In my honest opinion, the most important key ingredient is self-acceptance. Complete self-acceptance. Don't go into transition looking for validation, looking for baby angels to fall out of the sky and give you a perfect state of mind that magically fixes all of your problems. Because it won't. You need to have a conviction, on a deep down level, that this really is who you are, and accept that self fully. Because there will be highs and lows. There will be doubts. And there will be both days where it feels like the entire universe is lined up just perfectly, and days where you just want to lay in bed crying all day because it seems so hard, so far away, and such a difficult road.
The way to deal with these things is complete self-acceptance. Don't look at the highs as being validation that transition is right for you, and don't look at the lows as meaning that you're making a mistake. Because moods will fluctuate. There will be doubts. And if you don't have a strong acceptance of just who you are, getting through these lows will be MUCH harder.
That is my advice, as someone who went through a hell of a lot of this herself before finally coming to a secure place, after much emotional hardship that included both the highest emotional highs of my entire life, and the worst depression of my entire life.
