A big thank you to Rhonda Byrne and her team for introducing the concept of the law of attraction on such a huge scale. I had been introduced to The Secret at a very early age but I was pretty young to follow it word for word and manifest my goals. Nevertheless, I manifested quite a few goals and for quite a few more I did not. But the three words that stuck with me were “Ask, Believe and Receive” and that is something that actually did change a lot of things for me.

I moved out of my home at the age of 18 to a new country in a very reputed and well-ranking British university to study an extremely competitive course. It came after a lot of hard work and struggle during my high school years. But my undergraduate studies was a different journey altogether. I did pretty well in all my mid-term assessments but when it came to my final exams, each year anxiety and nervousness got the better of me and I performed badly despite working much harder than my friends. I always knew that I was never a bad student, I worked hard and was smart. But the stark difference between my final exam and assessment grades hampered my self-esteem to a large extent. I knew it had to be something else that was pulling me back. I only recently got diagnosed with some severe anxiety issues that could be as bad as not being able to sleep before exams and on some occasions-panic attacks too.

At the end of my undergraduate studies, I underperformed and actually missed the entry requirement to one of the universities that I had secured a conditional offer from. They took a while to convey their decision during which I had completely given up hope on securing an offer with them. It was extremely competitive and entry standards for the specific course were quite high. I did not lose hope though. I knew I had worked very hard and had quite a few academic and extracurricular achievements. And guess what? Despite missing the condition, I actually secured an offer at that university with a scholarship. I was one among a select few students to have secured one this year. And all I did during the time between receiving my grades and securing a final offer was I believed that I tried my best and if I hadn’t suffered from anxiety for so long I would have actually performed very well.

I “asked” for a favourable decision and I also “believed” that it would happen despite the challenges and I did “receive” it too.

I want to send a message to all my fellow students out there. Study as hard as you can, even if it does not always show up in your grades it will show somewhere else and someone will be able to recognise your potential. Seek help from your family and friends when you need it. Above all, stay focused on your goals and surrender once you have asked for it. Do not doubt that it will happen and get caught up in the how. Once you surrender with complete faith, rest assured that it will manifest one way or another.