Not a hacker but definitely came a long way. Boils down to one thing for me: - Raw motivation. Be like a pig in the mud, "really" enjoy doing it. While everyon

Not a hacker but definitely came a long way. Boils down to one thing for me: - Raw motivation. Be like a pig in the mud, "really" enjoy doing it. While everyone else considers it work. If strong motivation is there then logistically you might also need things like: - Persistence over the long run. This shit takes years. Choose the hard way if it can teach you more. Read the source. Practise ruthlessly. - Optimize your rate of learning. Understand your weaknesses and use that to become faster. Be methodical. - Optimize your work and life environment. Your goal should be to be in the zone, focused and productive. Things that can help: excersise, minimize distractions, stable/no relationships, have basic needs sorted, etc. - There are many many disciplines that you should explore and work in.. algorithms, code optimization/perf, architectures, security, etc. etc. At work, university and online, there are people that can teach you things and guide you. Try and find these key individuals. Just a few points from the top of my head.