Taking Civil Exam Strategies

Are you preparing for civil service exams? Since it is one of the reputed jobs and offer handsome salary, thousands of people appear in it every year. However, to make this dream come true, you need to do a lot of preparation. Because the nature of the exam is hard, you cannot clear it by simply studying the books. You definitely need to adopt some strategies to crack it. Here’s the list of a few tricks that can help to crack the exam.

Read the Instructions and the Test Material Carefully

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success, said Alexander Graham Bell. Since to prepare in the right manner it is important that you have read all the instructions carefully. A little carelessness in reading the things today may become the major of cause of the failure tomorrow. Not only you need to read the instructions, but you also need to be careful about choosing the right test material. Because the syllabus of civil exams is vast, there are a lot of books and notes available on the web and in the market too. So, you are required to choose it wisely and get the best results.

Be Positive

If you really want to be the next civil servant, be positive about it. Of course, there could be a failure once, twice or even more than that, but if you are dedicated to achieving your goal nobody can stop you. All you need to do is stay optimistic and keep on working hard.

Prepare Yourself for Every Odd

You actually need to prepare yourself for the best as well as the worst. If the best comes there can be nothing more special than that. But on the other hand, if the failure comes, you need to stick to your ambition without losing any hope.

The reasons are following

• No matter you pass or fail, UPSC takes away one year of your life. In that case, a real player will continue taking the test until he/she clears or is limited by age or number of attempts.
• You may reach the MAINS/ Interview level, but that will not get you the job.
• The society may attack you emotionally, but you need to keep yourself strong and stay ambitious in all the conditions.

Since, no exam is easy as long as there are people competing for the same vacancy. The competition is very hard and the candidates shall not take it for granted.

The Givers and Takers of the World

What makes a person a giver or a taker? Is there a thick bold line between the two, or is it more muddled? Are women more biologically prone to giving -whether it is time, money or apologies?

The idea of ‘give versus take’ takes shape in all interactions and relationships of our personal and professional lives. We are either giving advice, making time for people, or being philanthropic in any way possible without any strings attached, or we are on the receiving end. We alternate between the two based on different situations we encounter on a daily basis, if not an hourly one. In other words, we are almost never always just givers or takers.

According to Adam Grant, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the groundbreaking book “Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success”, most people fall under the category of matchers.

A matcher is someone who strives to tip the scales so that they are even, fair and just. They make careful observations on takers and make it a point for them to pay something back in order to tip the scales again. They basically hold tabs on who has done what for who, and hate to see people who act so generously towards others not receive any rewards. In fact, most matchers will go out of their way and do karma’s job by promoting and supporting givers so that they can get the good they deserve.

Givers, on the other hand, have close to zero expectations from other people and are not bothered when their request for favors go unanswered by those who they went out of the way for. In his book, Grant explains that givers fall under the two opposite ends of the spectrum: they are either very successful people or can be found at the bottom of the ladder. Either way, givers often put themselves at risk for burning out or being taken advantage of and ultimately give a few sacrifices, tangible or not.

Is there a gender factor that plays a part in this?

A study led by Hannah Riley Bowles, a professor at Harvard University, focused on the role of our sex chromosomes on the idea of giving and taking. She asked 200 senior executives to sit down in pairs where one person would act as the boss and the other as an employee to negotiate salary promotions. Male ’employees’ asked for an average salary of $146k while the females asked for 3% less -only $141k. But why did they not bargain as hard as the men? Simply because they were more inclined to be givers.

Another group of women, who acted as the ’employee’s mentors’, asked for an average salary of $167k. Why the big difference? Bowles concluded that these women’s tactical use of aggression on the negotiating table was consistent with their self image as givers; they were each fulfilling their responsibilities to be mentors for other people.

So, would it be fair to say that all men are takers and all women are givers? Of course not. But are women more inclined to do so, perhaps due to theories of evolution and social conformations?

If we are to observe the history of the female role in society, we will see a commonality across all cultures and traditions. Before colonization, and in the Choctaw Native society, women were deemed with high respect due to their vital roles as caregivers for their families, communities and tribes. In fact, they were dignified to the extent where family lines followed that of the mother, and during tribal functions, the children would sit at the fire of their mother’s family while the father sat at a separate one.

But history didn’t stop there. Up until our modern day, most women are most likely to stay at home and care for their children while men go to work and earn the bread. Within a household, the mother is most likely to be the emotional giver, the one who her children confide in, the one who provides comfort, whether it is by preparing her husband’s favorite meal or taking care of a sick child.

Does this mean that history has dictated that all women enjoy taking up the role of the giver? Or is it that men never had the chance to take it up? Or perhaps a little bit of both?

As a woman, I cannot deny that I do enjoy the act of giving up my time, my knowledge, and my care and attention to the people in my life, and more often than not, complete strangers. I don’t expect anything in return, but I do tend to draw the line and pull myself away when I feel like I’m being taken for granted. I also tend to get upset when I see a loved one’s continuous actions of kindness go unnoticed. So, it is safe to say that I am 50% giver, 35% matcher and 15% taker.

I do know someone, however, who is 99% giver. I don’t know how they manage to stay sane, but they are constantly devoting their time, sharing valuable insights and going out of their way for everyone who crosses their path. They give, give and give and expect nothing in return, and although they have changed the lives of many people, they rarely see any of it returned. But the universe is slowly repaying them; they are now extremely successful, well known for what they do and admired for it, too.

So, maybe, no good deed ever goes undone?

What category do you fall under? Share your thoughts on my blog!

How To Avoid Making Mistakes And Evolve

The commercial world is doing everything based on manipulation. Marketing is a series of persuasion techniques used to make you believe that you need everything that the world is trying to sell you.

Everyone in the world is a seller and a customer. Therefore, you are used with the necessity to care about your financial interests in every situation. This means that money is for you more important than anything else.

If everything you do is done with the intention to make money your work will be poor. You won’t spend enough time working, you won’t be sincere, and you won’t work with dedication.

You have to work like an artist, always looking for perfection. You also have to become a perfect human being.

Your dreams will help you understand how to avoid making costly mistakes in life and attain spiritual perfection. This is your protection.

Today everyone believes that we are smart when we are evil, but this is a misleading lie. You have to be wise and do everything based on goodness and wisdom.

The unpleasant and sad fact that we are in fact demons with a tiny human conscience means that we have to change our behavior.

Perfect mental health depends on goodness. In order to be a mentally healthy person you have to show compassion instead of wanting to kill your enemies. You have to be generous instead of being selfish. You have to be kind, humble, patient, and calm.

Thoughts that make you believe that you are silly when you forgive others or when you are generous, are thoughts that come from your anti-conscience and from most people’s anti-conscience. The way that everyone else thinks influences your thoughts, and many of these thoughts are not really yours, since they come from your satanic anti-conscience.

Sometimes you use your conscience, but other times your anti-conscience invades your conscience and you start following its thoughts.

Carl Jung’s work helped you understand our psychological system thanks to dream analysis. My work helps you understand the relationship between science and religion and the meaning of life, besides showing you how to find sound mental health.

All dreams are produced by God in order to transform you into a perfect human being, even though you have an evil nature.

Many things you consider ‘normal’ are evil, but you are unable to understand this fact. Your dreams help you find out what is good or bad and why. You learn how to evaluate what can be trusted or not.

You have to understand the truth about your reality without the distortions of the hypocritical world, and transform your personality thanks to this information.

Many warnings in your dreams will help you prevent bad situations and tragic consequences. You will avoid making costly mistakes that can ruin your life, and you will do what will help you evolve.

Christina Sponias continued Carl Jung’s research into the human psyche, discovering the cure for all mental illnesses, and simplifying the scientific method of dream interpretation that teaches you how to exactly translate the meaning of your dreams, so that you can find health, wisdom and happiness.

Should Others Put Their Trust In You?

Why should someone trust you? That is an important question. Once you let someone down, they may never completely trust you again.

In college and throughout the rest of your life, the people around you will listen to your words and observe your behaviors. The accumulated information becomes your reputation. Based on their experiences, your friends, acquaintances and coworkers will put you into a category – Always Trustworthy, Sometimes Trustworthy or Not Trustworthy.

“If you find that you can’t trust someone in one situation, how can you trust that person in any situation?”

In reality, we make “trust” judgments about people all of the time. They make the same judgments about us. Since you are only considered to be trustworthy when your words and behavior can be counted on, you can determine how trustworthy you are by asking yourself the following questions:

1. Do you keep your word and honor your promises?

2. Are you there for your friends when they need you?

3. Do you tell the truth?

4. Do you treat people fairly and with respect?

5. Will you help your friends even when it is inconvenient for you?

6. Can your friends count on you to keep a secret?

7. When you receive confidential information, do you keep it confidential?

8. Do you meet or beat time deadlines?

9. Do you pay off your debts and fulfill your obligations in a timely manner?

10. Do you admit your mistakes, take responsibility for them, accept the consequences and try to correct any damage that was done?

11. When you say “trust me,” do you make certain that the outcome is exactly what you promised?

12. Do you do what you say you will do, when you say you will do it?

13. Do your friends believe the things you tell them?

14. Do friends often rely on you for help?

15. Are you known for your predictably good performance?

16. When you are involved, do your friends have high expectations for the results?

17. When the outcome is important, do others count on you to get the job done?

18. Are you known for being on time and completely reliable?

19. Do you perform at the highest level, even when nobody is watching?

20. Do your friends believe that you will never let them down or disappoint them?

When you are known for these behaviors, you are considered to be trustworthy. Question: How do you stack up? If you assign five points for each “yes” answer, you will get a pretty good idea of just how trustworthy you are.

Tougher Standard: Go back and insert the word “always” into each question and answer them again. For many people, that single word will have a dramatic effect on their results.

Being trustworthy is not something you can do once in a while or when you feel like it. When people cannot predict your behavior, you are not trustworthy. That inconsistency harms your reputation, your friendships and your chances for success on the job.

When recent college grads lie, cheat, steal, take advantage of others and put themselves first, they will never find lasting success in any career endeavor. Unethical, inconsiderate, manipulative and insincere words and actions will always diminish your reputation and hurt your relationships. However, when you are completely trustworthy, others will support your goals, be there for you and celebrate your successes. Should others put their trust in you?

Bob Roth, a former campus recruiter, is the author of five books, including: A Successful Senior Year Job Search Begins In The Freshman Year. Known as The “College & Career Success” Coach, Bob writes articles for College Career Services Offices, Campus Newspapers, Parent Associations and Employment Web Sites. Bob has created The Job Search Preparation System™ for colleges to use to help students find greater success in the job market.

How Do We Touch People’s Lives?

If you know me well, you know cemeteries intrigue me. I will always, almost subconsciously, comment on one when we drive by it and will almost always, beg a family member to walk around one when I find one interesting. Since we moved downtown I have been begging family members, even those who visit from out of state, to walk around Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

Opened in 1856, it is the place where many distinguished members of Nashville now call home. It is also the place where many more unknown, except to their families, now call home. These are the people I’m always interested in, the ones who are buried among the famous, the ones who might have done great things, but no one knows their story. There are no little posts by their graves that say “Tour Stop 5” and there are not giant headstones marking their final resting place. Sometimes you have to push the leaves away from a stone marker level with the ground to see it inscribed “Faithful Friend of 70 years”. I was more interested in this lady and her story than I was with finding George Dickel’s grave (although my recent stint as a bartender made me a little curious) or the huge pyramid marking the grave of Major Eugene C. Lewis.

You couldn’t miss those big ostentatious headstones even if you tried, as I’m sure you couldn’t miss those people in real life. But if you weren’t careful you’d walk right over Mary and her tiny stone. I’m guessing you wouldn’t have noticed Mary right way in real life either.

As I often do when visiting cemeteries, I concocted the life of Mary. She was the person you could always count on for a ride if you needed it, for lunch when you were lonely, for coffee when you just needed to vent and I bet you could even knock on her door and ask her for a cup of sugar. She’d of course give you two, just in case. She was quiet and unassuming, she worked behind the scenes maybe not even knowing she changed your life, she was just doing what she did best, being a friend. I obviously never met her, but out of all the 250 acres of notable dignitaries and I do mean dignitaries, there are senators, mayors, governors, civil war generals, she is who I’m still thinking about a day later. In my mind she deserves to be buried among all these famous people.

When we were leaving the Cemetery yesterday, Rob and I, the conversation turned, as it almost always does, to our burials. Rob’s change as often as the wind and yesterday was no different. He wants a chaise lounge as his headstone with WiFi, LED lights, and a webcam “so people can get some work done while visiting”. Mine is always the same, I want a bench under a tree where people can come and visit me, talk to me and just reflect. I want lots of flowers there, always, but today I wanted something different. I want the addition of “Faithful Friend for 90 years” on my headstone.

Things to Keep in Mind While Conducting Trailer Maintenance

Trailers are vehicles that do not have an engine of their own and are often towed behind larger vehicles. They are used to either transport goods or used as a camping vehicles for those who love to spend quality time outdoors either alone or with friends and family. Owning it is an investment in itself where it helps you with your tasks for a longer period. While you own one, it is important to maintain its structure and condition for as long as possible.

This can be taken care of only when there is regular maintenance conducted. The maintenance includes checking for the parts to be intact, the wheels, the body, etc. While this is done on a regular basis, here are a few parts of the trailer that requires special attention which would ensure that it functions in the best possible way.

• Tyres – The tyres of a trailer is what supports the entire vehicle. Regular maintenance includes checking the tyres for cracks, presence of nails and metal embedded on the tyres should be removed to prevent the tyre to get damaged. You should also ensure that the pressure of the tyres is perfect to carry load that you intend to transport from one place to the other. Improper tyres can cause severe accidents while on the road where the vehicle would wobble from one side the other thus harming other cars on the road.

• Lights – As you would be using it behind your primary vehicle, you should ensure that the indicator lights and night lights are functioning well. The bulbs should occasionally be checked to ensure they perform well while on the road. The cars behind you wouldn’t notice the indicating lights of your car but would follow the lights of the vehicle trailing behind.

• Brakes – Not all such vehicles have brakes of their own and for those who have them, routine check-ups are often required. The brakes control the speed of the secondary vehicle and how it would trail behind the main vehicle. Regular oiling and cleaning of the brakes would ensure that it would function well while on the road.

• Body of the trailer – Most trailer bodies are made of metal and with regular use and the effects of the weather conditions, there are chances of the body wearing off or getting rusted. Rust- proof metal and paint if used can help in having a long-lasting body that can help you maintain its condition for several years altogether.

The author Cathy Smith has had experiences with dealing with trailers and its accessories where her family owned trailers for business purposes. She has relevant information on stores dealing with trailer parts and jockey wheels.

Tips And Tricks For Making The Most Out Of Your Rented Marquees

Marquees are one of the best fixtures you can have for a wedding or any kind of party you want to hold outdoors. They will give you and your guests adequate shade from the sun. If the weather is rainy and windy during the event, marquees can give you the protection and shelter you and all the attendees need as well. And if you correctly choose the marquees you will use for an important event, aside from being functional, they can add to the décor and the aesthetics of the venue, too.

There are certain tips and tricks you can follow though to further make use of the marquee you have rented for a specific event. By following these tips, you can fully incorporate the marquee in the event and make it more appealing. These tips and tricks include the following:

Consider the weather at the time of the event regarding the arrangement of the furniture and fixtures inside the marquee.

If you are holding the event during summer, most guests would probably spend more time outside the marquee. As such, the marquee would only be used for lunch or dinner or when it rains. Hence, don’t cram too many chairs and tables inside it. You can also consider setting up an outdoor bar area and the dance floor next to the marquee.

If you will be staging the event in the winter, everyone will certainly spend more time inside the marquee. You, therefore, have to put more thought into the layout of the marquee. You can consider having screens erected inside the marquee to create a detached section for welcome drinks. This area can also be used as a quiet area once the dancing is in full swing.

Invest in the right lighting features or accessories.

Aside from renting the marquee, you can also hire the right accompanying lighting features as well. Rent some fairy lights if you want to project a more romantic mood inside the marquee. For contemporary weddings or events, choose spherical paper lanterns in various colours and sizes to create a fun, modern effect. Large sparkling chandeliers hanging from the roof of the marquee are perfect for vintage-themed weddings.

Don’t forget to rent portable flooring for the marquee as well.

Natural turf would definitely be great to walk on during outdoor events. However, the turf may be too muddy or dusty and to ensure that the footwear of your guests are protected while they are inside the marquee, have the right portable flooring installed inside the structure. Portable flooring materials can also ensure the safety of your guests since there will be a lesser chance for them to slip on wet grass.

Enhance the exterior of the marquee.

Place flowering plants outside the walls and entrance of marquee. You won’t also go wrong with placing framed paintings or photos on easels, relevant to the event, outside the marquee as well.