Strategy for UPSC Civil Services

Imagine you have to make Tea for the first time. What all things you need and how would you proceed?  To start with you should be clear why exactly you need to make tea. It could be different for each. Some might be wanting to loose weight, so they might need Green Tea. Some have tea as a part of their life, so they need it almost every time. 

Tea and Books | Image by Thought Catalog from Pixabay 

Now that you are clear with the objective you need to collect the ingredients - cooking gas, water, milk, sugar, ginger, cardamom and Chai Patti ( Tea leaves) . People always experiment with Tea and there are different varieties of Tea available in the market like masala tea and black tea. So it is important to collect the ingredients as per the taste of the individual. 

Next comes the most crucial step which will decide the future of the tea i.e. knowledge required to make the tea. Here there are broadly two methods - Firstly you try and learn and keep on trying until you make a perfect tea or you are fed up of the process and give it up. Second you seek the guidance of someone who has experienced the process of tea making. He/She can give you precise step by step workflow required to make the Tea which can help to reduce your efforts drastically. 

Now that we have covered the Tea making process, one important aspect is still missing. Sometimes you simply cannot make Tea even though you are fully prepared for it for various reasons which are out of your control. For example, you feel the urge to drink Tea but you are alone and not feeling well, so you drop the idea of drinking Tea due to laziness, which is completely fine because ultimately drinking Tea is not the goal of life. 

Preparation for any competitive exam is no different from making Tea. You should have a reason- however silly it might sound, even if it is just to have a power yielding job. You should have the right book-list, which is always available on the internet on sites such as Insights, so lets not waste our precious time here simply repeating the same. Now comes the most important aspect - guidance. Whenever a person starts his/her Civil Services preparation, a common thought is that of missing out. 

What others are reading? 

Which books or current affairs source am I missing ?

That person has cleared 4 straight Prelims, How will I compete with such people? 

And the list of such insecurities is endless. Here comes the role of guidance and mentor. Someone who you can tell you to confidently stick to your resources and focus on studies instead of worrying about external factors because at the end of day every aspirant has to deal with more or less the same problems. So do not hesitate to ask help from your friends or seniors preparing for this exam. Chalk out a concrete plan with their help and stick to it no matter what happens because hard work is the closest sure shot mantra for success in this exam. 

So go on and grab your Cup of Tea!!