If you ask me about the secrets of success, I wouldn't like to recommend anything for there is no magical method nor formula to achieve your or our goals in life. Yes, there are indeed many factors that should come together before you can turn 'defeat' into 'victory'.
If there is one single word that can explain it all, I would say that word is faith. Faith in yourself - that everything is indeed fated: you see the unseen; you believe in the impossible; and you concretise the intangible. Do well in whatever you do. Take pride. With God's will, you can succeed in all your endeavours. I bet you remember well "on no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can bear" (2:286).
A friend of mine (SSF) once reminded me, "True friends help you with your work; 'good-time companions' tempt you to shirk your responsibilities and to waste your life's precious hours."
Till then, good luck, and I pray for your 'success'.
