SECRETS OF SUCCESS

- Few words from successful candidates 1. Planned studies, hard work and inner motivation are the keys to success. 2. Strong willpower and faith in God are keys to success. 3. Hard work, focused approach and faith in God are stepping stones to success. !. Hard work, good planning and positive approach. ". #edication, time management and hard work are secrets of success. $. Self confidence, planning and systematic study are stepping stones to success. %. &otivation and confidence are the keys to success. '. #etermination, positive attitude key to success. (. Patience, selection of optionals, hard work and good luck. HARD WORK: )emem*er that there is no su*stitute to hard work. +o one will come and help you. ,ou have to finish the entire course *y yourself. -ivil Service competition is like a marathon race. .or that any competitive e/amination0even this whole world is a competitive world. 1he aspirants of civil services are well educated and more than "2 per cent of the candidates are serious ones. 3ne, who has the confidence that he can compete in this e/amination and succeed, only will appear. 4PS- statistics also reveals that around "25 of the total applicants only appear in the Preliminary e/am. 6mong the "2 per cent of the serious candidates, more than 22 per cent are hard workers, i.e. more than "2, 222 candidates are competing, who are really hard working. 1here are hardly !22 posts in all. So, to make it to the !22, one has to *e really put in real hard work, good writing skills, uni7ue style all put together. 8t is not a university e/amination. 3ne who puts in e/tra hard work, practice, and uni7ue presentation only will succeed i.e. *e among the top !22. So all successful candidates say the hard work one of the first pre re7uisites for the success. 1here is no short cut to success and hard work never goes unrewarded. 1here are many ups and downs during the course of preparation. 8t is the 9downs9 which need to *e tackled more vigorously and skillfully more so at the emotional and psychological level. )emem*er these lines 9what you *uild for years, may *e *roken down in a single moment *uild anyway9. DED CAT O!: #edication towards your duty always pays in life. :e totally dedicated and focused in your studies. ,ou have to sacrifice something like movies, parties, and entertainments etc at this stage of your life to achieve *igger things. ;ust work day in and day out and go on and on. 6s told in the previous topic, one should have dedication towards the goal otherwise it is very difficult to achieve. Select standard study *ooks0preparation of notes, as reading is the only entertainment you should have during this period.

"AT E!CE: 6s the -S< preparation spans a minimum of one year, right from the Preliminary stage to the interview state, it re7uires a lot of patience to maintain your tempo. 6t times you may feel tired and sick of further studying during the course of your preparation. &aintain your cool and patience and so on to *reak the monotony of studies. 1alk to friends and parents. 1hey will provide with you with the much needed emotional support. <very aspirant tries to top in the first attempt itself. 8f you don=t get through, don=t get frustrated. #on=t slow down your tempo and at the same time you should keep patience for another year to reap the fruits of success. So one should not lose patience and the tempo throughout the preparation period till success. SE#F-CO!F DE!CE: ,our self confidence can make the difference. 8f you don=t *elieve in yourself and your capacity to achieve then, no matter how hard you try. ,ou will end up failing. So your self confidence should *e at an all time high always. ,ou should *e in the company of people, who can increase your motivational levels high and can inspire you. .orm a group of close friends, who are as determined as you are to make it to the -ivil Services </amination. >eep good friends, they are always a source of inspiration and motivation. FA TH ! $OD%#UCK: 1. &ost of the candidates who have passed0cleared0topped the -ivil Services add this as a ma?or key to success. @hy everyone says this has a reason *ehind it. 1he unforeseen reasons are listed *elowA 2. +ormally, candidates accept a standard formula, of what was once said of <instein 9Genius is (2 per cent perspiration and 12 per cent inspiration9. Some may say that it is (( per cent hard work and 1 per cent luck. 8t is like ?umping into a well. @hether it is (2 per cent or (( per cent, one will fall into the well only. @hat are the factors for the 1 12 per cent variation varies from person to person. 3. 8t often happens that one studies all su*?ects well enough, e/cept one small topic, as he0she might have thought that the topic is well known to him0her. 1he 7uestion in the e/amination may appear from that topic itself. 1he aspirant may not *e a*le to answer the 7uestion satisfactorily, *ut he has only this much under his0her control. !. Sometime in Prelims, unknowingly, candidates mark the wrong option though they know the answer. 8t is a mental mistake. 1he aspirant should have *een more alert. Hence, mental alertness is of essence. 1his also is a faculty under the candidate=s control. 8n Prelims, if you are in dou*t, you are *ound to get confused *etween two similar options. Hence, comprehend the 7uestion carefully and do not rule out any option till you have *alanced each option carefully in the conte/t of the 7uestion. ". -oming to &ains, you have nine papers. Beave the language papers as they are of a 7ualifying nature and are not going to *e added on to the scores of the &ains e/amination. &oreover, language is not something that can *e prepared overnight. ;ust keep reading newspapers and magaCines regularly. 3ther seven papers are going to *e different in nature. $. 1hough the key is given *y 4PS-, it is not sure whether the evaluator will award the same marks for same points to different students.

%. 3ne evaluator may like &r. 6=s style, *ut the same may not like &r. :=s answer, though the points are the same, *ut the style of presentation is different. '. 1he &ains evaluator is also a human *eingD he may not always *ehave in the same manner to award the same marks. 1he evaluator is not a machine, which will *ehave in a similar fashion and is in the same mood all the time. (. 1he mentality and the mood of the evaluator also play a crucial role at the time of the correction of the paper. 12. 6ll seven papers go to different personalities and the cali*er of evaluators are also not the same. 11. 3ne person does not evaluate all the papers. #ifferent evaluators from different *ackground evaluate the same su*?ect. 1here may *e lenient and tough people are also there in the same lot. Suppose if an evaluator is a little li*eral to give one mark e/tra for one 7uestion. 6ll the papers put together will add another 32 marks more for the candidate which can make a world of difference indeed to your final standing in the merit list. 8n such types of competition, even one mark can make the difference. 12. 6t the interview stage too, the *oard chairman and mem*ers with different *ackgrounds sit in the *oard. 8t is impossi*le to award the same num*er of marks to a person in two different *oards. Here the 7uestion posed, timing, *oard mem*ers play a crucial role. 13. 32 !2 minutes of an interview is not the *est way to ?udge the cali*er of a student. 1!. 6t times, familiar 7uestions which sound interesting to the candidate might *e asked which will definitely give an edge to the candidate. 6t other times, even good answers can=t *e articulated well *y the candidate *efore the *oard. 1". 1here are well known cases where the candidate was given different marks, which varied in 122s from one e/am to the other. 3ne person got 2120322 marks in the first attempt, the same person got 1"20322 in the interview in the very ne/t attempt. @hat can *e the conclusionE #o we conclude that the same person got worse over a period of one yearE +o, here the 7uestions posed to him are entirely different from those posed in the previous year. 1$. 6*ove all, during the e/amination one should keep sound health. 1hough it may *e under your control, certain things are *eyond one=s control. 1his may mar the chances of success of the candidate. 1%. .or the a*ove reasons, candidates use to say that *y luck0God=s grace also plays a ma?or role. 1hey a*ove mentioned factors should also play in one=s favour for huge success in this competitive world. 1he conclusion is that you shouldn=t worry if you face failure. 1here are uncontrolla*le factors, which also play with us without our knowledge, so do hard work and e/tra hard work and leave the rest to the 6lmighty. 1'. Still, remem*er there is no alternative to hard work. 6nd also *elieve that God is on your side and go ahead with full determination and intelligent study and practice, which will *ring success to you. &A## THE 'EST&