You have to be lucky and extremely disciplined to do good in poker. its like pursuing a phd in psychology. I used to do B&M. My pasttime used to be reading supersystem, ace on the river etc. I did good in it but later on stakes increased, swings started taking toll on my health. So i downgraded to tourney every month or so, just for fun.
After all that grinding i realised, it is gambling at end of the day. Biggest tourney are decided on heads up. Thus, luck is necessary.
For future poker players. One extremely important advice. "Dont sit down on a table with money you cant afford to loose"
May you find ivey, doyle, ungar like success.