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3 Math tips for Personal Development
I met a man in his 30s who did basic math exercises as a frequent practice. He was a leader of a professional group I was part of a couple of years ago. This man was a graphic designer and didn’t use numbers often in his work, but often did exercises from Algebra to nurture his logic intelligence skills.
I pegged this as curious and didn’t forget about him and his particular practice.
Since May of this year, I recalled this algebra practice because of a random conversation with a friend about numbers telling stories.
I figured trying some numbers and letters in the Algebra arena for no more than 15 minutes every day would be interesting to see what that man talked about. So, I started to do it expecting to get some brain benefits underlying this practice, like the ones explained for science:
When the brain is stimulated to think, the hair-like dendrites of the brain grow more extensive and more complex enabling more connections with other brain cells.
We often hear that we use only a small percentage of our brain’s capacity.
The study of algebra is a way to increase our use of this marvelous muscle.
By studying algebra, more “highways” are “built” upon which future “cargo” is transported — cargo other than algebra.
To be totally honest, I’ve forgotten my algebra practice every day. But despite my inconsistency, I can see that some of that brain magic described acting.
Solving algebraic exercises has led me to valuable reflections on the processes I used to deal with day-to-day problems. Here is what I have learned from doing Algebra after breakfast:
1. One problem has more than one process to get to the/a solution.
When you operate with algebraic expressions and numbers assigned to each letter, you can start by reducing the letters or replacing them with numbers. In these two steps, you can play (addition, rest, multiply, or divide) with variables and, finally, get to the final number that is the correct answer.
Life has not the “correct” answer, though.
There are multiple solutions, and the one that is best for you at one moment of your life might not be the best the next day or year.
Regardless of this uncertainty, arriving at that “best solution” is related to the thinking process made over the elements we have to solve a problem.
Understanding the nature of these elements, their similarities, their differences, and how they can work together (addition, rest, multiply, or divide) is a step you take when solving an algebraic exercise.
And by doing so, you learn there are different ways to mix the elements and paths to arrive at a solution. Just as it happens in life.
2. Breaking a big problem into minor problems whenever it is possible.
Not using a calculator forces you to break big numbers into simple expressions you can easily manage. For example, it is simple to multiply numbers of one digit or maxim two together than a number with three digits among them. At least, for me.
Life is quite similar when dealing with complex problems.
Addressing them by breaking them into small ones helps tremendously to solve this type of challenge.
What I found exciting about this is you are forced to use all you know before seeing the complexity as an obstacle. Also, you get the chance to solve a part of it by being resourceful.
Finally, the unsolved part becomes an opportunity to learn a new tool, strategy, theory, and such.
Revisiting what you did right and wrong when solving one exercise helps you learn about choices you need to eliminate or keep doing. This improves your mental process by creating a system to approach a specific type of exercise, a strategy, identifying weaknesses, and practicing more.
You can certainly apply to day-to-day life activities this mindset when identifying poor choices from good ones. So, you can get the best solution possible for your circumstances.
Even if you are not a Math teacher or a scientist, doing Algebra excercices worths it (if you enjoy doing it, of course).
So, would you like to have some Algebra after breakfast?
You might well give it a try!
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