My personal advice is patience. Patience is the key to so many things! I break into three steps: - Faith: in your methodology or approach - Determination: to

My personal advice is patience. Patience is the key to so many things! I break into three steps: - Faith: in your methodology or approach - Determination: to actually follow through - Courage: to act when the time is right or to admit you were wrong If courage fails you lack determination if determination fails you lack faith. Such is patience. Now what should you believe? Cause that is the question you are trying to have answered here, when you ask to learn 'critical thinking' you are asking for a method to believe in. I don't think that makes much sense, you already have a method and it is your raison d'être. Now what you need is introspection, but approach the task of incremental improvement patiently (i.e. explicitly / scientific method-y) and you won't go in circles. Math is a fine place to start but just study whatever is relevant and do it well.