New Year is coming…!!!! We are about to enter the third decade of the 21st century. The year 2019 has seen many ups and downs ranging from the Ayodhya Verdict to India’s heartbreak semifinal loss at the World Cup. But one thing is sure to not change i.e. the dream of becoming an IAS/IPS officer. The year may have gone good or bad for you is not the matter of concern. The thing is how you look forward to shape up your preparations in the coming New Year. All the IAS Coaching Institutes in Delhi must have soared up their preparation tempo in the chilling December. We require you to gear up for the things to come up and so have a look at what kind of resolutions can be taken by the UPSC aspirants so that the New Year turns out to be a fruitful one for them:
- To be more Organized:
This is the best thing you can do to start the new year. Prepare and follow a timetable you have not done this till now…!!!! Following a timetable will help you streamline your UPSC preparation in a more effective way. Organize your study materials neatly and categorically. Maintain separate folders for separate subjects and always try to keep your study area clean. In this age of Internet revolution it is very easier to get carried away in the lure of search for online UPSC study materials. But once the materials are obtained, the process becomes counter-productive. Try to stay away from such instances. - More time for NCERTS and Mock Test Series:
No matter how much you study and what books you follow, the basic NCERTs books still assume great significance as far as the Prelims are concerned. Be sure to be thorough with these books at the first place and keep on analyzing yourself from time to time. Mock test series can be a great friend in this. If you have not join any test series yet, then you can also test your UPSC proficiency VIAPTS 2020. Test series are the best materials for your current affairs and revision topics. These tests tend to brush up your static knowledge as well as check your current affairs proficiency as well. Do make it a point to solve the mock test papers in a controlled environment, so that towards you are thoroughly prepared with almost 3000-4000 probable questions for the actual exam. And if you are lucky enough many questions in the UPSC prelims may be directly or indirectly answered from the mock papers. - ‘DO NOT UNDERMINE’ CSAT Paper:
Citing the lack of time in the last 6 months, most of the aspirants tend to neglect the CSAT paper thinking it to be only qualifying and so can be easily tackled. But it is clearly not the case; you would not want to see yourself missing out the UPSC Mains just because you flunked the CSAT paper. So, it is wise enough to invest atleast an hour or two daily. Practice from the previous year and mock test papers. Be well-versed with the priority areas. Since 2013, the difficulty level of the paper is increasing constantly and so you should start taking it more seriously during the preparation phase. - Get your Approach Right:
Every aspirant has their own methods and ways to tackle the UPSC Syllabus. Ideally, there is no single full-proof approach to achieve success. What works for one, may not for the other. Identify your own ideal strategy for the exam and try to be loyal to it. For example, if you are comfortable studying at night, then be it. Make sure whenever you study, you finish your daily targets. - Maintain a Positive Attitude:
“Virtually nothing on this earth can stop a person with a positive attitude who has his goal clearly in sight.” – Denis WaitleyYou cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you. In the course of UPSC preparation, there will be ample number of times when it will seem that nothing is going right. It’s quite natural actually. Such a situation requires you to remain calm and have a positive viewpoint. After all, who all will go through such phases…??? The serious aspirants, right….!!!!! If you are feeling the heat, then believe us you are half way there. Now it’s just matter of how you hold up the things from there on.
- Read, Revise and Re-Revise:
The simple mantra will be to:
“Revise daily, 2-3 times a day, in a particular time-slot of the day”. Keep particular revision slots for similar subjects as while reading similar subjects, it becomes a lot easier to recall and retain. Daily revisions are very vital. Human minds are very fickle; they tend to forget the information which you once labored hard to retain in order to retain new set of information. So, it will best if you spare some time daily exclusively for revisions for the topics you completed on that particular day. - ‘Rationality’ over anything:
Preparing for UPSC while working posses different set of challenges for the aspirants. This is where your perseverance and character can help you. There is should be rational thinking behind anything you do concerning with the exam, be it dividing time for different subjects, choosing the optional papers or anything think twice before acting. Take for example, choosing of an Optional Paper. Choose such a paper, that you are most interested in and preferably short in syllabus. - “Get Inspired, then Perspire and then Succeed”:
The internet is filled with innumerable success stories that started with nothing. Some names coming to mind include: Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg to name a few. Get inspired from such stories, whose next one can be yours. Just have an eye on the greater scheme of things and carry on success is bound to be yours.
The UPSC CSE Prelims is scheduled on 31st May 2020, you have enough time to gather and channelize all your focus and energy on clearing the UPSC papers. Although, you have a mountain to climb and what fun in scaling a summit without coping some failures?
Believe in your capabilities; believe in yourself, rest will follow its own course. You write your own destiny, make it happening and beautiful.
