As far as being a good student, first and foremost you need to have a love for the instrument. Once you've got that, you need to pick a goal and slowly and methodically work toward it. If that goal is to play a Limp Bizkit song, great. Find an instructor to help you learn that. If, on the other hand, your goal is to be a devastating, virtuoso guitarist, then you have a different set of priorities.
Few guitarists are better qualified to expound on rock guitar's most despised decade than Vai.
I'm thrilled that I got to participate in those extravaganzas, though, because they were great. With David Lee Roth, I got to play my ass off every night to 20,000 people, and I'm never going to complain about that. I still love to see my fingers flying all over the neck. It's really cool. Being an accomplished guitar player has unbelievable rewards.