These are two really good points, but #2 seems so obvious yet has never occurred to me.<p>I believe a property of the &quot;good at math&quot; persona is that the individual can just &quot;magically&quot; solve a math problem _quickly_ in there heads, or more precisely, this individual already possesses the answer, but just needs to recall it, akin to recalling a history fact.<p>Yes, by practicing maths, you will eventually develop some &quot;muscle memory&quot; for certain types of problems, but understanding or solving a math equation does not inherently have time constraints associated with it, yet we somehow believe that to be part of what it means to be proficient in maths.<p>This false belief has held me back from believing I could achieve more in mathematics - the idea that if I can&#x27;t find the solution to a problem in under 10 seconds, I obviously don&#x27;t know or can&#x27;t figure out the answer.<p>Thank you for making this point that is quite obvious, but has enlightened me.