How to become a successful engineer?

When I enrolled as an Electrical Engineering major in college, I had no intention of becoming an engineer. I had enjoyed technician work and intended to pick up where I left off after college. I took EE because it was absolutely fascinating stuff. (Of course after a while I figured out that yes, I really did want to be an engineer.)

Do you enjoy the mind boggling information you're learning? Is it fascinating or drudgery? If your primary focus it just getting it done so you can get a good job, I can see why you're in pain. Enjoy the knowledge.

One trick I found was that professors often did not assign problems that had answers in the book, but often those problems were more interesting and revealing than the assigned ones. So I often did more of the problems than were assigned. I didn't turn them in or get credit, but I gained understanding. And that, after all, is what I was after.

I wanted to be a physicist. Next best was to become an engineer. I became one. There were problems.
Swami Vivekananda (an Indian monk) made a statement about work, which helped me a lot.

'If you are poor, work. If you are rich, work. If you are burdened with seemingly unfair responsibilities, work. If disappointments come, work. If sorrow overwhelms you and loved ones seem not true, work. If health is threatened, work. When dreams are shattered and hope seems dead, work. Work as if your life is in peril. Its really is. No matter what ails you, work. Work faithfully. Work in faith. Work is the great remedy available for both mental and physical afflictions'

Swami Vivekananda

This helped me through many trying situations.

i saw three kinds of people become engineers, viz., those who were not at all sincere, those who were very sincere and those who were somewhere in between. All the three categories turned out successful as i see now after 6 years of becoming an engineer. The most successful were those who were the least sincere as they were better at social skills which the other two categories missed out. Communication skills are not be missed out for an engineer. Time is a great teacher. It does all. Best of luck.

When I was a college student, I felt like giving up and shifting into other disciplines. I don't really get good grades, just enough for me to pass. Now that I'm working, I realize that at the end of the day your grades in college does not guarantee a good job position. It's your skills and interests that matters most.