{"id":301960,"date":"2024-06-25T11:44:04","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T06:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=301960"},"modified":"2024-07-09T17:23:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T11:53:14","slug":"mains-approaching-go-the-extra-mile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/mains-approaching-go-the-extra-mile\/","title":{"rendered":"Mains Approaching: Go the extra mile!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tyrion Lannister once said and I quote, “<\/span>You are in the great game now, and the great game is terrifying!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gearing up for Mains, are you? <\/span><\/p>\n

We can all agree that Mains is inevitably <\/span>the rank-determining stage<\/strong><\/span><\/i> of the UPSC Civil Services Examination. Hence, the great game!<\/span><\/p>\n

Irrespective of whether or not you cleared Prelims, now is the time to prepare diligently<\/em> for Mains. Next year this time, you\u2019d be thankful to yourself<\/em> that you did it anyway!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When preparing for Prelims, you felt that Mains is more predictable, easy to conquer, not so vast and definitely, <\/span>not as daunting as Prelims.<\/i><\/strong> Only when an event presents itself do we actually understand the nature and demand of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And right now, most of you are feeling that <\/span>Mains is insurmountable too!<\/i><\/strong> But we all know for a fact that every year 1000 odd students clear the exam and a few of them repeatedly clear to improve their rank. (Chandana Jahnavi, AIR 50, 2023)<\/span><\/p>\n

And how to follow suit in the run-up to Mains?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t chase too many resources.<\/b><\/p>\n

Everything you have ever wanted, to write Mains, is in front of you. Don\u2019t go looking for more and more.<\/p>\n

Instead, extract the best from the single source available to you. I know a bunch of selected candidates myself, who have utilized <\/span>every<\/span><\/i> sentence from Dipin sir\u2019s Current Affairs course or Ethics+ classes by Ayush sir.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It promptly worked for them because they found the <\/span>right context <\/i><\/strong>to use all that information to optimize their scores.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>2.Consistency always beats intensity.<\/b><\/p>\n

This is true in real life too, but more so in Mains answer writing practice. Don\u2019t be the hare that ran swiftest for a while only to rest and let the tortoise win!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Steady and consistent answer writing practice, even if it is 4-5 questions a day, would make all the difference in the end. But the key here is, <\/span>you cannot miss a bunch of days!<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Similarly, clocking in a set number of, say 8-9 hours\/day would do wonders than studying for 16 hours for 4 days, only to have a burnout that lasts like, forever!<\/span><\/p>\n

3.Build game-changer habits.<\/b><\/p>\n

Pick a standard time to start your day. To practice answer writing. To brainstorm PYQs. To read the newspaper. To take a break and unwind. To get some sleep.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because if your habits are predictable, all you need to do is <\/span>show up<\/i><\/strong> and execute the tasks. This will set up a productivity streak even before you realise it!<\/span><\/p>\n

4.Ritual of note-making.<\/b><\/p>\n

A short, <\/span>keyword-based<\/i><\/strong> notes of the important issues\/topics will save the day.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is simply not enough time to make numerous iterations of notes. If you already made comprehensive notes for Mains, add a layer of current affairs to the same.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If not, read directly from your primary sources and hand-pick the keywords.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>5.What do we say to reinventing the wheel? \u201cNot today!\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Be willing to learn from a teacher, a well-curated handout, an experience of a selected candidate or a mentor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A <\/span>tried and tested strategy<\/i><\/strong> or content is more valuable than trying to build everything from scratch, all by yourself in a short span.<\/span><\/p>\n

6.Avoid the perfectionist trap!<\/b><\/p>\n

A perfect answer. A perfect essay. A perfect strategy. A perfect day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They simply do not exist.<\/span><\/p>\n

You will <\/span>drain<\/i><\/strong> yourself and yet don\u2019t even come close to your own sense of perfection!<\/span><\/p>\n

7.Build a positive feedback mechanism loop.<\/b><\/p>\n

Specific, timely and comprehensive feedback you receive on your writing practice is precious.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One, it helps you to be proactive in the process and keeps the momentum going.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two, it helps you cross your <\/span>critical threshold<\/i><\/strong> and makes you write more mindfully.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

8.A relentless pursuit of goal!<\/b><\/p>\n

Relentlessness is one common trait that I meticulously noticed among my mentees<\/em>, who are now successful candidates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They fully understand the right time to peak. (Ruhani, AIR 5, 2023) <\/span><\/p>\n

They make no excuses.(Saurabh Sharma, AIR 23, 2023) <\/span><\/p>\n

They blame no one. ( GVS Pavandatta, AIR 22,2022)<\/span><\/p>\n

They leave nothing to chance<\/i><\/strong>. (Manan Agarwal, AIR 46, 2022)<\/span><\/p>\n

And that my dear, separates them from the pack.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Give yourself a <\/span>fair chance<\/span><\/i> to accomplish what you set out for!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Because, there is always a goal which makes you feel like\u2013the universe has crafted it, to keep you alive. Nurture it. Now, more than ever!<\/span><\/p>\n

Always,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rohini.<\/span><\/p>\n

P.S: Tyrion Lannister is a very small man who cast a very large shadow in the realm of Game of Thrones.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tyrion Lannister once said and I quote, “You are in the great game now, and the great game is terrifying!\u201d Gearing up for Mains, are you? We can all agree that Mains is inevitably the rank-determining stage of the UPSC Civil Services Examination. Hence, the great game! Irrespective of whether or not you cleared Prelims,… Continue reading Mains Approaching: Go the extra mile!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10341,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2122,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-301960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous","category-motivation","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301960","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\/10341"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301960\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}