Journal Diary

"It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much. We are not ill provided but use what we have wastefully." – Seneca

You don't have a time problem. You have a waste problem.

Stop saying you don't have enough time. You have plenty.

You're just pi***ng it away.

Hours on your phone. Days on bu****it. Years on things that don't matter.

Then you complain about not having time for what matters.

You're not ill provided. You're wasteful.

The average man has decades of life left. And he'll waste most of it.

Not because time is short. Because discipline is absent.

Guard your time like it's your most valuable resource.

Because it is.

"We will train both soul and body when we accustom ourselves to cold, heat, thirst, hunger, scarcity of food, hardness of bed, abstaining from pleasures, and enduring pains." — Musonius Rufus

Read that list again.

Cold. Heat. Thirst. Hunger. Hard beds. No pleasures. Pain.

This was the Stoic training program 2,000 years ago.

Not affirmations in the mirror.

Not journaling about your feelings.

Deliberate discomfort.

Your ancestors understood something we've forgotten:

Comfort is poison dressed as medicine.

The man who can endure anything fears nothing.

This man is not a beggar or homeless wanderer
This is Leo Tolstoy a Russian novelist and philosopher, best known for his novels "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina". He is considered one of the greatest authors of all time and a key figure in the realist movement in literature.
He sold all he has for homelessness to have home and beggers to have food.
Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828, in Russia and died on November 20, 1910. His writing often explored themes of morality, ethics, and the human condition, and his works are still widely read and studied today.
Some of his notable quotes include:
“Don’t tell me about your religion, let me see your religion in your actions”
“If you feel pain. You are alive. But, if you feel the pain of others, you’re human”
Tolstoy's legacy extends beyond literature, too. He was also a philosopher and social reformer, and his ideas about nonviolent resistance and simple living have inspired leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
He also inspired me to be a better writer and philosopher.

{PS}

“Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.3

You don’t need to escape to the mountains.
You don’t need silence from the world.

Your sanctuary is within.

Train your soul to be still.
To be strong.
To be unmoved by noise, pressure, or fear.

The Stoic builds a fortress inside.
When the world is chaos—he retreats into order.
When the storm rages—he finds calm behind his eyes.

Let others run from life.
You face it—because you carry peace with you.

👉 Conquer yourself—become unstoppable:
🔗 https://thestoicknights.com/stoic-path

How I cracked CSS - here is my strategy, sources and tips and techniques. 👏👏👏
Meet with Tanveer Ahmed who has qualified CSS 2018 and allocated in PAS. Belonging to a village located in Sanghar, Sindh, he started his early schooling in Sanghar but shifted to Karachi for further education. There, I studied Textile Engineering from NED UET. He never thought of attempting the CSS examination as he considered it a hard nut to crack. He was motivated for CSS by his family and friends who believed in him when even he himself didn't.

Back in April 2016, he decided to quit his job and started his journey to the summit of CSA. Here are some tips/ strategies and general lessons, which he used/learned during his preparation point wise:
1. Read somewhere that talent is overrated. Would say, it's highly overrated. Nothing can replace hardwork. It's the only key to success be it the civil service or any other field.
2. There are no short cuts. Don't rely on ready made notes. Study recommended books, newspapers, magazines and make notes of your own.
3. Develop critical thinking and analytical skills. That's extremely important.
4. Notes must be precise and to the point. Lengthy notes would be useless if you can't revise it before the papers.
5. As for the subject selection, don't follow others and don't select on the basis of scoring trends. It can be misleading at times. See your background and interest and opt on the basis of it.
6. Needless to say that Essay is the most difficult paper and to crack it, just two things are required: reading and writing. Nothing else.
7. As for the magazines and newspapers, not only the Dawn, but also follow international magazines like Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Economist etc regularly. It will not only help you in Current Affairs/International Relations but also will clear your concepts.
8. Attempt paper in a way that is appealing to the examiner. Remember, all the papers of each subject are checked by just one examiner so attempt it in such a way that tempts examiner to check your paper in good detail. Use references, quotations and flow charts in your answer.
9. Most important part of any answer is the Introduction. Ideally, it should be between 9-12 lines. Work on it and practice regularly. Get it evaluated by any teacher or any mentor.
10. One of the most important areas, which we tend to neglect is the MCQs part. It carries 220 marks and can be a deciding factor between allocation and non allocation. Check past papers and prepare it.
11. During the exams, it's very important to remain focused. Don't lose hope even of any single paper doesn't go as per plan. Remain confident and take good rest. Don't exhaust yourself.
12. CSS isn't the end of the world. Give it your all and then leave it for Almighty to decide as He is the best decision maker.