{"id":19220,"date":"2018-04-28T11:29:18","date_gmt":"2018-04-28T05:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=19220"},"modified":"2019-07-12T15:04:19","modified_gmt":"2019-07-12T09:34:19","slug":"the-difficulty-of-waking-up-after-civil-services-examination-final-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-difficulty-of-waking-up-after-civil-services-examination-final-results\/","title":{"rendered":"The Difficulty of waking up after Civil Services Examination Final Results"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At this ungodly hour, when I write this at 4AM,  so\nthat you can read it before you rise – or goto bed – I see a lot of people\nawake -some of them are awake because they failed<\/em><\/strong> to meet their\nlife goals with the CSE results coming in last night – and some of them – for\nthe exact opposite reason – meeting<\/em><\/strong> their life goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

( As I write this, Both Sachin Gupta, Rank 3 and Abhishek\nSurana[1], Rank 10 are wide awake , and on Whatsapp, having made a successful\nexit from the examination process ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is for those who didn’t see their name in the final\nlist yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have something to tell you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mughals were defeated by the Ahom kings 17 times in\nbattle. But the Mughal empire did not<\/em> collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You cannot be<\/em> an empire<\/strong> if you collapse at the\nend of a battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Civil Services Examination is something like a long\ndrawn War – with many battles in it. Each stage is a new battle, and every\nbattles has to be won afresh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous victories do not assure a win in the next\none.  And when a battle begins – no one knows who will win and who will\nlose – because if the outcomes of battles were exactly predictable and known –\nthey would not occur in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those are some of the ground rules of this examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So this one is for those of you who did not make it to the\nfinal list last night. And those of you who did not appear for the Interview\nthis year after your Mains Examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#1 Give yourself some time<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The finality of the result takes some time to sink in.\nUsually upto three days. The mornings are usually horrible. And denial of\nreality is  the first response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Architect in the Matrix said this famously – denial\nis the most predictable of human responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let this feeling sink in.Do not deny it the space it will\neventually take. Perhaps cry. Let it all go. The sooner you let go of it, the\nbetter prepared you are . Don’t let it spread over months. This week is all you\ngot. The Prelims is 37 days away, starting today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#2 Make no decisions at this hour<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Its a good thing to be a quick decision maker. First mover.\nEarly adopter. Any of those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you were building a start up , I would tell you that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when it comes to failure in Civil Services, these\nare not the best of times for decision making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are less likely to stick to decisions that we take under\nduress. In fact, they are not even the best decisions – because you are not\neven in the right frame of mind to take them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So no career decisions, life – changing decisions,  or\nlife-partner decisions for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have enough time to take those calls. If you could wait this<\/em>\nlong, you can wait a little longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#3 You are not a disgrace to your parents<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Of all the people left in the world , your mum and your Dad\nare always the people who will think in your best interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They may not be the best people to guide you on what career\nto choose or who to choose to spend your life with, but they have your best\ninterests in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only them. These are some eternal laws of the Universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you are not a disappointment to them. They are older,\nhave seen more life than you have, and you may not realise it right now – but\nthey are much more understanding than  you think them to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, they also know better.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whenever  I meet a kid who has been preparing for Mains\nfor past three years doing optional classes\/ test series annually , but doesn’t\nstudy for Prelim’s or join a Prelims Test Series because This-time-\nI-have-figured-out-Prelims-and-will-surely-clear-it<\/em>, I tell them to write a\nDear Dad letter that says –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Dad, I have not cleared prelims three times. I\nhave studied for Geography optional almost every year and two months before\nPrelims, I am still preparing Geography Optional – Please tell me if my\nstrategy is right or wrong.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chances are, somehow, they get the answer even without\nsending the letter to Dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#4 You are accountable to noone<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The truth is, you are not accountable to anyone<\/em><\/strong>\nfor your success or your failure. Not your flatmates, your relatives or your\nfriends whose phone you and your parents are not picking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are accountable only to your future self.  So stop\nbeing ashamed of what you have achieved and what you have not achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the famous TV series Game of Thrones[3], Tyrion Lannister\n,born a dwarf and disowned by his father tells John Snow – Never forget who you\nare , and wear it like an Armour, because the world will not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

( We”ll be moving into Season 8 of the series, and I\ncan  tell you that John Snow and Tyrion are the most favourite characters\nfrom the series – Worldwide. They are also heroes of Game of Thrones, not just\nsurvivors, if you know what I mean. )<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So get out of your room called* comfort zone, get some fresh\nair and maybe goto the mountains, for a week maybe.? Auli is a good\ndestination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#5 Find out the root problem<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I am not going to deny that the examination is a little\nunpredictable. Unlike an IIT Entrance – where a person  who is<\/em>\nable to solve problems at home, will be<\/em> able to solve problems in\nexam too – the CSE has subjectivity – which increases from Mains to the\nInterview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, you must strive to find out what went wrong \/ is\ngoing wrong and work on it. Often that prognosis is not<\/em> easy. And\nprobably you will need help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But once you are able to diagnose the problem right, you are\non way to the solution – subject to a strong will power and execution skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past one year, I have worked closely with a lot of\nForum Community Members, and I can tell that yours truly has worked with more\nthan 100 people whose names I saw in the final list. I am citing some case\nstudies.[2]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deepanshu <\/strong>: I met him multiple times for the past one\nyear after the Mains. He had not been able to score well in the past attempt,\nand I saw him really improve over the past year. He was a keen learner and\nobserver. Whenever someone would ask me the question – I have not been able to\nclear Mains, I would call D and ask him to share what D did. And what D did was\nan action oriented strategy – wrote at least 10-12 Mains Tests before the\nPrelims itself . He also shared that he worked hard on Ethics and Essay\nexclusively. He has a rank 120 <\/strong>this year. @Deepanshu , if you are\nreading this, you owe a write up to the community \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sachin :<\/strong> I met him multiple times again in the past\nyear. He had not scored well in the Interview before, and we had 7-8 sessions\ntogether. I still remember when we did not have a roof, we went to the terrace\nof the building to do Mock Sessions and Group Sessions. He was with ICLS and\nwould travel from Manesar on weekends to have the sessions. He has secured Rank\n3<\/strong>. I can tell you that he worked extra hard for his Interview this time.\nWhen I had asked him if he knows where he is lacking – he was one of the few\nwho were correctly aware of their shortcomings. We worked on it for at least 2\nmonths – and he being form Haryana , had  a late Interview on 10th March –\nthus having ample time to prepare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Juhi :  <\/strong>When I first met Juhi , I told her\nyou are my next Mittali\nSethi<\/strong><\/a> \ud83d\ude42 She chuckled, albeit nervously. Like Mittali, she was able to\nwrite answers well , and  needed only a little push. You should see her\ncopies of the last few MGP tests sometime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deep inside I was always perturbed about her Philo Optional\n, as I knew she would do outstandingly well in the GS, if everything goes\nalright (again UPSC is unpredictable), but could not say the same about Philo\nperformance. She slogged. I can tell you that. Her notebooks were full When I\ntold her she should prepare for first Interview after Mains, she came all the\nway from Ludhiana ( I insisted ) with her husband to attend the session. I was\nalso concerned about her Interview since most people with good communication\nskills do not prepare for the Interview and end up scoring less. She did , in\nthe end work a lot hard for the PT. She has secured rank 122.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abhishek : <\/strong>I am going public with this \ud83d\ude1b since\nyou promised you will share your whole notes repository in public domain once\nyou get IAS \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abhishek worked extremely hard on the contents of his\nanswers all throughout. He was one of the few people who wrote every single MGP\nTest . We conducted an Open Test before Mains last year , and i remember we had\nto create a Physics Paper only because we had one guy with Physics Optional\n– Abhishek<\/em> and he would would write it. I will try to share\nhis copies with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was very specific with his content, and improved heavily\nin terms of how he wrote answers. He has secured a Rank 10<\/strong> this\nyear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are numerous other people I worked with, and the purpose\nof this post is not to write about Toppers, but about candidates who worked on\nsolving their problems when they were not toppers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I can tell you that if you have faced failure before,\nthe only way to improve is to find out the root cause and work towards it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only then will you see improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do not merely write the exam year after year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, we are incapable of seeing those lacuna, and it\nis a good idea to take help from someone who knows better and someone who has\nyour best interest in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good peer group is a wonderful thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, most people draw early conclusions after writing one\nmock test. Don’t do that. Improvement is a continuous thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if you are facing a problem again and again , find out\nthe root cause of the problem and work for it. There is no other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But-UPSC-is-unpredictable” any such nihilistic\nstatements unfortunately,   do not solve problems. Be more scientific\nthan that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#6 This is not over yet.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is for those of you who just wrote their last attempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me share you a secret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every 7 years , the cycle of success and failure repeats\nitself. Today’s failures will be tomorrow’s success stories. We just dont know\nwhich ones of us will be tomorrow’s Superstars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty years from now, you will be surprised to see the\nfailures of today , on Prime Time on Television and Print Media , ( or their\nequivalent as both print media and TV could be dead in twenty years)  , as\nrole models of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An IRS Officer is the Chief Minister of Delhi. A Chaiwallah<\/em>\nis the Prime Minister of India. Period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As unfair as it may sound to you, due  to you limited\nknowledge and limited understanding of the world, that is how life  is<\/del> should be<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not supporting mediocrity – and in fact an entrance\nexamination does not decide who is good and who is not  – and most people\nwill agree (  or disagree ) that Narendra Modi is more capable of leading\nthe country than Kejriwal is for leading Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am saying life is – and should be – designed in manner\nwhere we are the masters of our own fate. And our lives are not, and should not\nbe decided by a single event, person, or thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

( Though almost all of us struggle with letting a single\nevent or person define life for us. ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are multiple such events that will both define you and\ndetermine where you land up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are not your exam result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your story is not over yet. In fact, its just begun<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until Next Time,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2764<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neyawn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1] Abhishek later told me that he was awake at that hour\nnot because of the hollowness that usually follows success, but because he had\nto train at 6AM at the NPA as an IPS Probationer  \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2] Cases have been cited not keeping in criteria of Ranks\nin mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3] Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama\ntelevision series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an adaptation\nof A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin’s series of fantasy novels, the\nfirst of which is A Game of Thrones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At this ungodly hour, when I write this at 4AM,  so that you can read it before you rise – or goto bed – I see a lot of people awake -some of them are awake because they failed to meet their life goals with the CSE results coming in last night – and some… Continue reading The Difficulty of waking up after Civil Services Examination Final Results<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motivation","category-toppers-story","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":78,"cached_at":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19220\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}