In my five years of engagement with UPSC, I've failed the prelims thrice(twice due to CSAT) and written mains twice(2020,2024). I've cleared GS cutoff by a good margin in four of my attempts and missed one by 2 marks. This is what I've learnt in my journey so far.
1) Static is king - in all of my attempts I've stuck to attempting 73-75 odd questions which has been my magic number. Why? Because I've made static my armour. I've revised it maybe more than 100 times in these five years and most of it has been in the first year itself and subsequently I only revise whatever I think is necessary. The credit to getting my static buisness in order goes solely to forum ias. In 2019 I joined forum pre and mains test series. Solved all their papers plus sfg as well and wrote all my mistakes in a book. Now I only revise those before prelims to get a clarity of the scope and breadth of static syllabus.
2) current is an ego train - no matter what you do and how much you do, you'll always feel like you're missing out on something which creates doubt and confusion during the D-day. I try and stick to one source and that too follow it only till December. Than preferable I read a yearly compilation of whichever institute that is the least in size. This covers most of the topics and is easy to revise plus gives an added boost to the confidence. This confidence equips me to attempt only those questions which I feel most confident in while reducing the attrition rates due to negative marking.
Also while attempting the paper, I always keep in mind what my father reminds me before every exam. He says "remember that you are a lion, not a power hungry one. A lion dare not kill an elephant just because its hungry." Just guage what type of question(elephant or a gazelle) is in front of you and try not be overly optimistic about your abilities. Patience and keen presence of mind is what gets you through in the end.
Do not over complicate anything. Be busy, be sane !
