When I was in the final year of my university, studying on daily basis had become an absolute challenge, and more or less, same was the condition of majority of my friends and classmates. Whenever I intended to sit and study, I felt really bored or tired and thus closed the books. This routine continued until the exam dates were announced. As the date sheet was issued, a strange kind of restlessness occupied the mind and body and thus we started planning to study. But this planning never got practical until there remained two days or even a single day before the first paper.

Now, we were dead sure that there is no time to waste and thus started studies. Usually we finished 15-16 units of a subject in a semester of 6 months and one could have easily prepared or studied a chapter in a week and thus could have warmly welcomed the exams but it always remained as an ideal situation that never happened in actual.

I remember, exams of our second last semester came in December when the nights were very long and weather outside was very cold. I used to sit in my small room where a kettle and thermos were always kept ready beside a heater. In the whole night, I used to put kettle on heater and prepared tea three to four times.

Whenever I felt sleepy, I poured a cup of tea and started again my studies. This ended with the sounds of prayers (Azaan) early in the morning and I discovered that from eight in evening till the six in morning, I had studied and prepared some 10-12 units. It was a performance that later on I doubted myself.

One day I discussed with one of my elders that in cold and long nights of December, my capacity of studying increases and I am able to study the course of entire semester in a single night. But he was of another view. He told me that I was able to show such performance not because of cold, long and silent nights but because of having no other option. When a person does not find an alternate, he chooses the present option, either easy or difficult.

If a person is asked to run, he would run with a normal pace or speed. If he is followed by a person having a stick in his hand and intending to give him a strong blow, he would run with a faster pace. But if the person is chased by a dog, then he would run with a pace that would be the fastest of all.

Every individual has been gifted with the abilities and potential but everyone might not be aware of the presence of these until and unless he discovers and polishes them. Similarly, we have been gifted with capacities that we are absolutely unaware of and we discover them when we come face to face with a difficulty or when we are left with no other option except to give our best shot.

Developing a habit of reading books has been termed to be a vital force behind the success of almost all the intellectuals of the world. If you want to be a successful manager, or a learnt teacher or an impressive orator or a wise politician, you need to have knowledge and information about the different fields of life and must have wise thinking ability and all these are impossible without developing and retaining a continuous habit of reading. This is the factor that distinguishes a successful and inspirational person from a common man.

But to many people, opening a book becomes a big problem. Whenever they open a book to read, they see dark circles in front of their eyes and they are no more able to read. Similarly, there are some who can read but not more than a few pages. On the other hand, there have been and there are people who easily read 200 to 300 pages of a book every day. In the beginning, they also had the same opinions about themselves, but then when they showed perseverance and did not give up with their efforts, they established good and productive habits of book reading.

Impact of these realities cannot be kept limited to the book reading only. A friend of mine told me about a world-famous author who had a very busy and successful life. He used to read 200 to 300 pages, used to write on daily basis, delivered lectures in universities and also gave time to his family and health. Norman Vincent Peale, a world-renowned inspirational writer also has such a busy routine that seems to be impossible to be adopted by a common man and yet he considers himself a common man. Only difference is that, he has realized his abilities and now he is utilizing them completely.

A scientific research shows a common man does not use more than 2% of his brain. One of the most gifted brains of last century, Albert Einstein has been reported to have used only 3-4 % of his complete brain capacities. It shows that there are always present possibilities of doing more and more and yet we have not come to realize our hidden potentials.

In illiterate societies, when people see a person reading book or doing any other work that involves mind and brain, they come for his rescue. They ask him not to read so much or do other such work as they fear that the man might get crazy or become mentally retarded. Some of us really get scared as well and then pull us back to some rest and recreation. But as mentioned above, the potentials gifted to us are more than our imagination and we can use our brain even more than this.

But the proper usage of brain or intellectual potentials is directly related with a disciplined attitude in our daily routine. Proper time management and follow-up of a very good and healthy schedule can increase our performance many folds. A small example can be given of our sleeping and waking up habits.

Our religion also emphasizes and it has also scientifically been proven that people who sleep early and rise early show better performance comparing to those who don't do so. Waking up early makes you feel fresh the whole day and thus your performance automatically increases. Similarly, making a time table in which you include only essential and healthy activities and keep no time for unhealthy or useless and irrelevant activities can save a lot of time. Then, showing commitment in the follow up of this time table is also very necessary.

There lies a small lesson for students as well in this regard, who always find themselves to be short of time for studies. With the increase in the concentration to your studies, you would feel yourself more comfortable in beaming your attention to any subject or topic and your increased concentration level would definitely enhance your performance, whatever the subject may be.

A lot many people discovered their hidden potentials and climbed up and high on the ladder of success and self-achievement. Now is your turn, let's see how your performance is going to be in this regard?