I don't know whether I'm in the list of good players or not, but I'll flatter myself anyway
I've been playing and winning at MTTs and SnGs since day 1, which is 3 and a half years and I've played a lot (pretty much every day).
Initially I was lucky and eventually I got to the point where I understood how much I didn't understand. I decided early on that this was a ten year operation minimum before I got where I wanted to be and that there was no hurry.
So I moved slowly from the $11 to $22 to $33 buyins and about 18 months ago started to work in the $55s at both the SnGs and MTTs. There's differences between each level but they are subtle and a solid game will I think carry you through at any of them. If you are a winner (over a proper sample) at $10 then I think your game is probably strong enough to win at $33 and maybe $55 (the $55 is the first level where I've felt a genuine difference in the mix of players).
During this time I've kept <$2k online for the most part (cashing out every so often) and not looked to increase stakes higher, I've played the big Sunday tournies through sats quite a few times and they have played soft. There's no doubt for me that I could be long-term profitable at higher stakes. However the variance is a killer whatever level you play and you can always go on a big downturn playing the best poker of your life. I'm pulling back from a $1k downswing at the moment which happned while playing what I feel was the best I've played.
It's not about the money (cause I do alright income wise) but I want to lick this game properly in the long run and I stand by the ten years as the timescale I need to do that, I use the Sunday tournies (via sats) as a shot at the short cut to riches rather than dabbling in $75 and $100 buyins. Eventually I'll move up, but I don't think it will be for a while unless I have some major revelations about the game.
Poker for me is as much about managing money as it is about
odds and cards and I think if you try and rush it then it bites you on the arse. Hard.