This blog is the story of how I became CM in the last contest. I hope to motivate you with this blog.

The beginning

Usually I know how to do first 3 problems right after reading them, but today it was different. I tried A and failed. Then I tried to solve B. No result. On C I got WA on pretest 2. I fell in despair, as I realized that I will lose rating. I understood that it was no use to stress myself anymore. I turned off my laptop and went to my friend. I brought my laptop with me, but I had no intent to continue the contest.

At my friend's house

After a 5 minute walk I got there. After some talking I opened my laptop and looked at the problems again. It was different this time. Every problem was clear. I had the time to solve ABCD and was satisfied after the contest. In the end I even got rating and became CM.

I learned a lot from this experience and I want to share it with you.

Don't pull yourself

You shouldn't pull yourself. Life is full with problems and worries. At least now, while doing competitive programming, you should be relaxing.

Take breaks.

If you feel stressed, you shouldn't hesitate to take a break. Returning at a problem after some time, might give you new ideas and help you see things that you missed before.

We must always look at things from different angles. — Dead Poet's Society