Best advice I ever got was to keep my guitar, whatever it was, in plain view. It will keep it available to play all the time. Next bit of best advice I ever got was to not give up. Sometimes it can take me a week to a month to put together only a few measures. Its getting faster though.
As for equipment as long as you've got something decent to play you should be just fine. I've only got an acoustic presently and decided that before I bought another I'd dedicate myself to learning several solid pieces before branching out with new equip, doesn't mean I don't spend plenty of time looking though.
Cheers!
