1) Enjoy the journey in aviation, if you want a career where you go to school and are "done" go be an accountant, lawyer, or factory worker. In aviation you are never done. Even when you get your ATP, you will still have, type ratings, recurrent training, Check Airman training, Chief Pilot Training, etc. it never ends. Enjoy it all and remember it's the big picture that matters.
2) In your check rides there are usually a handful of things that are absolute pass/fail and a whole bunch of other crap that doesn't matter at all. For example, in your instrument oral, if you don't know the pitot static system by memory and in theory, good chance you fail the oral. On the flip side, DPE guy, will probably care less that you didn't know what color the taxi way lights are. (This is one from my experience :-) ) or On your commercial spend the most time on the engine out procedure. If you don't make it on the runway, boom you fail. On the converse, if you don't do your lazy eights perfectly, more than likely DPE guy won't care. (I had an instructor that was so worried about lazy eights, but we only did like four emergency procedures) turns out I passed that one anyway, but wondered why we spent so much time on some other things. So ask your instructor what the "absolutes" are and focus some study or flight practice there.
3) In training, YOU ARE THE BOSS, YOU PAY THE BILL!!!! More than likely your instructor knows what is best for your learning, but in the end, YOU ARE IN CHARGE! If you want to do take offs and landings for 100 days straight, YOU ARE THE BOSS, if they won't practice what you want, go find a new instructor. If you want to go sightseeing everyday, go sightseeing, YOU ARE PAYING THE BILL. (Of course, sightseeing wont get you a rating very quickly, but if that's what YOU want, GO FOR IT!!!)
4) Best advice I could give anyone ever in most of life is : Seek out the other options in life! Just because everyone else is a flight instructor, doesn't mean you have to. Just because everyone else comes out of flight training $100,000 in debt, doesn't mean you have to etc, etc, etc. The list goes on and on in aviation, most of it is crap. Part 141 vs. 61 - another total rip off in aviation. I did all mine 61 and have flown for years part 135 and just got hired at a regional, no one has ever even asked about my training. It could be a deal breaker at a place like Fed Ex though someday, but that's not where I am going so it doesn't matter to me. So always look for the options that work best for you and your goals, think outside the box a little bit, don't always just pay your bills in training, think about what you are paying for and why, can I do this cheaper with the same outcome, quality of learning, etc???
5) One option if you are thick skinned and looking for adventure and don't want to be a CFI. Get your 250 hours and go sit right seat in Alaska. I know Ryan Air
Ryan Air ? Home Page hires very low time guys to sit right seat and fly a CASA 212. More than likely you will work out of Bethel, AK, a total crap hole, but you will get twin turbine time, make $35,000 a year, only work 2 weeks a month, and have jump seating. I worked there when I first started and some of the guys in my ground school were 22 years old, fresh out of school, and only had 250 or so hours. Beware, this isn't for the faint of heart, do your research, but is an option to not be a CFI. In one year you would almost fly 1000 hours.
6) Make your own path, blaze your own trail, be positive and happy. If you don't like something in aviation, change it for yourself or go somewhere else. Don't get stuck on all the negativity that is in this forum. Quality of life, happiness, and other people are more or less the most important things you will ever deal with, never sacrifice those for money, promotions, or some crappy airline job, you may never get them back.