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Murphy’s Law “The more you fear something, the more likely it will happen.” This pretty much sums up my life. I first saw this quote on an Asian TV show in my teens and totally forgot about it. Until last year, when my worst fears came true and my life fell apart. I failed my PhD candidacy exam—well, my first attempt. For the people who are not familiar with academia, the candidacy exam is the single most significant exam of your PhD career. It can make or break your career. So imagine my surprise when I actually failed it. During the course of my preparation, the only thought running through my mind was that I’m going to fail this exam, and lo and behold, it actually happened. It broke me to pieces, and to this day, I don’t think I am completely over it, like my body is still processing the trauma. But this sob story is not the point I’m trying to make. It’s that whatever bad you’re thinking will happen, it is going to happen eventually, as mentioned in the title. And I think I have a way to avoid this. Let me break it out to you guys (for the five people who will accidentally discover this). I spent more energy and time on thinking about the outcomes (negative, obviously), when I could have easily spent the energy and time on actually preparing for the exam. There’s a saying in Bhagavad Gita, “Focus on doing your best today. Results will follow in time.” I wish I came across this quote much, much earlier in my life. Nevertheless, it gave me the perspective I so badly needed. Because no matter how hard you prepare, there will be questions you do not know the answer to, but that does not mean you stop preparing altogether. You just need to take it day by day and do not worry about the outcome.