Oh, man... Really I would just say that I trained the majority of my time in Jiu-Jitsu because I like the game! I enjoy Jiu-Jitsu, it's a game, and a huge challenge. I think that is why it is so easy for me to keep going regularly... there is not too much pressure, I just do it for the FUN of it!
Because I just did it for the fun of it, I was never one of those people that could write it all down and train systematically. Just not how I work. I'm reasonably intelligent (if I may say so) and have always had good kinesthetic awareness (maybe my early Karate training helped there), but I am really disorganized. I was the type of guy that in school only took notes if they were "required", and then rarely went back to look at them again even if I did take them. I tried to keep a journal for jiu-jitsu, but it was very short lived... I just didn't care about writing it down or reviewing. I thought about technique all the time, and would often meditate on particular techniques, repping them in my head. But I am prone to go off on tangents, so rather than concentrating on one game, or set of techniques I would just go with the flow, and learn and concentrate on what ever I was interested in at the moment. Eventually a game developed, but it certainly was not systematically set up in any way... it just came together over time. Eventually, as my game came together and I started to recognize that I was prone to working certain types of things (mostly guard stuff) I found guys that I would like to watch who had similar games. I took early to Braulio Estima, loved watching Roger Gracie, and Rolleta! I wouldn't specifically work on any one of their techniques, but see the things they would do it slowly influenced my game.
As far as the kind of guy I was at the academy, well I was always showing people the latest thing I saw, read about, or learned. I would also sit around after class while others would ask questions of each other, of the instructor, or just try stuff out, and I would soak as much in as I could. I guess I must have always been reasonably technical for my belt level on the way up, because people would often come to me with questions about technique... and I guess I'm approachable that way too, which helps. I enjoying helping people out whenever I can. I feel better training partners helps to push me too!
I actually started training because somewhere in the mid 90s a good friend of mine and I began renting the early UFCs. I didn't see them first run, I was training Karate at the time and remember hearing of that guy Royce Gracie, but I didn't actually see any of them until later. When they broadcast the first Pride GP from 1999 on American TV that's what pushed me over the edge, and I knew that I would never go back to Karate. It was gonna be Jiu-Jitsu.
Anyway... keep the questions coming.