My goals further into my career and how to achieve them 09/09/16

This is an example of what I want to be capable of in a few years. 

I want to be a lead 3D animator in the future. To get there as fast as possible I mainly have to focus on using the programs available to me, that include 3ds max to create to models to animate and Maya to animate them in scenes. Considering that we are going to create a major project by the end of the year with a group of people I need to prove myself capable before then.

How am I going to accomplish this? Aside from the obvious (practice) I am going to have keep creating new animations and models to find better methods and extra tools and features to get the final product to get a better result. I am still debating whether or not to go to university or take an apprenticeship, there are benefits to both. Some of the studios that I could work for in the future would be double negative, Jellyfish, Blue Bolt and Method Studios.

What do I need to learn to improve? This is quite subjective but a start for me right now would be learning all of the relevant tools in 3ds max, Maya and other programs such as Photoshop for textures. Even if I am not bothered with having a career like in concept art I still need some knowledge in extra fields (the T model applies, having knowledge in many things but having one or two skills that you do really well).