There is another reason why we cannot really study hard.
We always want to do well and work hard, but deep down, we are held back by the anxiety and worry that we might be wondering, "Can I really do well?" and "Can I really do it?"
I've tried my best, but I'm afraid that if I don't achieve the results I want, I'll hurt myself, and I'm also worried that I'll disappoint my parents.
Maybe I chose not to work hard because I was afraid of being seen as a loser or a person lacking something.
If I don't work hard, my heart won't get hurt.
So it's really hard to make up your mind and start.
We want to grit our teeth and really work hard at least once, but when we start studying, the anxiety and fear that creeps up in our hearts makes us hesitate.

--- p.19

When we look at ourselves, we see ourselves at the present moment.
I see myself not doing well, failing.
You cannot see your future self as successful and accomplished.
So it wasn't a fair comparison to begin with.
I just realized it now.
It's not that I've 'failed', it's that I just haven't 'got there yet'.
I am still in the process, and I have realized that if I never give up, no matter what failures or trials come my way, I will eventually reach my desired destination.

--- p.
34~35

While conducting interviews for a book on studying, I came across many cases where athletes started studying late in life and achieved rapid improvement in their grades.
At first, I thought that since athletes have good physical strength, perseverance, and guts, they must have studied hard as well.
But there was a more important point.
It was precisely the ‘sense of accomplishment that comes from doing something well.’
Thanks to that valuable experience, they were able to be confident that they could do well in the studies they were facing now, just as they did then.

--- p.68

It never matters what kind of growth it is.
For example, memorizing ten English words that used to take 30 minutes to learn one day can be done in 15 minutes, or finally being able to do a chin-up that you couldn't do before - all these things that you break yourself into are examples of small growth, small success, and small accomplishments.
Everyone accumulates these experiences of growth and achievement as they live, without even realizing it.
Yet, the reason why not everyone has the confidence that they can do well is because they forget their own small successes and accomplishments.

--- p.83

The second time I realized I was pretending to study was when I took out all the test papers from all the exams I had taken so far.
And the problem I discovered in the process was that I often thought I knew things, but I ended up making mistakes on the actual test.
For example, there were cases where I got the same problem I wrote down in my notebook wrong on the exam, or I thought I understood the concept well but got the problem wrong on the actual exam.
We usually say that we are being fooled by 'metacognition'.
Metacognition means 'the eye that knows what I know and what I don't know', or, in simple terms, the eye that sees my memories.
I was fooled by my own metacognition.
--- p.194~195

The same was true of the mentors I met while writing "Study Master Plan" and "Compressed Study."
They had lofty goals, but they also had their own roadmap to get there.
No matter how big the gap between their goals and reality, those who have their own ladder will eventually reach their destination.
If you really want to achieve your goals, you have to break them down and take the steps one by one.
If you try to do something grandiose all at once, you are bound to fail.

--- p.228~229

I have had countless hardships and failures.
Since I was little, there were times when I doubted whether I could do well and lost courage.
But the biggest reason why my heart and will were not broken was because of the ‘superhero’ who protected me.
He read my crooked diary from when I was young with more interest than any bestselling author's book, and he listened to my poor presentations as if they were the speeches of some great person.
Even when people in the world said I couldn't do it, you gave me courage by saying, "You can do it." When someone hurt me, you shared my pain and comforted me as if it were your own.
He always told me how precious I was and how special I was.
He planted in me the root of 'faith' so that I could become a strong tree.
Someone who knows my heart better than I do, someone who trusts me more than I do.
That 'superhero' was my mom.

--- p.304~305