[STRATEGY] MUST READ: 21 Days of Lockdown-What to do? Introspect, Ideate and Improve !!

Coronavirus: Awareness, Myths, Solidarity and Message to All UPSC Aspirants by Mohan Sir Founder IASbaba

The entire world is at seize!

There is a lockdown!

You can’t step out of your homes under normal circumstances!

But, can there be a silver lining in the clouds of fear and anxiety that covers the horizons of human progress and determination? Perhaps yes. Apart from saving your life and that of others, the lockdown gives you a chance to take yourself out, not you in bones and muscles, but the real you who is hiding beneath the layers of stress and overwhelming inflow of information. The lockdown gives you the freedom to do a small pilot of 20 days, to test your limits. The lockdown also gives you an opportunity to come out with a better version of yourself. (It may be more than 20 days depending on the situation)

Even at the risk of sounding way too optimistic, we do believe that the next 20 days can be a pathbreaking phase of your life. After so long, you have now got time for yourself. While you have been taking care of your family and friends before, and you must continue to do so now, there is a fair amount of time that you will have at your disposal. You have got 20 days that translate into 480 hours. What are you going to do during this time? Are you going to simply wait for the lockdown to get over or do something incredible to your life? Most of you will choose the second option, right?

So, here we are, with a set of suggestions that you can think of following completely or maybe customise as per your needs and priorities. We divide our suggested strategy into three segments- Introspect, Ideate and Improve. Let us understand them one by one.

Introspect

What makes you happy?

What gets you angry?

What are your values?

Who inspires you the most?

Why are you even preparing for the Civil Services?

Does answering to these questions take a lot of thinking? Of course, it does. Therefore, use the next 20 days to introspect and try knowing yourself better. Try finding the not so obvious answers to the obvious questions with respect to your personality, likings and values.

Think about the role you have played for your family? Could you have cared to do something more? Ponder over the instances wherein you disappointed your friends or partner by your behaviour. Could you have gathered the courage to apologise? Could you have listened more to your parents and teachers? Could you have put in a little more effort in your previous attempts? There are many such unanswered questions. The least you can do is to devote 30 minutes each morning (or evening, it doesn’t really matter) to introspection. What are you going to gain out of it? Well, a lot to be honest. Knowing one’s own self is vital to prioritise one’s goals in life, be it career or relationship, family or friends. By introspecting, you get to know the ‘WHY’ of everything that you have been doing or not doing. The time you spend in introspection will give you a much better sense of purpose when you come out of the lockdown.

Ideate

You have been reading a lot of textbooks, newspapers, magazines etc in recent years. The flood of information has cluttered the streams of your own thoughts. There is hardly any room for original thinking. Use the next 20 days to declutter these streams. Think of issues with an independent mind and don’t let views and opinions expressed elsewhere, bias your own thought process. Look into issues through the lens of your own morality and value system to create your own opinion— distinct and novel. The best way to ideate is to think and then pen down your thoughts immediately. Take 50 current issues, start thinking about each one of them at a time, develop a perspective, construct arguments/ counterarguments and write them down. You will be amazed to witness the vastness of your own imagination. You will have your own responses ready for a variety of issues. Once you are out of the lockdown, you will be the go-to person for new ideas and innovative thinking. Spending a couple of hours towards daily ideation will do wonders to your confidence and personality. Go grab this opportunity!

Improve

You always wanted to work on a particular subject/ topic. You sincerely wished to read that highly rated book on international relations. You desperately needed to hone your writing skills. Well, the time is now! Physiologists and behavioural experts believe that within 21 days of continued practice, a person can adopt or quit any of his/ her habits. That is the precise amount of time the lockdown has given you. Use this time to learn new things, read your favourite books, cover the topics that have always scared you, maybe quit smoking, start exercising daily etc. It depends on how you want to utilise to this time.

For the upcoming 20 days and beyond, IASbaba is with you. These are testing times for all of us. We are trying our best to fulfil the promises that we had made earlier, keep our students engaged and come up with new and innovative ways to ensure continuity in your preparation. We are committed to ensuring the welfare of the student community and our members are putting in extra effort to bring in content, context and completeness in your journey. In times like these, the small tokens of appreciation (like the one below) motivates us to work harder for you.

Friends! After the lockdown is over, there will be many people coming out with a similar or even lower levels of intellect compared to their existing capabilities. But do you want to belong to that lot? Don’t you want to come out wiser, emotionally more intelligent and intellectually more competent? Of course, you do! The solution is simple- study, observe, think and learn. When the lockdown is over, you will have your chances to PERFORM.

FOR MOTIVATION, Read-

Coronavirus: Awareness, Myths, Solidarity and Message to All UPSC Aspirants by Mohan Sir Founder IASbaba

MUST READ: PRELIMS in Testing Times – Don’t Forget the ‘WHY’; IASbaba’s dedicated HOTLINE for Aspirants and Prelims Postponing Rumours

PRELIMS EXCLUSIVE (Current Affairs Classes)  –

PRELIMS EXCLUSIVE: CURRENT AFFAIRS CLASSES (12 SESSIONS-By Tauseef Sir): JOIN NOW!

All the Best

IASbaba Team