The things that I’m about to write down are said to have a drastic impact on anyone’s personality if implemented, who undergo these routines of activities. You will feel good due to the positive vibes that you will be giving back to the people. While following these tips recommendation in the armed forces shouldn’t be your primary goal and instead, bring a change in your own life while developing your personality in this certain kind of lifestyle.

It is said that when you start following a set of routine for more than 21 days then it is inculcated into your personality as a habit. There are many other sets of points that can be followed with ease and with discipline and you will have the same results i.e., your personality will take a drastic change. Though I believe that core areas and beliefs of our personality can’t be changed to a great extent after a certain age but there are many aspects which are untouched and can be improved with proper dedication and time.

Let’s have a look at those points that can bring a positive change in your lifestyle and ultimately in SSB:

Interview Yourself
You can’t feel the pressure of the interview by just noting down the questions and their answers only. You can’t even memorize them by only reciting them in an orderly manner. The interview is aimed to make chaos in your mind but at the same time interviewer makes it sure to extract information by putting you in your comfort zone. One time he will ask a question from your educational background and the very next moment he will interrupt in between and will ask about a certain decision of yours that will be taken from the very answer that you were answering in the first place and then after answering that abrupt question you are expected to resume with the original answer. How can you deal with this part? Try to interview yourself in a similar manner.

For example, when I used to go for the morning runs then walking back home was a boring task and I used to throw interview questions on myself. Though my mind was a little prepared for them still I had that advantage of not knowing the order of the questions by not going to the preconceived order. I used to walk back with a poised manner and a brisk walk while assuming myself as an officer and keep answering the questions from every domain of my life similar to those asked in the SSB interview.

Reactionary versus Visionary
The book preferred by many aspirants called “My appointment with the Psychologist” has a great point about being a reactionary or a visionary leader. It has been clearly elaborated in one of the paragraphs that armed forces seek officers and leaders with a reactionary attitude rather than the visionary attitude. A person with a reactionary attitude will push for solving a problem instantly as it is desirable from him being an officer to get with the issue immediately. While a person with a visionary attitude will look for distant solutions that will have an impact on somewhere far future. Time is a crucial factor when you are in forces and you can’t afford to lose time at critical junctures of operations. That’s why it is necessary to look for candidates with a reactionary attitude as they insist to have a solution within a certain time frame. I am pushing for the reactionary attitude but in no way, it undermines the fact that a leader should visionary as well but not at the cost of being reactionary.

Keep a Plan B for your career
We all know that the recommendation process in SSB is highly uncertain and no one can say with certainty that they will get recommended in the next attempt. The recommendation in the SSB is determined by a lot of other factors such as your performance, behaviour of your teammates, and your temperament during the tasks. Therefore, it’s a necessary thing to keep up with the rest of your plans for life in terms of education and job. Many candidates, don’t take up any colleges after 12th as they are sure that can clear the NDA examination and the following SSB but when they don’t, and the lost time makes it difficult for them to pursue further education in a due diligent manner. People don’t sit for placements and leave job offers as they want to prepare for the SSB and most of the time it backfires on them abruptly as they are left with no job and are dependent on the parents even after the graduation.

I believe in the same thing that the assessors in the SSB believe and that is not to sit idle for this one examination. It doesn’t go well for you if you tell that you have left a well-paid campus placement just because you wanted to prepare for the SSB. SSB doesn’t require any top-notch preparation tactics and rather believes in changes in your daily life actions that determine your quality as a person. If you will join a job or a college, then you will have greater chances to encounter a set of problems and have to deal with a lot of people in a social environment that will carve out your qualities. Having a concrete plan B leaves a deep and good impact on the mind of the interviewer. That’s why; always have a plan B beside the SSB.

Focus on Communication Skills and Body Language
I believe that the way you communicate and convince your ideas to your opponents or people who aren’t in accordance with your views can be very well done by your great communication skills. Some of us don’t have the privilege to study in good educational institutes and that’s where we lack in speaking skills or else but that doesn’t mean that you should lose confidence. We are full of ideas to implement but are shy because our communication skills aren’t that great and we fear that people will have fun at our expense. Leave that feeling of being judged by others and be shameless in this regard. You can start by talking to yourself about things which make you believe in yourself like a dream of yours or your aim.

Go out there and leave the fear of being laughed at and speak your heart to people in the manner that pleases you. Go and watch English movies with subtitles and recite the dialogues in your voice, you will gain the speed, fluency as well as your lost confidence. Pick up a book and start exploring it by reading it aloud. These are some points that can be followed to develop good communication skills in the English language. But, the most important thing is that you believe in yourself that you will get through despite having the barrier of excellent communication skills as I have seen candidates speaking in just broken English but getting recommended because they were able to implement their ideas to their teammates and assessors.

Try a different perspective
When you are having a group discussion and people aren’t ready to understand your viewpoints and are adamant on their own. How will you deal with them if these are your superior officers or subordinates that you have to convince about a battle plan? You can’t make other people understand if you aren’t aware of their perspective and the position they are standing in. You will have to shed your ego and will have to step into their shoes to understand exactly why they are making this point and what could they achieve by doing so. This will solve more than half of your problem as you will more calm and understanding in their point and at the same time, you can project your ideas keeping their stand in the whole situation.

This way you won’t have to enforce your ideas and rather they will be getting accepted wholeheartedly by your fellow brethren at group discussions or otherwise. Remember, most of us get involved in the group discussion with the aim to prove other people wrong and that’s a wrong approach as we should get involved to tell them about our viewpoint and the knowledge that we are possessing. The other person may be very well wrong but you don’t have to be blunt to tell him on the face. You can simply say that “You may be right at your own place but here listen to my opinion in this context.” People like a person who doesn’t hold them wrong in the general discussions but rather tell them how exactly he/she feels in that respective situation.

Pick An Ideal
We all love to follow people who have achieved something worthwhile in their lives. We see ourselves in their places, doing the things that they did, and achieve the name that they have in their life span. We believe in them and try to imbibe their ethos and qualities. It’s not a necessary requirement to pick an ideal but by picking your ideals, it becomes easy to see in which direction we want to lead our life. Most of the defence aspirants idealize defence personnel and nationalist leaders and it’s quite a good thing to see when their friends are following some movie star or anyone else.

Idealizing a person gives you values to follow. One of my friends idealizes “Sam Bahadur” and before performing any tasks, he used to say, “Sam! Be with me and guide me along the way. Watch me over.” Sam was an alumnus of his school and that’s why he was so attached to Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw.

Be Militarily Busy
I can’t recollect but I read a quote somewhere, “Be militarily busy. Don’t be busy just for the sake of it as even ants are busy.” It means that you don’t have to show to your parents, friends, and family that you are busy. Instead, try to be productive by being actually busy. Every task that you do or each action of yours should be focused on producing something that can add value to your life or learning process. Lead a lifestyle based on military ethos and even if you aren’t able to make it to the armed forces, you won’t regret the kind of personality that you will develop.

These are some points that play an instrumental role in getting a candidate recommended if they are following and implementing these in their daily life by living this kind of lifestyle. You don’t have to stick to these elements as hard and fast rules but should focus on seeing the logic behind following these in a desirable manner.

You can prepare for  SSB Interview OIR Test Officer Intelligence Rating Test and PPDT Picture Perception and Description Test and other defence entrance exams such as NDA, AFCAT, INET, and CDS by taking Written Online courses as they will not only give you access to full-length quality lectures but will also provide the facility to take standardized mock tests for better study and strategic growth in the exam. You can take multiple quizzes after each lesson to ensure a full understanding of the subject along with creating your customized lesson plans. You can check out the course content along with other important specifics at SSBCrack exams.

You can also access them through the SSBCrack Exams app available in the google play store.

Jai Hind