1. The people who make the big bucks (or better yet have the most power and options) are the people who can handle ambiguity. They are able to find elegant (or at least workable) ways of accomplishing things without a guide. Strive to be one of those people, if all else fails at least you can write the cookbook for those who need one.
2. Don't be fooled into thinking there is one kind of intelligence. Lots of people think being "smart" means knowing a lot about something. Knowing a lot about something often only means that's what a person has concentrated their efforts on.
This isn't really a secret so I'll stick it down here...
Get an education.
Doesn't have to be at a school. Get it from life, teach yourself, find a teacher..but get educated.
An education teaches you to think, not what to think. An education allows you to hold competing ideas in tension long enough to choose the best solution, deal with ambiguity, synthesize pieces into a whole, question assumptions, accept that there may not be a perfect ie. black and white solution, see the forest and the trees, and understand the basic foundations that the task at hand depends on.
Don't confuse training with education.
Strive to be an educated person and take whatever training you need to accomplish your goals.
If you need to be trained in math, or writing, or computer programming by all means do that, but don't confuse yourself by thinking that your knowledge of how to use the tools means the same thing as having an education that allows you to use them in creative and useful ways.
Maybe it's sort of like if I was trained to use a Skil saw and a hammer, it doesn't mean I can build a house. The housebuilder has an education, the guy swinging the hammer is trained...granted they might be the same person.
And finally cultivate a good sense of smell.
If it smells bad it's probably bullshit.
