The article touches on something that helped me excel at university: I consistently scored high grades, but compared to others around me I seemed put in less time and effort. However, I don’t think I was significantly more capable or brighter than the majority. After spending several years studying alongside classmates, I do think the way I studied and ‘learnt to learn’ was quite different to the status quo.

Like the article mentions, being able to answer every question means that you’re not pushing yourself. I spent the majority of my time attempting questions that I didn’t think I’d be able to do, while many classmates would spend their time attempting questions they thought they would know. It forced me to constantly ‘solve hard problems’, and become better at doing so. A lot of the time I couldn’t successfully answer the questions I attempted, but in doing so I’d learn a lot anyway.

The article content is great, but I’d add that practice is an essential part of learning to solve hard problems. If you’re studying too, I’d really recommend the learning technique I used, at least to some degree - it will help you become a quick learner and good problem solver.