"Its no dazzling! I am just *hopeless* with figures!"

If youve ever said that to yourself then do not worry - youre not alone.

Many all the people believe themselves to be math phobic or "numerically challenged". However the fact is they are probably not hopeless at all...

Most likely they had an unfortunate incident in their past. Perhaps they missed some crucial lessons in school and never caught up. Or maybe they suffered a humiliating acquired skill in the math class.

Whatever the reasons, math difficulties could be overcome with a little determination and by looking at the subject in a different way.

Here are 5 ways to get over your numbers block and initial turning figures into friends:


1 - Give Them A Chance!

Begin to look carefully at figures instead of just switching off when they come into view.

Next instant you get a receipt at the restaurant or for goods youve bought, take a great look at it. There may be some numbers that dont mean anything but others will contruct sense.

So as a first step: do not ignore numbers. They might give you a lot of useful data if you will just give yourself a chance to absorb what they are proverb .


2 - Dont Lose Them, Use Them!

Begin to make use of numbers more in your daily life.

- Start checking your change in the shop

- Check your bills too.

- Study your bank statement carefully

If you get confused, dont worry, it happens to every one . (Some bills seem to be designed to confuse!)

Just take in what you may and leave the rest.


3 - Take The Easy Route

See if you can spot the brain friendly way to do everyday math sums.

For example, suppose you absolutely need to find: 7 + 8 + 3.

Instead of starting at the left and adding as you go, you may notice that the 7 and 3 build a nice round 10. Simply tag on the 8 and you get 18 altogether.

The above technique - called "looking for 10s" - is a useful trick when adding numbers.

Try some for yourself:

a) 8 + 6 + 2 + 6 + 4

b) 9 + 3 + 7 + 5 + 1

c) 13 + 6 + 7 + 14


4 - Notice Patterns

Another thing to practice is seeing patterns in numbers. This makes them easier to remember and to work with.

For example, 23434 contains a simple pattern.

So does 9639.

And 51015 is a palindrome" - its the same backwards.


5 - Make Them Real

Numbers might contain memorable digits like dates.

For example, 217761.

If you look carefully, you will notice it contains the year of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence.

A number could contain:

- birthday numbers of yourself, family, or friends

- figures from a telephone number or dial code

- numbers of a house you have lived in

Or some other kind of digit combination that you might relate to.

Once you may relate numbers to the real world, youre fast on the way to becoming familiar with them.

And when you get to understand them, you and numbers can become the best of friends for life!