Whenever candidates think about UPSC and start preparing for it, the only plan in everyone's mind is to pass this exam as quickly as possible. Although many candidates take many years to pass it, but no candidate starts his preparation thinking this. All the candidates have the same plan to pass this exam by whatever means, in the first attempt and one year of preparation. On the other hand, many candidates and teachers say that this exam cannot be passed with one year of preparation. Their belief is also not wrong, because candidates have to study a lot for this examination. While on one hand preliminary exam has GS and CSAT, main exam also has GS and optional subject and hence we get to hear all these statements. However, with the right preparation strategy, this exam can be cleared even with one year of preparation. One crucial aspect of UPSC preparation is guidance. If correct guidance is received from the beginning, the chances of success increase significantly, and living examples of this are right in front of us. Candidates whose siblings have already cleared the UPSC or whose parents are already in the civil services have quickly cleared this exam with a good rank. When candidates begin their preparation, guidance becomes a challenge for most of them. They receive numerous pieces of advice, leading to confusion and repeated doubts, affecting their preparation. Not every candidate has the luxury of regular guidance from a topper, and therefore, many learn from their own mistakes. This aspect has already been discussed in the earlier chapters, where several toppers made mistakes, learned from them, emphasizing the importance for candidates to consistently stick to their preparation strategy and avoid excessive advice. This task is not easy because there are several instances in the phases of preparation when candidates go through self-doubt. However, with a positive perspective and self-confidence, candidates can overcome it. Apart from this, candidates should also pay attention to the limitation of study material. Books attract every candidate in the UPSC journey, leading to an increase in their study material and unwanted pressure on them. Therefore, every candidate should be aware of what to study and what not to. The first goal of the candidates should be to pass the exam, and therefore, they should avoid this temptation and keep their study material limited. With good research, candidates should decide early on what their study material will be. Now, when it comes to clearing the exam in a year, candidates can achieve this with a specific strategy. For the preliminary exam, candidates should repeatedly study the selected study material and attempt as many previous year's questions and mock questions as possible. It has been observed that those who have cleared the preliminary exam in successive attempts have focused extensively on previous year's questions and mock questions. Even after studying a subject multiple times, there are chances that candidates may not remember certain topics. Mock questions help eliminate this problem. Our mind works more attentively with mock questions, and the information related to the questions stays in our memory. When it comes to the main examination, we have already seen those toppers who successfully cleared the preliminary exam but not the main exam. One reason for this could be that candidates feel that the subjects they studied for the preliminary exam will also have questions related to the same in the main exam. Regarding this, candidates don't need to explain much now, as they have already seen that the syllabus for the main exam is quite different. Based on the experiences of many toppers, it can be said that the key to success in the main exam lies in understanding the syllabus and previous years' questions. Therefore, candidates for the main exam should keep their strategy very focused. The same perspective should also be maintained for optional subjects. Prospective candidates should also note that most toppers and teachers consider the preliminary exam more challenging than the main exam, which is true. This is because the journey of the main exam has two specific GPS points that guide candidates - the syllabus and the previous year's question papers. On the other hand, for the preliminary exam, these GPS points become unclear because the syllabus is not as extensive, requiring candidates to study more and more. Hence, it becomes difficult as well. With this attitude, discipline, and positive thinking candidates can crack UPSC with one year of preparation.