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Jun 11 • 9 tweets • 5 min read
Now that #UPSCPrelims2022 is done & dusted,it’s time to head back into the preparation mode with renewed vigour after a well-deserved break.Irrespective of the cut-offs, if you’re giving this or the next #UPSC attempt,it’s time to prepare for Mains. How to ace the mains?Thread 1:
1. Read the #UPSC notification. Didn’t expect that, did you? They clearly mention the demand of the exam. “The main exam is intended to assess the overall intellectual traits and depth of understanding of candidates rather than merely the range of their information and memory.”
2. Approach to Study? “The questions are likely to test the candidate’s basic understanding of all relevant issues, and ability to analyse.” Focus on understanding an issue in all its facets, the context behind it, & know how to interlink & analyse it from multiple dimensions.
3. Do you need to be proficient in every topic?The answer is a resounding NO!“The questions will test general awareness which will have relevance for a career in Civil Services.”There’s no need to memorise lots of information about a topic with specialised study. Be a Generalist!
4. Your next best guide? PYQs! Studying #UPSC previous year questions enables one to better understand the demand, the prevalent trends, language used & intricacies involved. “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”- Sun Tzu
5. Your constant companion? The syllabus copy of-course! Take a print out, read & understand it thoroughly. This will guide you on how to interlink topics,give ready-made dimensions for answers & essays,ensures you know what is relevant & what deserves your focus while studying.
6. Practice is key!
“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”-Aristotle
Start writing-write terribly,make mistakes,learn. You will only get better at it if you practice.Don’t wait to finish the syllabus to start- will never happen.Start now
We will continue this series in thread 2 on Tuesday,with how to write great answers. If you want to know more, come join us at #InsightsIAS #Bengaluru today at 11 am & learn how to #AceTheMains with @vinaygb Sir.
The clock is ticking, start your Mains preparation seriously-now.
@vinaygb Sir addressing students live at #InsightsIAS #Bengaluru on how to #AceTheMains #Upsc .

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More from @Insights_ias

InsightsIAS Profile picture
Jun 10
Have you got into the habit of delaying your happiness?As a #UPSC aspirant or even otherwise in life,we tend to believe that only when we accomplish a task,we’re entitled to feel happy.“If I clear #UPSCPrelims2022 or get X job,only then I can be happy.”Why do we delay it?A thread
Is happiness dependent on external factors?When we make our happiness contingent on getting that job,rank,salary or relationship-we are ensuring that we will never be in a state of happiness permanently.Why? Coz we will always want more-the next promotion,a bigger car,more money.
Don’t allow yourself to be dictated by the ‘ifs’, ‘whens’ or ‘buts’ in life or wait for an outcome in the future to be happy.Aspirants pin all their hopes on the #upscresult every year,delaying their happiness constantly.While we wait for an outcome,life continues to pass us by.
Read 4 tweets
InsightsIAS Profile picture
Jun 9
Sometimes in life, we feel afraid that we’re falling behind. Especially for #UPSC aspirants who have been in the cycle for quite a long time-the stress of being unemployed, the uncertainty associated with the exam & being economically dependent on others can be painful. A thread:
Watching our peers,who may have chosen other career paths progress professionally, enjoy a social life, etc. can make us feel like we’re falling behind in life. What is the antidote to feeling this way? We must stop comparing ourselves with others. We are all different & unique.
We all make different choices in life & traverse different paths. Life is neither a race nor a competition. We are the architects of our future-designing & building our own unique masterpieces. There is no one best way to live life,there are no right or wrong choices in a career.
Read 4 tweets
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Jun 8
TW
Yesterday,we read the heartbreaking news about the aspirant who decided to end his life coz he couldn’t clear #UPSC. For those of you facing multiple failures in the exam or in any other sphere in life,please remember an exam doesn’t define your identity or self-worth.A thread
An exam is just a task we undertake in order to progress to the next grade or to get a job. It is not bigger than you or your life. It never will be. Do not base your self-worth on clearing #UPSC. Failing to clear it does not make one ‘useless’. It is just one avenue of service.
Repeated failures at anything can indeed be painful. But carry an attitude of detachment,do not let an outcome shatter you. If you do not accomplish one task, remember that there are thousands more that you have already accomplished & will accomplish in future. Focus on the good.
Read 5 tweets
InsightsIAS Profile picture
Jun 6
#UPSCPrelims2022 was conducted yesterday. Now begins the seemingly long & frustrating wait for the results. Many may be filled with regrets:that they should’ve studied harder,marked ‘X’ option, not second guessed,focused on CSAT,etc. #Regrets over the past plague us all.A thread:
Why do we regret certain events or the mistakes of the past? “I wish things would’ve gone better, wish I had got that job,wish that relationship had gone right, wish I had spent more time with ‘X’, wish I’d been better back then”- we are filled with an infinite list of regrets.
But most of these things are not under our control. We may term several things in our past as mistakes,but that’s only in hindsight. Sometimes we did what we did because that seemed to be the right option at that point. As we grow, our perception changes & we become wiser,better.
Read 4 tweets
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Jun 5
Today lakhs of aspirants will be writing the #UPSCPrelims2022. For many, it will be their first attempt,but for many others it will be their Nth attempt. No matter which attempt-most will be engulfed by similar feelings of fear & nervousness. Why? Due to the uncertainty.A thread:
Why does uncertainty unsettle us?We are the happiest when we get an outcome we expect with everything in life.We want the assurance that we will achieve any task that we undertake,else we may feel that there’s no incentive to invest in it. But uncertainty in outcomes is certain.
Trying & failing at something doesn’t mean that one has wasted time(#UPSC aspirants who have been in this cycle for a long time may have heard it several times that they’ve wasted their ‘prime time’). Instead,we must view an experience through the prism of learning,not outcomes.
Read 4 tweets
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Jun 4
Quite often in life we unwittingly surround ourselves with people who bring us down in myriad ways-through words,thoughts & actions. A #Upsc aspirant(especially one who hasn’t tasted success yet)-faces barbs about their unemployed status & failures. How to #ShutTheNoise? A thread
Virginia Woolf had said-“The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages.” Don’t be shackled & held back in life by the prisons & cages they create for you & especially by the ones that you create for yourself in your mind-through your self-doubts & negative thoughts.
If it’s constructive criticism, embrace it, else reject it outright. Whenever you encounter somebody doubting your abilities or mocking your failures, you must filter them out from your life & thoughts. Walk away- both mentally & physically. Recognise your self-worth & value.
Read 5 tweets

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