Learning math is a personal journey, it can be slow and difficult at times. No matter how smart one is, there will always be mathematics that one finds complete

Learning math is a personal journey, it can be slow and difficult at times. No matter how smart one is, there will always be mathematics that one finds completely baffling. Generally, curiosity, motivation, patience, perseverance, maturity, and perspective are necessary ingredients to get very far. An extraordinarily accomplished mathematician replied, when I asked him what books to study, “You don’t solve problems by reading, you solve problems by thinking.” Thinking (hard) is the key, the practice of mathematics requires and unlocks a level of clarity far beyond ordinary everyday thinking. Try mulling over simple facts which even children know, like the Pythagorean Theorem or the Quadratic Formula, and see if you could explain them so clearly and convincingly that any reasonable person would immediately and plainly see that they must be true. Learning is spiral. You will almost never understand everything there is to know about a subject, but you will learn more as you return to that subject as you’ve grown and matured, and have acquired more knowledge, skills, and perspective.