Take on challenging tasks and do good work. Save at least 25% of pre-tax salary and all bonuses. Don't let it all be invested in your employers stock; ideally

Take on challenging tasks and do good work. Save at least 25% of pre-tax salary and all bonuses. Don't let it all be invested in your employers stock; ideally diversify via an index fund. Given typical bigcorp compensation at the moment, this puts your timeline to financial comfort, if not independence, under 10 years without any hardship in the meantime.