Good advice, summarized from James Hayton's "How to do a PhD: top 10 tips", that applies throughout life:

• Choose who you work with carefully (including institution, research group, and advisor)
• See yourself as a beginner (research work is not the same as taking classes and doing well on exams)
• Start early, make mistakes (get to work as soon as possible on doing actual research)
• Analyse early (test methods on small data sets as you go along)
• Get to know the literature (begin with deep study of a few of the best papers in your field)
• Don't obsess over productivity (be flexible and patient, not driven by artificial self-imposed deadlines)
• Give yourself time to think (pause, go beyond the obvious, and allow creativity to emerge)
• Be decisive (when a choice needs to be made in your work, make it)
• Be adaptable (failures are inevitable along the way — face them with enthusiasm and imagination)
• Separate writing for yourself from writing for an audience (the goal is to communicate your ideas and results — organize your arguments and figure out where you're going)

Hayton's final supplemental tip is likewise important when generalized: "A PhD is not everything. ... Do your best, but don't let it define your life. Ultimately, it's not that important!"

(cf. Research and Life (2000-09-07), Ein Ben Stein (2002-09-19), How To Succeed (2005-03-11), Great Thoughts Time (2013-11-29), ...) - ^z - 2016-03-25