Before appearing for any exam, we must first................

 Before appearing for any exam, we must first understand what it demands. Each exam is unique and hence asks for a specialized approach. Same goes for RBI Grade B exam. The exam is quite straightforward but seats being so less ( Seats in Generalist UR category were a mere 64 in 2018) makes the exam one of the toughest in India. Also by cracking it you get a opportunity of working in the Central Bank of the nation. That itself is a strong motivating factor.

 

The path of education can be so beautiful

 I am 29 years old from Rural Odisha, India. Here is my story of life, which may inspire you. You will not feel regret after reading it.

I come from a very poor background and lower class in society. People generally didn’t give that much attention to my family and parents. We are three brothers, and my parents live in a small village in Odisha. I started my schooling in 1998. When I was conscious and knew about the world, I realized that my father does labour work. My mother was a housewife.

Let me tell you about my father. My father is the elder child of my grandparents. At that time, due to family pressure and poverty, he could not attend school. Near my village is a railway station colony where 20 families stay. During those days (1995- 2000s), my father used to supply water to those families for their daily use as there was no water supply. He used to wake up at 4 a.m. He used to supply water from a tube well in two buckets. He used to lift the weight with the help of a bamboo lathi. He used to get 4 to 5000 rupees per month. In those 5000 rupees, our family used to maintain. Later on, the Railway colony was connected to the 24*7 water supply. Eventually, my father lost that work and started working as a laborer on a railway track. I must say that was tough because you have to work hard in sun all days and you must realize how much the temperature will be near the railway track. Do you know how much he used to get per day? It was 120 rupees. This work continued till 2013 when he got to experience, and the contractor engaged him as a supervisor on the site to maintain the labor force. Today he earns 400 rupees per day which are around 12000 per month.

Let me tell you about my mom. Her life is pathetic and spent in struggle. She lost her mom early, so she didn’t get a chance to study higher; she attended till class 10th. She got posted as an Assistant Anganwadi worker in an interior village which is 5 km away from my home. She used to walk ten km to attend to her regular duty. Later on, my mom cleared the 10th exam in open schooling and became an Anganwadi teacher in 2015. She used to earn 3-5000 rupees per month.

(My mom, cousin sister and Dad in 2020)

When I was a child, my mom used to prepare garlands for buses. The buses passing near my village used to buy them for morning puja. I used to sell flower garlands to the public buses standing on the road, and I used to get 40-50 rupees daily. These earnings were used to maintain our daily vegetables and groceries.

Let me tell you about my home. It was a Kacha house with straws on the roof and no electricity. During the rainy season, leaks in the top made it hard to sleep. The rooms were small and congested. But one thing I must say is that we never felt sad and bad about my home. It was heaven for me, one of the best places where I feel good and comfortable. As we didn’t had electricity, we studied a major part of education in the lamp.

( My home before 2020)

There were few officers in the railway colony who used to give their childrens' old clothes, which were like new clothes for us. We were happy to wear them. We used to get new clothes only in Durga puja. My father used to provide the same garments (color and design) for my brothers and me.

Let me tell now my journey from this setup. I started my schooling at a local govt school in vernacular medium. I completed my schooling at the local govt school itself. During my childhood, my parents were not educated but encouraged me to participate in different extracurricular activities. They sent us to private tution as well. I have more than 50 winning certificates from various competitions like essay, debate, quiz , painting , monoacting etc. I got an award during the Independence Day celebration as the best student in my high school days, which recognized my parents in the entire Grampanchayt. The event's chief guest, CDMO (Chief District Medical Officer), impressed on me, and he had gifted books, stationaries and two pairs of uniforms at that time which was like blessing and motivational factor for me.

After my School few months I had worked as sales man in a medicine store and during college days I used to do data entry works as part time work.

I was selected for the science stream in a good college, but due to family financial conditions, I choosed Humanities as subject and I have completed my Graduation in Economics Honors and secured first class with distinction. I was the first person in my family to be a graduate.

During my college days, my leadership quality evolved, and I was elected as General Secretary. In 2013, I had an opportunity to share the dais with the Governor of Odisha at annual function in my college. That was a proud moment for me.

( with His Excellency Former Governor and Education Minister of Odisha in 2012)

Later on, I completed my B.Ed. Degree from Regional Institute of Education Bhubaneswar Under NCERT, New Delhi in 2015. I have completed my Masters's degree in Applied Economics from Pondicherry Central University in 2017.

Now I am going to finish my PhD in Economics at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka Surathkal next month. I am doing research on farmers behavior towards adoption of new technology of Climate Smart Agriculture and its impact on their Income and welfare. I do research and also have given training to more than 500 tribal farmers to upgrade themselves to do sustainable agriculture practises.

( My Research and Trainning activities with the Rural Traibal Farmers of Odisha in 2022)

My career has been first class throughout except in class 10th (2nd division).

This month I have been selected as an Assistant Professor in Economics through Odisha Public Service Commission. My parents are thrilled to see their kid as a Group A Officer in the Odisha government. My villagers and my district people are proud of my parents and me.

My brothers are also struggled a lot. They have followed my path to do something remarkable in life.

My second brother cracked the Delhi university Law Entrance test 2022, and he is doing LLB from the prestigious law school of India, Faculty of LAW, Delhi University. My Youngest brother is doing a diploma in a Government College. I feel proud for my younger brothers as well.

(Assitant Professor Interview, June 2022)

One thing I must say is that my parents are God for me. Although they are not highly educated, their dedication to making us educated and successful is remarkable. They didn’t spend a single penny of their hard-earned money on themselves; all the money they earned was dedicated to my brothers and me. There are no savings, and there is no jewellery for my mom. In 2000s nobody had given attention and respect to my parents in the society. But in 2022 My parents are familiar faces for many not only in my village but also in block level. That is the power of Education and Investment on Education. Now they are getting respect from all which is the ultimate happiness for me.

In 2020 I constructed a home from PhD stipend and bought a scooter for them, which was my first gift for them.

One thing I feel sad and devastated about looking at them, they are getting older. They have spent their entire life to make our life beautiful. I want them in each birth of my life.

All these things motivates me to work hard and study. This is not the end I want to achieve more and more in life. Definitely we three brothers will make our parents proud.

Hope you liked my life story 😊 Thank You 🙏

-Purna Chandra Tanti Senior Research Fellow / Selected as An Assistant Professor

RBI Grade B

After making it to the list , I have realised that most of the candidates who have made it to the final list and especially the toppers have been working while they have prepared for the exam. So, it’s definitely possible to prepare for this exam while working.

First thing is that being a working candidate it is important that we restrict our resources of study since we do not have the luxury of time. So for any topic of the syllabus first make sure that you don’t refer to more than one resource. I have done the mistake of referring to many sources during my previous attempts and realised this.

Then, make sure that you fix your timing for study during the week days according to your office hours. My office timings is from 10 AM - 7.30 PM. I felt that studying after office hours didn’t work for me , so I used to take enough sleep after office hours and use my mornings to study . Quality attention of 2–3 hours every weekday will be quite enough [My timings were usually from 6AM- 9 AM.] Though I had tried to study in the night I understood that I was not able to focus more as I was tired after office hours. So try to fix your timing of study according to your office hours and your own comfort. It can be any 2–3 hours of the day where you feel you can focus more. Also make sure you have enough sleep of minimum 6 hours to keep you focused during study time.

When it comes to weekends it’s mere sacrifice. We must try to cover “ as much as possible “ during the weekends as we can make up for the shortfall of preparation during the weekdays.

Phase 1 : Since I already had my basics in Quants , Reasoning & English, I had focused more on General Awareness Part [which is of more weightage in the exam]. When the RBI notification was released in July 2018 , we had one month’s time for Prelims.

General Awareness : I had planned to study GK of 4 months and revise them. I utilized my lunch time[It was 45 minutes, I made sure to complete lunch early to devote time for GK] to make sure I completed atleast 10 days of GK during that time. This way I was able to complete one month’s GK in 3 weekdays. During the weekends I tried to complete the left out GK. In this way I was able to complete 4 months GK in 1 - 2 weeks time. Thereafter , I kept revising them again and again.

Quants , Reasoning & English : Since I had my basics here I had decided to take only Mocks to practice them. Weekends where the only time where I could do mocks as it takes 2 hours for each Phase 1 mock and atleast 30–40 minutes to review our performance. I had taken atleast 2 mocks every weekend so by the end of one month I had taken 10 mocks.

Since I had already failed thrice in Prelims I did not take any chance this time and took leave for 3 days + 2 days [Sat & Sun] before the actual exam. During this time, I kept revising my GK , took mocks and wherever felt I brushed up the basic formulas and shortcuts.

Don’t worry if you feel you do not have your basics in Quants , Reasoning & English. Now it’s April and even if someone starts now preparing for this Aptitude part , one can very well master the basics before the notification is out. Once your done with the Aptitude part you can start with the other sections.

Phase 2 :

Finance & Management : Since this portion was static and was totally new to me, I devoted most of my time during the one month (weekdays & weekends) and tried to complete the syllabus. Due to paucity of time I had to skip one topic in Management. But I feel my low marks in FM was due to skipping the entire topic. I would suggest others to start early and try to cover all the topics.

ESI : With respect to ESI, I had already completed my basics in Economics [Only from NCERT] , Reading HINDU Newspaper, Government Schemes and Budget before the notification was out. During the one month after notification , I did not give more time to this paper since I felt I had covered a bit already and focused more on FM.

Again for Phase 2, I had taken 5 days + 2 days [Sat & Sun] leave , which according to me was quite little time to revise and study left out topic. One advantage was that since I had less time I concentrated more and did not deviate as much as possible.

On the whole my preparation was made this way :

Before Notification : Reading Newspaper, Budget , Government Schemes , Basic of Aptitude & Economics NCERT.

After Notification : F&M , General Awareness and left out topics of ESI.

This is how I had prepared but every other working candidate might have different approach towards this exam. I would suggest candidates to take inputs from many sources and plan their preparation accordingly.

But it is definitely possible to clear this exam along with your work. Just that you have to put in little extra effort. Trust me , it’s worth the pain !

-Priyanka Ravi , Manager at RBI

It is easy to succeed.

Yes it is.

There is a logic behind this statement:

90% of people do not give their best. They either show off or waste time in complaining or give fake assurance to self that they are doing their best.

So here is a trick -

If you want to be successful at something, please understand that you are competing with only 10% of people.

Don't be scared looking at other 90% because these are the people who are there because:

1. Their parents, friends or colleagues told them to try for It
2. They are over confident
3. They are a part of little work, little play and all show off
4. They are too stubborn to change their opinions
5. They don't know what they are doing
6. They are the ones who begin at rocket pace but soon adopt turtle pace.
7. They don't want to succeed as hard as they are pretending they want to succeed
8. They are busy doing multitasking
9. They suffer from superiority complex
10. They are busy doing comparisons
11. They have only one goal - to earn money
12. They change their goals too easily
13. They don't work silently rather they work to prove their worth
14. They are insecure about everything
15. They interfere in other people's business
16. They are not consistent with their work
17. They give up easily

So If you are preparing for world's toughest exam or be an astronaut or the next Einstein or A. R.Rahman - get this in your head that you have to compete with only 10% of people.

And if you are doing anything or all from above mentioned 17 pointers - please accept the fact that you are also a part of 90%

-Kruti Naik

If a cab driver makes more money than an IT professional, why should I study?

I find that my studying routine for classes at MIT depends largely on 3 factors:

 1) how difficult the concepts are to grasp, 2) how much content there is to learn, and frankly, 3) how much I care about my grade in the class.

However, for the purposes of this answer, I'll elaborate a bit on my study habits for a hypothetical technical class that has a lot of difficult material, and one that I actually care about doing well in (this condition is pretty crucial). I'll break my studying habits down to what I do 1) In class, 2) Outside of class, and 3) For tests.

1. In Class:

• Sit in the first four rows of the lecture hall. This has the effect of helping me stay more alert (read: awake) in class since you feel like the professor is right there in front of you, eliminating distractions from people with laptops open, and helping me see better (some professors have tiny writing).
• Don't be afraid to be the guy who asks questions. I know, it can be awkward to be that guy. However, many times professors will assume knowledge about a particular concept that is not so obvious to the rest of the class. If there's a concept that just didn't make sense, I'll usually lean over to the person next to me for some quick clarification first, and if we both are lost, I'll raise my hand.
• Take notes as if you're taking them for your friend. I've been known to take some pretty scrupulous and neat notes. Call me anal, nitpicky, or whatever. But I've never encountered a situation where I've struggled to read my notes come review time. Taking neat notes in a very deliberate way also helps me internalize what I'm writing, so I don't have to relearn them again later. Learn the stuff in the moment so you don't waste another hour later having to learn it from your notes.

2. Outside of Class:

• The night before lecture, skim the corresponding section in the book. Can't emphasize this enough. To be clear, this isn't a detailed perusal of the content, but rather a quick flip-through to orient me to the material being presented. If there are bolded definitions or important diagrams, I might take some light notes. The point is, when I come to class the next day, I know which parts of lecture are particularly important to grasp and which ones are more peripheral. This step really shouldn't take more than 15 minutes per class, but it saves so much time later.
• Right after class, skim over your notes. I find that this helps tremendously. Often when I take notes, I'm concentrating on internalizing the particular diagram or definition and not necessarily tying it to the larger picture. Looking over the set of notes as a whole helps me fit the puzzle pieces together. How does the content at the end of the lecture fit into what he was talking about at the beginning? Are there obvious gaps in the topic that he failed to explain?
  
• Old-fashioned studying. Hopefully if you've done the two bullet points above, this step shouldn't take that much time. I generally find that the best way to do this is to have my notes and the book open at the same time, and just compare them to see if they jive. If there are parts in the notes that aren't in the book, or vice versa, make a note of that, and consider why that is. Is the topic new? Outdated? Unimportant?

3. For tests:
These studying tricks have worked extraordinarily well for me, but I realize that they might not work for everyone. But what's the harm in trying them out?

• Do your review at least 2 nights in advance. It's okay to cram when you need to - just do it 2 nights before. For example, if the test is Friday morning, do your cramming Wednesday night, not Thursday night. This will give you some buffer time to digest and chew on the material, not to mention relieve the pressure of last minute studying.
  
• Condense your notes twice. The best way I've found to review the material is to look back at your notes (which are hopefully detailed and neat), and condense/summarize them by half in another sheet of paper. Then take those condensed notes, and halve them one more time. (When I say condense, I don't mean just write smaller - I mean actually summarize the concepts so that the new set of notes only contains what you deem to be the really important or overarching themes of the unabridged notes.) When you are all done, your final notes should be able to fit on one sheet of paper, front and back. Carry this with you and do a mini skim-over when you have a spare minute (a minute is all it should take to review this).

I hope this has helped! These are the primary study habits that have worked well for me over my four years at MIT. Not saying that they'll be perfect for everyone, but hopefully you'll take something helpful away from them

  -Michael Fu

The vast majority of abusers do not believe that they are being abusers. In fact, they oftentimes believe they are abuse victims, truly and sincerely.

 If you talk to therapists or counselors who work with abusers, the answer you get, over and over again, is "Abusers believe they are not abusing others". The vast majority of abusers do not believe that they are being abusers. In fact, they oftentimes believe they are abuse victims, truly and sincerely.

You can read a list of abusive behaviors to an abuser, but that almost never triggers a lightbulb. The abuser does not say "aha, I am being an abuser!" Instead, the abuser says "yes, I do that, but I do it because of this thing that she does to me. I am only protecting myself."

Abuse grows in soil where the abuser feels a combination of things, usually pain and entitlement to control.

Abusers are hurting. They are not healthy, happy people. They are suffering. Their suffering is real. It's often self-inflicted, but it's still genuine pain. They feel jealous or insecure. They feel that if they permit it their lover will leave them, or that their lover wants to be with someone else, or that they are in danger of being abandoned. It does not matter if these things are true or not. They feel true. If you're afraid of something that isn't actually dangerous, that doesn't make the fear you feel any less real.

But, and this is the dangerous part, they also believe, sincerely believe, that they are entitled to control their partner to relieve their pain. Lundy Bancroft, a therapist specializing in abuse who has worked with abusers for decades and written books about his experiences, says that abusers almost never change their abusive behavior (with intensive therapy, only about 3% of abusers change; without therapy, it's close to 0%) because abuse is, first and foremost, about attitude. An abuser feels justified in control. An abuser believes it is natural, right, and proper to control the victim.

If you look at relationship questions, you will see that lots and lots (and lots and lots and lots) of people truly, sincerely believe that it is okay to control your partner. As an example, look at any of the zillions of questions about "my girlfriend talks to other guys and that makes me feel bad, what should I do?" and you'll see many, many people say "tell her to stop talking to other guys! If she really cared about you, she would stop! If she loved you, she would not want you to feel bad, she would stop talking to other guys!"

This is a common social idea. Of course, abuse counselors and therapists will all tell you that trying to isolate someone else and control who they can and can not talk to is the #1 sign of abuse, yet people do it because they feel that doing it is their right. They truly believe "she is doing something wrong by making me feel this way; I have the right to stop her from hurting me by making her cut off contact with other guys." They believe not that they are being abusive, but that they are reacting to something their partner is doing that hurts them.

They do not realize that their partner talking to other guys is not what's hurting them; it's their own insecurity that causes the pain. They externalize responsibility for their own emotions: "She is hurting me by talking to other guys! I have the right to stop her from hurting me!" instead of "I feel insecure when she talks to other guys; my insecurity is hurting me."

I have found, when I've talked to abuse survivors and to people who do counseling for abusers, that it is absolutely common for abusers to accuse their victims of being abusers. So when you have two people both pointing their finger at each other and saying "they are abusive," how can you tell what is going on?

Look at which direction control goes in. Abuse is always, always about power and control.

The person who is trying to control their partner is the abuser.

So if you have two people, and one says "That person is abusing me by talking to other guys even though they know that talking to other guys hurts me, and they won't stop talking to other guys" and the other person says "That person is abusing me by trying to force me to stop talking to other guys," the abuser is the first one. They both feel hurt, neither one feels like an abuser, but the abuser is the first one. Abuse is about power and control.

Instead of changing your attitude about life or reading books, consider spending time to develop better core cognitive skills

 Instead of changing your attitude about life or reading books, consider spending time to develop better core cognitive skills.

Unlike getting tutoring or just studying more, this effort improves the basic mental components that support the overall thinking process. Functions like visual and auditory processing, working and long-term memory, attention & focus, logic & reasoning and processing speed to name a few. A weakness in any single one of those areas can thwart a person's overall ability to learn. When those things get better a person has increased confidence in approaching unfamiliar things, allowing them to make more considered choices in their responses.

For example, often a person who struggles merely has a problem with properly hearing spoken language. Sure they can hear words and know their meanings but if they have a hard time processing the input fast enough they might not be able to recognize and make proper sense of them. One might say it is like not being used to a thick accent. If you can't get the words it doesn't matter how smart you are, you won't have all the data necessary to interpret the situation. Or maybe it's like not knowing enough of the slang or jargon. Incomplete or bad data can leave you confused, especially if you have an inkling you're missing something. Kinda hard to think clearly when that happens.

Anyway, that's just one example. You can imagine other ways thinking becomes difficult, like when you have poor working memory. If you can't keep track of the data you can't make consistently accurate conclusions. Again, you might be aware of that problem and anxiety & self-doubt can build over it thus inhibiting your thought process even more.

All those things I listed above work together to support higher level thinking - and they're applicable on a global level, not just being able to do math problems in your head or make snappy comments in the moment. Getting better input from all your senses gives you much better materials for your brain to work with when thinking about pretty much anything.

Another way to improve your thinking is to change your approach to listening or reading. Listening to understand rather than listening to reply is better in the long run. Geez, that sounds like a cheesy meme but it's true.

-Peter Wick, PhD in Pharmacology

Behaviors that we do repeatedly in childhood to cope with real threats can become liabilities in adulthood

 Behaviors that we do repeatedly in childhood to cope with real threats can become liabilities in adulthood. However, our brain is built in such a way that the most often repeated behaviors become encoded in our brain as habits.

What is a habit?

Habits can be thought of as something we do automatically without much, if any, conscious thought because we have done it repeatedly. For example, bringing a fork filled with food to our mouth is hard when we are two years old, but by adulthood we have done it so many times, we just do it without thought or conscious effort.

What is Neural Darwinism?

Habits are supported by groups of neurons in our brain that become connected and fire together, given a specific triggering stimulus. Gerald Edelman, the Nobel Prize winning neurologist developed the concept of “Neural Darwinism.” In essence, Neural Darwinism states that the most used set of connected neurons that fire together diminish the possibility that other, weaker neuronal networks will respond to the trigger. Eventually, the less used networks degrade, and the most used one “wins” and becomes the automatic default response.

How does this relate to childhood coping mechanisms?

By the time we reach adulthood, our childhood coping mechanisms are deeply entrenched in our brain. Neural Darwinism makes them our automatic responses. To respond differently to triggers, we have to:

• Become aware of our habitual old responses.
• Decide on what would be better to do instead as adults.
• Inhibit the old, no longer adaptive habits.
• Practice the new thoughts and coping mechanisms over and over again until they become the new winner of the Neuronal Darwinian competition.

It is all very logical and doable, if we put in the necessary efforts. That is why I know Personality Disorders can be treated. It is a bit like learning to play a new musical instrument.

The main complications are handling painful emotions from the past and being willing to question our usual reactions. We have to learn not to base our feelings about ourselves on old reactions to us by our parents (who were also working automatically from their neural networks acquired during their lives).

Punchline: Childhood coping mechanisms become ingrained habits that are supported by neural networks in our brain. We cannot simply stop them. We have to develop and practice new and better ways to react as an adult and through repetition build the neural networks to support them.

A2A

Elinor Greenberg, PhD, CGP

In private practice in NYC and the author of the book: Borderline, Narcissistic, and Schizoid Adaptations.

www.elinorgreenberg.com

Financial Failure ?

Should I be truly an expert at one thing or have competence over many things ?

 One of the common mistakes I see people making in every area of their life is to assume that most things are an “either/or” equation.

But they aren’t.

More often than not, they’re “both/and.”

And to answer your question, the BEST thing you can do with your life is to develop a wide breadth of skills and knowledge (a jack of all trades) AND devote yourself to mastering a single skill or trade.

Or to put it another way, “To build a T Shaped Life”

Let me break this down for you…

Mastery is said to require at least 10,000 hours of disciplined effort.

Which means that you can realistically MASTER one skill every 5 years (assuming that you’re mastering your primary profession and working 8 hours 5 days a week with a few holidays).

So, if you’re 30 right now and you live to be 70, it’s possible for you to become a true master of 5–8 different disciplines throughout your lifetime.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

To become “World Class” at something (in the top 5% of the world), you rarely need more than 250–500 hours of practice.

So…

Assuming that you’re only willing to devote only 3 hours a day to secondary skills—whether it’s reading, writing, playing the guitar, doing yoga, or training jujitsu—you can become highly competent at 2–3 MORE skills every year.

In a given decade, you can master two skills and become world class at 20–30 more.

Pretty crazy, right?

The trick is to become more disciplined in the way that you use your time.

Most Americans waste 6+ hours a day on social media, porn, TV, and video games.

And if you’re willing to cut back on these vices and invest those extra hours into more fulfilling pursuits, you can quickly build your own T shaped life where you are a master of 2–3 AND a jack of all trades.

Hope this helps.

Stay Grounded,
Andrew

{Bloggers' Note : By Top 5% Author meant that being in top 5% of total population of the world  in that skill which if you calculate is pretty much accurate. I will even go as far as to say that you can be  in among Top 1% of world population  in many skills but sure enough you will be among top 5% of world population in that skill if you dedicate & practice 250-500 hour. Do Try it, Pick One Skill & Learn & Practice it for 250-500 hours and then see }

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