How do people get good enough to get hired where ever? Let's say I'm using this as a sort of test rather than wanting to get hired somewhere. Some people I see are so productive, those fabled 10:1 engineers but I don't see a path to getting there.
Hmm, you sound like you've got yourself upset by reading all the Marissa Mayer news, then trying to compare yourself to her and falling short. Am I right?
Anyway, here is the "secret": Find an opportunity that seems interesting to you and has a decent potential payoff (money, or not, whatever motivates you), then jump into it and work your ass off for a few years until you get to a point where you really aren't going to advance any further, then use that experience that you have earned to hop to the next opportunity that interests you.
Also, be very wary of comparing yourself to people based on what you hear about them in the news or what they say about themselves on blogs or on Hacker News. There's a lot of bullshitting in business. It sounds like you want to turn yourself into some kind of hyper-efficient generalist that can get hired anywhere -- in fact, no such person exists.
> Hmm, you sound like you've got yourself upset by reading all the Marissa Mayer news, then trying to compare yourself to her and falling short. Am I right?
I agree that you do need to learn something new or go on a trip somewhere. Don't quit your job unless you have a better one already lined up.