I really liked this post on what is so bad about using school as a shelter from the economic recession:

http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2009/02/03/dont-try-to-dodge-the-recession-with-grad-school/

And then you get to that job and you think, “Grad school could solve this problem.” But in fact, grad school creates larger, and more insurmountable problems.

Seth Godin is a contributing writer on Vator.tv and in his article “Is effort a myth?” (see link below) he talks about luck vs. effort and gives some very feasible advice on how to get better at whatever it is you are doing.

While luck may be more appealing than effort, you don’t get to choose luck. Effort, on the other hand, is totally available, all the time.

Check out the article on:
http://www.vator.tv/news/show/2008-10-09-is-effort-a-myth

Seth Godin (born July 10, 1960) is an American author of business books and a popular speaker with appearances at Google, TED and a number of charities. His blog is one of the most popular blogs in the world.^{[citation needed]} Godin popularized the topic of permission marketing
Source: Wikipedia