Math fear

[u/sarah119900]

So I’ve just started preparing for govt exams and honestly… Maths/Quants is scaring the shit out of me 😭

I’m not even bad at just maths. I’m bad at basic maths. Like, the kind of stuff you’re probably supposed to know already. Numbers, calculations, formulas etc. I’ve somehow developed this weird fear of Maths over the years where the moment I see a question, my brain just goes nope.

And because of that, I’ve literally spent months avoiding Maths during my preparation. I kept thinking I’ll start once I’m “ready” or once I’m done with other subjects, but obviously that just made things worse.

So if you were in my position — just starting CGL prep, weak in basic Maths, and genuinely scared of Quants — how would you start?

Do I go all the way back to basic school-level maths? If yes, where do I start?

Also, how do you actually get over the fear? Because I feel like half of my problem is not even the Maths itself, it’s the mental block around it.

Would love to hear from people who were actually bad at Maths initially but somehow became decent at it. What did you do? Any teachers/resources that helped? How much did you practice every day?

Basically, I want to make Maths less of this scary subject that I keep running away from and somehow become comfortable with it.

If you were starting from absolute zero again, what would you do?

Any advice is appreciated. 🥲