I agree with the premise of this post - that working hard is the only way to be successful, regardless of innate talent.

I do sometimes disagree with some specific points you make. For instance the 50k hand comment. It's a great rule of thumb, and it is very applicable if a player multitables and tends to auto-pilot without too much thought to his own skill growth. It is also doubtless true that most poker players find an easy, simple formula to use and then just start grinding at whatever stakes they are playing and develop their bankroll without necessarily developing their poker skills. It is very true that bankroll alone does not qualify a player for being successful at a higher stake.

Conversely I would suggest that if a player plays only very few tables and spends as much time studying the game and improving his game as he spends playing it a 50k statistic is not necessary and imo not that telling. If a player works a lot on his game the way he played at the beginning of the 50k can be very different from how he played at the end of the 50k. For a 50k hand statistic to be meaningful the player will have to have played a relatively consistent game plan. Also, the player that spends a lot of time and effort (also work ethic) improving may become ready for a higher stake before his bankroll catches up. While I fully believe this can ONLY be true in micros and will NOT be true at even small stakes - I think it IS true at micros.

Routine is hugely important, but so is thinking play. I think a lot of players fall into the trap of thinking they are building routine at a time when they are grinding and playing mechanically without growing as players.

And while at it - thanks for all the thoughts and thought provoking material you do post Spoon. You are without a doubt one of my favourite FTR posters, and I think you are helping a lot of people get better (or less bad as the case is with me.)