After having interacted with and observed many top performers For the Prelims crash course over time, I have watched these traits to be the common thread among all of them.
- They have a singular focus on what they would like to achieve.
- Don’t have several goals such as making money, getting the correct date, and getting through UPSC.
- They are ready to exert their total effort with no anxiety of failing.
- They don’t stop once they’re exhausted; they only stop when they’re finished.
- Always go the extra mile, squeezing and taking the best advantage of each day of their time to prepare.
- Aren’t afraid of making mistakes. Learn from errors and the mistakes of others as well, and do not repeat them.
- They establish incredibly realistic goals and set a plan for them. Not having a highly-trained 14 hours daily schedule causes them to exhaust themselves within 2-to 3 days.
- They do not get emotionally involved in their success or failure on the exam. A physician’s approach to the topic is to take the necessary work and proceed.
- They can hold off gratification for a while. They aren’t looking for immediate results. They’re willing to put in the effort required today, knowing that the results will be evident a few years from the present.
- They’re highly flexible. They won’t allow lousy food, accommodation, or bad companies to get into their cooking. The room doesn’t work? Then they move to the study room.
- They must be responsible for the results rather than blame the circumstances. “If my friends weren’t so distracting, I would have done well in the Mock tests.” It’s not true.
- They keep a positive attitude in all circumstances, even under tension. If they fall, they lift themselves and are back on the road.
- They’re focused. If they’re attracted by a dinner or movie plan that their friends are planning, they know when to stand firm and say no when they have to.
- They aren’t subject to the pressures of society. Do not base their work on what family members or peers think of their accomplishment or failure to pass the exam.
- They are, at a certain point, entirely independent. They don’t take what other people around are doing as their reference point. They do their best.
- They don’t look for numerous sources of information for the study. You can only study the same subject from various sources, as you’re aiming for only the “BEST” material. Instead, they stick to the fundamental issues like NCERTs, Yojana, The Hindu newspaper, and so on and learn these sources thoroughly.
- They are able they can manage time. This is true both in the preparation phase and during the exam. “First 10 questions – extraordinary answers, didn’t have the time for last five questions.” In this category, could you not make it on the list?
At the end of it all, I don’t believe that the top contestants had any regrets, regardless of the suffering and struggles.
After seeing their names on the final ranking, I’m sure they regretted missing their favorite movie or being left out while everyone else went out to a party. However, I’m sure that all who weren’t cleared had plenty to.
Tips to be followed while preparing for Ethics Integrity and Aptitude
The whole syllabus of ethics has been divided into two parts
1) For Theory Part
- Acquaint with terms mentioned in the syllabus. An Aspirant should be able to express phrases in the most specific words and minimal possible words; for Example, Values mean preferences, Ethics meaning guide about right or wrong, etc.
- The terms and values are mentioned in the syllabus; try to relate them with one’s personal experiences.
2) Case Study
Get a compilation of solved and unsolved case studies. And with unsolved do practice.
Some Online sources are:
- BBC Guide to Ethics
- What is Ethics? – Cambridge University
- https://edenias.com/book-store
Six vices exist 1)) Anger or violence 2.) Greediness or corruption, 3) Illegal sexual activity or sexual activity, 4)) Exuberance to life, 5) Ego, and six) Jealousy.
Of the six those three sins are the most serious and can lead the soul to hell since the three sins harm others. The last three sins do not bring you to hell if there isn’t any harm done to anyone else. If you’re interested in the people for Ethics Integrity and Aptitude, you shouldn’t go to hell if the attraction to your spouse or husband or other issues or money does not cause harm to others.
Your ego won’t go to hell as you don’t harm other people. In the same way, Jealousy toward other people will not result in any punishment in hell as long as it doesn’t hurt other people.
Sometimes, Jealousy helps you to develop. If you consider the first three sins, your anger or violence will harm others. In addition, your lust for money can lead to corruption, where you are taking advantage of others’ money and causing others to suffer. In the same way, your illicit sex can cause harm to other people.
When Dharma raja sought advice from his grandfather, Bisham, regarding the meaning of injustice, Bisham said that the fundamental principle of justice is that one shouldn’t do something to anyone else and that when done by someone else to him, it results in harming him. Thus, the criminal nature of the offense that leads to the punishment of a person is the damage you have caused to other people.
Therefore, God in the Gita stated that just three sins are the primary entrances to hell. These include financial corruption, violence, and illicit sex.
The most serious sin is that kills living beings in the name of the food or to repress personal anger. God Brahma is furious at this act because He alone is the one who can give lifelong living.
If you don’t have the authority to grant life to dead living creatures, You don’t have the authority to kill any living thing. The death sentence handed down by a judge must be the final sentence. Before imposing a death sentence on an alive being, you must give the soul several opportunities to correct sin through reformation.
Reformation is the primary goal of any punishment, not revenge. The person is being hung to death for the sole reason that the offender could be able to kill someone else. If the person is reformed and the crime isn’t repeatedly repeated, there’s no need for punishment.
In the same way, killing a living creature to eat is the highest in this first crime. It is essential to think that you are being held by a demon that will eat you! Any pain you feel at that moment, and also during the moment when you cut your own body through your demon’s jaws, that same pain is experienced by the living creature dying for the sake of food! God Brahma symbolizes the qualities of Rajas, and the violent anger is solely due to Rajas.
This is the connection between quality and quantity.
The second kind of sin is theft by fraud or theft through force. Money is the Goddess Lakshmi, and thus, this kind of crime causes God Vishnu to become furious. Nowadays, nearly everybody is a victim of corruption.
Before you commit a crime in the name of money, it is essential to consider the damages caused to other people, particularly the poor.
At a minimum, you must be aware of corruption when it comes to the case of poor people. If you steal the wealth of a sinner, the wealth should not be enjoyed by you or the members of your household.
It should be used to benefit the poor or fulfill a spiritual need. It is possible to ingest even some of the deadliest poisons; however, not sinful cash that can destroy you and your loved ones.
It is believed that the illicit money you earn is like a train engine that can move away, linking to your cash earned using justice. It is like several compartments positioned on the track at the platform’s side.
A majority of people use the money to lead to their demise. The act of giving or spending money will also send you to hell. Everyone pays a lot of money for events given to family and friends who can eat in their home.
You don’t offer food to the beggar who is suffering from hunger. You decide to provide food for a worshipper or spiritual leader visiting your home, and they assist you to increase your spiritual understanding or dedication.
It is not wasteful because spending it will result in positive (Punya) or harm (Papa). Even if you dump money into a river and then claim it is waste, such an action is also considered a sin. Therefore, you must be extremely careful and conduct a thorough analysis whenever you earn or spend money.
The third kind of crime is illegal sex, which is a result of blind lust that is linked to the qualities of Tamas.
God Shiva symbolizes Tamas and gets angry because of this sin. It is a matter of observing Lord Shiva, who stomped out the cupid’s anger in any living thing.
It is imperative to always think of Lord Shiva to prevent this error. If you’re cheating on an alcoholic husband by going out to his house with his wife or stealing the father by taking his daughter, think of yourself being in the shoes of these father and husbands! If you’re in pain, it is not a good idea to repeat the same mistake to other people like the above mentioned by Ethics for UPSC.
God created the world and is highly conscious of the peace, justice, and harmony of society. You should stay clear of these three types of sins, if not because of the fear of hell, which God created.
These are the minimum and the maximum expectations of God from human beings. God is not angry when a human being is an atheist as long as the person can avoid the three categories of crimes.