For the other 99.99% of us, it would take many lifetimes worth of free time to make a substantial dent in these materials. To me, guides like these are too intimidating to even begin. Maybe what's needed is a meta-guide on structuring one's time and developing the necessary focus to be able to do this within one human lifetime.
Grab a pen and paper, open up the first book in any of the guides, and start reading. Read for 15 minutes, or 20 minutes, or whatever time you have on your lunch break or before you go to bed or while you’re using the bathroom. Do it again the next day. And the next. And the next.
That’s how I did it. There’s no brilliance involved. It’s just jumping in. The more you do, the easier it gets.
I knew consistency was important, and did not place much importance on "brilliance", although that attribute has been showered upon me since I was little.
What I did not know, and still don't know is that studying only for a few minutes or half an hour regularly will make me good at something as advanced math.
You seem to know your stuff and I like your approach and attitude, and I will do now what I do very rarely and upon serious consideration- take a leap of faith.
I will start doing math everyday for at least half an hour, and I will see how that goes.
I will let you know after a few months.