This article is actually a good attempt to answer the title question (or rather, show how the question is the wrong one to ask).<p><i>...so if the work itself doesn't drive you, you will burn out or fall by the wayside or your extreme competitors will crush you and make you cry...</i><p>TL;DR for all who need to ask the question: Don't try this at home. “Being great” is not something you decide and then attain by planned steps.