Filling In Your Foundations is the Difference Between Omitted Steps Being Minor Potholes vs Uncrossable Chasms

by Justin Skycak (@justinskycak) on

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If you fill in your math foundations, your missing prerequisite knowledge, then you’ll be able to fill in the steps that are omitted in those cool math-heavy books & projects you’ve wanted to work through.

Filling in your foundations is the difference between those omitted steps being minor potholes you can get past with a bit of a bumpy ride, versus uncrossable chasms that stop you dead in your tracks.

Too many people go straight for the coolest, most advanced books/projects, struggle to fill in the gaps in the advanced material, and then give up, thinking they’re not smart enough.

What they don’t realize is that this is typically a solvable problem. Yes, fixed cognitive differences (IQ, working memory, generalization ability, etc.) are a thing, but think of it this way:

If you go into the gym, put a couple plates on the bar, and fail to lift it, then does it make sense to say “I guess I don’t have enough physical strength encoded into my genes” and give up?

NO! You just need to train up your musculature, and you can do that by starting at your level and gradually adding weight to the bar until you reach your goal.

There is a point where this breaks down and genes become important, but it’s a lot further than most people think. Most people vastly underestimate how far they can go with effective training.

Can you become a world-record powerlifter if you’re naturally skinny? Probably not. But can you turn yourself into one of the strongest people at the gym? Probably.



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