i think first of all, solve problems for their own sake, enjoy the process, learn the solutions, that is the surest way to getting better at it (or really anyth

i think first of all, solve problems for their own sake, enjoy the process, learn the solutions, that is the surest way to getting better at it (or really anything in life) and getting better as an engineer as well. If your goal is "i want to get good at these stupid puzzles so i can work at google and make alot of money", you will most likely fail. When i first started leet code, i had no competitive programming background, i didn't really even remember any of the algo & ds stuff i learned in college a long time ago, but i kept at it, i used to think about some medium problems for a couple days or more (I knew back then people who had a shot at google could solve medium problems in an efficient manner in like 10-15 mins) but that never discouraged me, even if i didn't get a shot at FAANG or whatever, i knew working hard and thinking about this stuff would make me a better engineer. After 7 months of work, i could solve a-lot of medium problems in around 10-15 mins in an efficient fashion and i actually look forward to solving LC problems whenever i get an opportunity. Other than leet code, i regularly study CLRS (i love this book). I guess my point is, either learn to love problem solving, or apply to places that don't value it because its hard to become good and compete at a high level if u don't intrinsically enjoy something. Don't tie your self worth to your IQ, don't get depressed because you can't do something, i'm sure u have a job, so just keep at it and try different approaches to learning this stuff.