy which will help each of the above 3 kinds of people (provided that they have a minimum of 25 days at their disposal).

Steps:
#1  Install Evernote. ( 1 Month Free Premium Referral Link by ForumIAS Here)
#2  Make a notebook called Interview.
#3  Create a note for each area of your DAF. For example, your state, graduation, district, hobby etc.
#4 ForumIAS has released a compilation of interview transcripts. Read it and frame questions based on your profile.
#5 Write all these questions in the corresponding notes along with their answers.
#6 Practise in front of the mirror for 30 minutes daily. You can use your mobile to record this. You will be very surprised to see the improvement in just 5 days.
#7  For current affairs, read newspapers, especially The Hindu and ToI, and make quick notes in a small notebook.
#8  Form opinions on current news items by asking yourself difficult questions.
#9  One method to eliminate fear is by asking difficult questions, questions that scare you, during mirror practice.
#10 Appear in 7 to 8 mock interviews and work on the suggestions that you receive.

Finally, think positively, don’t let your mind get cluttered with negative thoughts.

Condition your mind by repeatedly feeding positive things into your mind.

That’s it for those appearing for the interview this year.

Now, for the people who are having a bad life.

First remember that you dont have a bad life. You just have a bad day, or a bad week.

Its temporary.

Please don’t worry even 1% bhi.

Don’t judge yourself based on this exam.

ThIt has got several subjective elements.

In my first attempt, I got around 130 marks in the essay without working, while I got 60 marks in the essay when I worked very hard for it in my second attempt.

I too struggled with this process of rejection.

It’s very painful and shattering. It feels like one year has gone down the drain.

But believe me, one who falls but keeps himself strong enough to work again, will win ultimately.

It’s like a cricket match. One dot ball doesn’t decide the final outcome.

Rather, if you keep yourself standing on the pitch, on the next ball you might be able to hit a four or a six.

So, it doesn’t matter how hard you are hit, what matters is how hard a hit you can take and still keep moving forward.

I know this pain is immense and I would not ask you to come out of this pain.

But make this pain your strongest strength and put the best that you can, even if you have to go beyond your abilities, work day in and day out, whenever you feel lazy, just remember the pain of not finding your roll number in the list and you will automatically start working.

Few famous quotes
1. Those who think they can and those who think they can’t, are both usually right.
2. The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of failure.
3. If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.

There is also a good saying which goes something like –
*Play hard or go Home.*

Make your work ethic so strong that it eliminates fear of failure from you. Sacrifice deviations.

Work so hard that you are able to bring smile on your parents’ face, because some things are priceless.

Grind yourself , burn yourself by practicing more and more, and I am 110% sure that you will come out with flying colors.

You know you will.

Thank you for reading it.
Himanshu Jain,

IAS Batch 2016, AIR 44