I think it's much easier if there is a teacher involved in that process. The best possible teacher would be a personal tutor who understands your needs and work

I think it's much easier if there is a teacher involved in that process. The best possible teacher would be a personal tutor who understands your needs and works with you. The next best would be a teacher in front of a class who gives specific assignments to each student based on their own talents. Unfortunately none of that is on offer in the U.S. public educational system, where the quality of the teachers is quite poor and the education is standardized to a lowest common denominator, with substantial time spent on standardized testing, and a reluctance to remove disruptive students or poor performers from the classroom. Even recommending which books to read -- a very personalized topic -- is something a good tutor can do.