If we read interviews of successfull Civil Services candidates we will find that their are some common characteristics that bound them together. They are :
1. Determination.
2. Hard Labour.
3. Disipline.
4. Planning.
5. Intelligent Work.

Apart from these qualities they may have some special qualities like social, witty, man with the few words, etc. But the most important are the common characteristics.
While talking with Mr. Vivek Gupta IRS , I found that a person must be determined to achieve the goal. He must have the eye of great Indian Mythological warrior "Arjun".
Civil Service Exam take One whole year and in this long duration candidate may loose focus, so the aim of the candidate is not to loose focus and determined to reach the ultimate aim of clearing the Civil Services Exam.

Once I was in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad and a discussion was with my dear friends Dr. Akash Jindal IPS, Siddharth Jain IPS, Dr. Vikram Rathi IPS and Jatin Narwal IPS. We discussed about the importance of Hard Labour and concluded that hard work is in the direction of achieving the goal and not to read everything. There are lot of things to read but smartness of the candidate is to read what is necessary for the examination and to discard what is not necessary. Our orientation must be towards the syllabus and smart reading.