CSS_Psychological_Barriers

[Ainuddin Kibzai]

Competitive Exams in general and CSS in particular have been a battle of nerves along side acquisition and expression of knowledge.
I have always been of the opinion that an aspirant does always need a mentor who can help him calm his nerves down and have a psychologically soothing effect on him.
CSS is the name of a continuous struggle where you are bound to come across hurdles of various types.
The inexperience and weak nerves can really dent your preparation and sometimes cause nervous breakdown too.
Therefore, the role of a #mentor does become quite vital.
Let us talk about some psychological barriers and then unfold the techniques to overcome them.

1. #Comparison_with_others
An aspirant always finds himself in deep water whenever he compares himself with others which is quite detrimental. He believes that he is lagging behind other aspirants who are so updated and well-informed that competing them will be next to impossible.
You had better avoid comparing yourself with others because every individual is different from other when it comes to educational background, personal life, aptitude, temperament, etc.
If you compare yourself with others, you are bound to confront two conditions.
i. I am soooo far behind others (Inferiority complex/Dented confidence)
ii. I am soooo ahead of others (Superiority complex/Over-confidence)
Both the situations are quite fatal for an aspirant.
Therefore, stop comparing yourself with others. Work in accordance with your capabilities and toil silently.

2. #Sacrificing_too_much
It is quite commonly seen that aspirants tend to sacrifice everything in their pursuit of PCS/CSS. they sacrifice their studies, their job, their family, friends, and even their own self.
Well, if you avoid general attraction with others then you are putting yourself under a lot of pressure. The burden of sacrifices weighs so heavily upon you that you start feeling stressed and a conventional phobic sentence dances in your mind, "Yar, agar ab bhi PCS/CSS na huwa tou...?"
Simple piece of advice for such aspirants is not to go into total hibernation and adopt social isolation at all. This will decrease the pressure on you.

3. #You_become_your_own_Enemy
Human mind does go through various tipsy turfy circumstances where you are sometimes quite motivated and vice versa.
You come across a situation where you don't feel like studying but still stick to it and force yourself to sit down and study since you have to meet the chalked out schedule.
Well, CSS is a continuous struggle and being your own enemy is something you cannot afford. Try and befriend yourself. If you don't feel like studying, DO NOT study at all.
Go out and chill with friends, listen to songs, watch some movie, etc.

Keep one thing in mind that you need to tackle PCS/CSS psychologically if you want your pursuit to be a successful one.
The #Yes_I_Can within you is far more powerful than the #No_you_cannot which others tell you either implicitly or explicitly.
Just equip yourself with 3 C's.
#Commitment
#Concentration
#Consistency

Best of luck.

Regards,

[NadeemJazpal]

100% agree. i have seen people becoming an ASP in mere preparation of 4-6 months, and i have seen people putting their 2 years in first attempt yet couldn't get through. Believe in Allah, Believe in yourself. Man is simply not made for competing with others, compete yourself and overcome your nerves. put your 100% and stay calm, result is obviously in not our hand, give some room to nature to work its own way.
good luck.