CRITICAL to your future is the following (possibly the most important tip I have to offer)-- I don’t know of a single great musician who allowed success (at ANY level) take precedence over relentless practice, learning, and musical improvement. In every case, young musicians who discover ego too soon, quickly come to a grinding halt in terms of progress. Whenever I have a student cancel a lesson because of- brag, brag, brag, I know I have some work to do!! Similarly, students who are genuinely disappointed when I need to reschedule are invariably my ‘best’ students.