Honestly. I have a friend (was under 15 rank and is undergoing his phase-1 training in the academy). Tells me how a lot of young people in the academy are still so immature, purposeless in life, unko dekhke sochta hu ki kese inka ho gya qualify. Aur inka ho gya toh koi bhi insaan jo 2 saal gadhe ki tarah pdhe, ho jayga. Not to underrate the competition or the level of the exam, pr mehnat kisi bhi field mein krni hoti hai, fir chaahe UPSC ho ya kuch aur. And when it comes to 'why', no one has yet figured it out. Not even them who qualify the exam. With life and its experiences, our thoughts and perceptions and whys keep changing. Is exam ko itna glorify krte hain, aadhi janta toh pehle hi self doubt mein aa jaati hai. Baaki jo prepare krre hain, I can bet more than half of them (including me) know where they're going wrong and still don't work on it. Competition toh bs kuch hi logo ke beech mein hai. Wo kuch logo ke beech ka competition hr field mein hai. So when you say know your why, it opens door to a deep human understanding of oneself, jo shayd sirf Buddha ko hi thi. Take it just like an another government exam, you'd be good to go.