Now I am quite sure if you are reading this article, written by a novice fifteen-year old who is very into self-improvement, you are probably procrastinating something more important. Even if you don’t fall into that category, I am certain you still have some problem that every teenager faces, something which feels like there must be some magical solution to, a solution that is found with sufficient searching. Please, take no offence. 

And that brings me to my point, the purpose of this article, and the title. In life, the golden rule is that there is no golden rule. I know what you are thinking, yes it is counter-intuitive but the fact of the matter is that it is true. Now trust me, I have spent (and wasted) my fair share of time searching for answers, essentially shortcuts to hard problems, things we want to avoid, hiccups which we simply do not want to face. But if you can relate to what I am talking about, then I am simply here to tell you, make you realize, point a mirror at you, however you want to spin it – you already know the solution to the problem. 

In fact, I would go as far as to say that you have always known. The irony is in the fact that the most complex and unavoidable hardships in life have simple cures. So, what the hell am I talking about? Well, let me give you two examples:

1. Before my IGCSE Hindi boards, for about 1.5 years at the minimum, I went around asking the people who were strongest in the subject, the toppers if you will, how did they go about studying the subject. Always getting the same answer- “ just read and write”,  I was hopeful that one day I would eventually get an answer which would reveal some black magic, a secret passageway to getting good marks. But that never happened, and eventually, I resorted to the “ just read and write” method, when I began preparation. And you know what? It worked.
2. In grade 7 and 8, when I would go for sports day and take part in the final race from time to time, I would usually come last. I would think to myself why am I so far behind? But the answer was right in front of me: I didn’t practice on a consistent basis. I wasn’t dedicated. I didn’t put the hours into refining the art of sprinting, while the other athletes did.

Now it is important to bring up the fact that knowing and understanding are completely different. Knowing the solution comes easy, but understanding that can take an indefinite time. It could take you reading this article (hopefully), a month, a decade, maybe even your entire lifetime or a trip to hell (just kidding, or am I?). And once you understand, you will realise that the solution to the difficult situation, you so badly wanted, was so cliche, so fundamental, so straightforward.

So in conclusion, I guess what I’m trying to say is that you need to stop looking, and start understanding. “There ain’t no elevator to the top, you gotta take the stairs” is something I heard while watching a motivational video, and it sums up my golden rule. If you are procrastinating, just do something, anything, anything at all. Same principle with other problems. Getting started is the key. Stay strong my friends, until next time.

– Neel Agrawal