How to start Olympiad maths if I was a total beginner? I am 14 years old, how do I start learning IMO maths. I am from UK, I want to get good in 4 years and willing to dedicate a lot of time.
 A: Disclaimer: as mentioned in comments under the question, there is not going to be an all-purpose answer which fits everyone as everyone's learning style is slightly different. The following is merely based on my personal experience.
Most of the people I know begin doing contest mathematics by attempting problems. Starting from your regional level contests, attempt problems of varying difficulties from past year papers, spending at least some time (I would say 20 minutes at minimum) on each question before looking at the solution, then working through the solution to the problem without looking at your own (essentially going through the thought process independently again), and then moving on to the next problem. If you've never had exposure to mathematics outside of school curriculum, this process is extremely important in that it gives you problem-solving experience and exposes you to what it's like to solve a math problem by formulating your own strategies, attacking the problem following those strategies, and how to deal with it when those strategies fail. Experience with problem-solving is the most important thing to gain at an early stage---I've observed that many people without this experience can often just look at a problem, say "I don't know how to do this", and look at the solution. Such people will not go far in contest math without a significant change in the way they think, as looking at the solution without actual attempt minimises the learning that is accomplished.
On that note, I would discourage you from looking at books which teach you general problem-solving strategies, or books tailored for contest math training. (Indeed, going against some of the advice given in the comments.) While such resources are an invaluable tool to eventually train your problem solving ability, if you're just beginning, they are not going to be useful. Those books teach you what to think when faced with certain types of problems, but if you haven't learnt how to think at all, I doubt they will help you. Indeed, they will more than likely just bore you and perhaps even make you disinterested in the subject.
In conclusion: do problems, lots and lots of them. Formulate strategies, attack the problem, and only look at the solution once you've failed multiple times. Begin with easier problems from your regional contest, but don't be afraid to try harder problems once you feel you're ready. This way you learn organically by training your own thinking skills. Once you've done so, resources such as training books or websites like artofproblemsolving.com will become useful, so don't be afraid to make use of them; but don't do so too early.
