The first thing to do is follow your passion. Actually one thing comes before that, which is do something. You can't know your passion if you're not doing anything. Do something and you might find out what interests you or what excites you. Once you have discovered your passion, you will get better at it. If you like what you're doing, that's passion, and it will help you to persevere. You will still continue to work if you like doing it. If you persevere, you will improve.
Another thing is to find a big reason to make more money. Find a reason that is so inspiring that you can't resist doing it. Maybe you will be forced to do something you don't want because of the big reason you have. But it won't last long and you will quit because you don't like what you're doing. If you like what you're doing and you have a big reason behind it, you will succeed.
If you have a big goal, but you have the wrong strategy, you will just be disappointed. If you have a big reason and you like what you're doing, and still you are not reaching your goals. You might love what you do and you have a big reason, but if you're strategy doesn't support you in achieving your goals, it's worthwhile to consider quitting and try another path. Maybe you can position yourself to achieve your goal while doing what you love and staying at your big reason, but you should be honest to yourself if it really brings you closer to your goals.
If you have a big goal with big reason, you're doing what you love and you are on the right path towards your goal, and you still feel that you're far from what you want, maybe you should just persist. Persistence is the key. If you are consistent and do great work daily, you will get better and you will be attracting opportunities. You just need to be patient and keep doing it. If you're impatient, you will just wander from one shiny thing to the next. You will notice that you're not accomplishing anything and time is wasted.
If you're persistent and passionate, you will get better and you will find more opportunities along the way. One way leads to another. Don't ever think that what you will choose could be the end of the journey. New opportunities will come and you will gain the necessary skills and improve on them as you go along. It all starts with doing something. If you don't do something, time is still running out. You are not sure if one thing is the right decision, you can adjust along the way.
Don't make excuses. You can't have all the necessary information before deciding. It could be wrong even if it took you years before going through. I'm not talking about doing something without some preparation. What I'm talking about here is do something, after gathering the useful information you need. If you spend all your time preparing, you will waste time and money. You can also miss the opportunity and regret in the end.
If you want to speed up your learning, preparation and action, learn from mentors. Ask them. Don't waste time and gathering information that you can't use or apply. It's easier to directly learn from the ones who already did it, who are already in the place where you want to go. It's easier to know a specific information you need, than to gather tons of brilliant insights that you could never use. Those brilliant insights can be forgotten long before you will have the chance to apply them and use them for your own benefit.
Just seek for the information you need, and do the necessary action. Don't wait for the next brilliant insight to help you skyrocket to success. Ask a specific question, and act on the answer. You don't need to be the smartest person, you just need to take specific actions based on what you know. Act immediately. If you want something, act now to get it. If the task is complex, break it to simpler and smaller tasks until you arrive at the task that you can do right now.
Too much planning can lead to missed opportunities and wasted time. So if you want to succeed on something, choose one thing. And start doing. Act now. If you need information, don't spend too much time on it. Focus on the one thing that you can do now. It will get easier. You will then know if you're passionate about it. Along the way you may discover the big reason to keep you on track. You can also adjust if it doesn't work for you or if it doesn't bring you closer to your goals. You can also know if it's worth pursuing. And you will know if you can persist on doing. If you don't do something, you won't know if you can succeed.
