In today's age of dramatic economic and political inequality, it does not matter how talented you are or how hard you work. American meritocracy is a sham and Swartz's death is the proof.
The trick in my situation was that there was no trick, no matter what the movies tell you. No rules, no secret Mantra, no road map. It wasn't about how smart or how good you were. It was chaos and luck, and anyone who thought different was a fool. All you could do was hang on madly, as long and hard as you could.