Find people who think like you and stick with them. Make only music you are passionate about. Work only with people you like and trust. Don't sign anything.
“Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.”
“For the first few years we lived in a tiny rented cottage at the bottom of a friend's garden. We often joked that there was plenty of film in the fridge, but not too much food!”