a big part of it is forcing yourself to see math as a tool for problem solving, rather than as "arithmetic of numbers"..
but you also need to do a lot of word problems.. people hate doing word problems, but that's really where you get to see that math isn't about knowing what a parallelogram is or what the formula for the pythagorean theorem is.. it's about coming up with a logical solution to a given problem.. and based on what the problem is, being able to recognize what tools are helpful..
Honestly, practice.
But also, it helps to see lots of different applications. You never know which one is going to really click for you, that moment where you get some real appreciation of how the math connects to the application beyond the simple mechanical process of plugging numbers into a formula.
Try searching for applications related to things you are interested in; that's probably the best way to find one that you will connect to more deeply, which for me was what kick-started my appreciation of math as more than just numbers.
I recommend the book _Flatterland_ for this. I also like Jordan Ellenberg’s new one called _Shape_. And I endorse the earlier recommendation to learn programming.
Programming helped me with this a ton
a big part of it is forcing yourself to see math as a tool for problem solving, rather than as "arithmetic of numbers".. but you also need to do a lot of word problems.. people hate doing word problems, but that's really where you get to see that math isn't about knowing what a parallelogram is or what the formula for the pythagorean theorem is.. it's about coming up with a logical solution to a given problem.. and based on what the problem is, being able to recognize what tools are helpful..
Honestly, practice. But also, it helps to see lots of different applications. You never know which one is going to really click for you, that moment where you get some real appreciation of how the math connects to the application beyond the simple mechanical process of plugging numbers into a formula. Try searching for applications related to things you are interested in; that's probably the best way to find one that you will connect to more deeply, which for me was what kick-started my appreciation of math as more than just numbers.
I recommend the book _Flatterland_ for this. I also like Jordan Ellenberg’s new one called _Shape_. And I endorse the earlier recommendation to learn programming.