Patience is a great secret
Another word for patience would be delayed gratification or setting up things that have a payoff in, say, three weeks instead of 72 hours. Or * gulp * even looking out a year or two in advance.
It might sound like I'm being sarcastic but I think this has perhaps been a real stumbling block for me. I was raised to have that midwestern work-ethic so I think whenever I sit down to the computer I should have something to show for it at the end. This can be limiting.
I think that whenever a person is trying to do something new for the first time they must do at least two things: 1. take their time and do it right 2. take a calculated risk or two so that the effort has some level of novelty.