Compounding takes time.
We may not be rewarded as fast as we'd like for our efforts, but with enough patience and preparation, we can dramatically increase our chances of getting lucky.
The previous principles are designed to be bulletproof, so that I can stake my future on them with absolute certainty that they'll eventually work (unless I get drafted into war or hit by a bus).
I don't claim to be an all-knowing genius, but I do claim to have skin in the game.