Precis Writing Practice Passage Eighteen for Beginners

• Fervor (noun): Intense and passionate feeling
  • Contextual Explanation: Refers to strong emotional excitement or enthusiasm
• Cognitive friction (noun phrase): The mental resistance or discomfort experienced when one's existing mental models or routines are challenged or when a task is more difficult than expected
  • Contextual Explanation: The central concept, the subtle mental discomfort that prompts change
• Outlives (verb): Live longer than; survive
  • Contextual Explanation: Refers to a routine continuing beyond the point where it is useful or effective
• Recalibration (noun): The process of adjusting or fine-tuning something
  • Contextual Explanation: Refers to an internal adjustment or re-setting of one's approach or understanding
• Incremental (adjective): Relating to or denoting an increase or addition, especially one of a series on a fixed scale

  • Contextual Explanation: Describes changes that occur in small steps, not sudden leaps

     

The passage is about the real process of self-development, showing that growth comes not from motivation or sudden inspiration, but from structured habits and disciplined consistency. Moreover, the purpose of the passage is to explain that self-development requires systematic effort, not emotional passion, and that true transformation happens gradually through consistent practice.

Main Idea of the Passage

• Self-development is sustained not by motivation but by structured habits and consistent discipline, where gradual effort reshapes identity.

Supporting Ideas Helping the Main Idea

• Growth begins when routines lose meaning, creating discomfort that signals the need to evolve.
• Clarity and motivation alone are insufficient without structural systems.
• Habits and repetition sustain progress more effectively than goals or vision.
• Transformation is gradual and identity shifts through steady engagement with disciplined processes.

Confused About Main and Supporting Ideas?

Kindly make sure to revise all five lectures on Precis Writing that I have already delivered. In these sessions, we discussed in detail:

• What a precis is and its purpose.
• What the main idea means and how to extract it effectively.
• What supporting ideas are and how to identify them.
• How to coordinate the main and supporting ideas while writing a concise, coherent precis.

Additionally, go through the 20 examples I shared in the WhatsApp groups. These examples highlight the Dos and Don’ts of Precis Writing, and revising them will help you avoid common mistakes and refine your technique.

Precis 1

Self-development stems from people's disciplined habits and structured systems, not fleeting motivation. Moreover, human cognitive discomfort signals the need for change, and clarity alone is insufficient. Therefore, growth occurs gradually through consistent human engagement with challenge, thus emphasizing process over vision for lasting personal transformation.

• Original Words in the Passage: 123
• Precis Word Count: 45
• Title: Growth Through Systematic Effort

Precis 2

Self-development arises from humans' organized habits and their engagement with cognitive discomfort. In contrast, motivation alone fades; therefore, transformation is gradual and achieved through consistent, structured effort rather than sudden inspiration.

• Original Words in the Passage: 123
• Precis Word Count: 31
• Title: The Mechanism of Personal Growth

Precis 3

Self-development in humans requires disciplined habits and persistent effort, guided by their internal discomfort rather than relying solely on motivation or sudden insight.

• Original Words in the Passage: 123
• Precis Word Count: 23
• Title: Structured Self-Development

Precis 4

Self-development arises from humans' cognitive discomfort and their structured systems, with their gradual growth through habitual, deliberate effort.

• Original Words in the Passage: 123
• Precis Word Count: 18
• Title: Discipline Over Motivation