Like all things at which you have to work hard to gain ability, the original poster has but one course: the hardest one. To delve into those tiresome, brain-aching problems at which he once balked in school - the ones where he found that he had to put in a real effort.

And he will have to accept lots of failures before he can start to claim lots of successes. With nobody to mark his efforts down for not showing sufficient workings, however, admitting to failure can come a lot more easily when you only have your own self as teacher and student.