Would you have done it the same way?

I was doing my CA final in those days. I had just come back from my last exam and was talking to my senior Vinay. I was quite excited about the way my exams went, especially for MICS (Information Technology) as that was my strongest subject.
While we were discussing about this paper, Vinay asked me one question "Gulshan... Even if you had gone without any preparation at all, would you have written the exam in the same way?"
I answered with a "Yes".
Vinay said "Problem hai na..." (Thats a problem).
I didn't dwell much on that remark until 2 months later when I got my results for CA Final. I was shell shocked to see that I had failed in MICS by just 3 marks. For the first time I had failed in my CA exams.
I was thinking where I had gone wrong, thats when I realised the depth of Vinay's question.
The fact that I can perform the same way without any preparation at all means that my current preparation status is actually as good as no preparation at all.
In Short... Over-confidence... Complacence...
That day onwards, this has become a guiding rule for me. After every activity I complete, I ask myself, "If I had done this without any preparation, would I do it the same way?"
If the answer is yes, then I know that I have to improve a lot more.
This is the rule I apply everywhere... client presentations, office meetings, teaching sessions, trekking trips, outings, studies... every aspect of my life.
Trust me, when you have gone in with a preparation, somewhere during the process you will realise and tell this to yourself "Good thing that I prepared, otherwise I would not have been able to handle this".
If you find yourself thinking this, then your preparations have been good and you are on the right track.