How to beat competition

(3 minute read)

When I was in school, one day, one of our teachers encouraged our class to appear for Special Class Railway Apprentices (SCRA) exam. The exam is held at national level. When he told us no one of got excited about the idea as in that year, they had 16 positions (only!) to fill. We mentioned it to him that Sir, there are only 16 positions and he casually replied that “so what if there are just 16 positions, you just need one!”

While he was certainly true, we didn’t really bought the argument and thought him to be kind of crazy to say so!

We are estimated to have 130+ crore people in India. A majority of our population is young and given that we also have a high rate of unemployment the number of candidates competing for any job position is very high. Also due to a high percentage of young population and a few number of good institutes,  the same is true for admission to these elite academic institutions.

But do we really need to worry about the number of competitors that we have to face while trying for a position? My opinion- No, we don’t need to. The only thing that you should worry about is how good your preparation is. Let me explain.

In any competitive exam, even if it appears that you are competing with other candidates; if looked upon deeply its only the syllabus that you are competing with.

Suppose that you fully prepare all the topics that are part of syllabus and you are ready to answer any question asked, then the probability that you will get selected is close to 100%, isn’t it. So, now if you have to compete with 10 candidates, 100 candidates or 10,00,000 candidates, it simply doesn’t matter. The number of candidates appearing and competing with you become meaningless. Because even if the number of candidates are in lakhs or crores, how many of them do you think will be prepared to answer 100% questions correctly. You can count their number on fingers.

Hence, in real essence the only competition one faces is against the syllabus or against your own distractions which stop you from preparing 100% of syllabus thoroughly.

I know what you are thinking that “why should I study for number 1 position? why shouldn’t I just focus on getting minimum marks required to get selected?” Well, that’s one possible approach and many people follow. But I have my reservations regarding this technique. 

Firstly you never know that how good or bad your fellow candidates have prepared. So determining 'minimum' is next to impossible. Although people try to get a faint idea of where the minimum will lie, its accuracy is not guaranteed. Secondly, and most importantly, if you are aiming for the minimum requirements, I really doubt if you are interested to pursue what you are preparing for. Because most of the times, when a person is just aiming for the minimum requirements, he/she would really miss the joy of learning, the joy of achieving something with pure efforts and intentions.

See, the thing is that only few people succeed in world. You must enjoy the process of preparation. Without enjoyment its almost impossible to commit yourself 100% to it. And that leads to poor preparation, eventual failure and even if you succeed spiritual dissatisfaction.

So now that you know this secret mantra, I am sure there is nothing and no one stopping you from getting your dream job or institution. 

"All the Best"

- PRATIK BADGUJAR