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Don't chase "numbers". Chase people. Find people who are doing something that excites you (or overlaps with your interests), and find ways to connect. Such people will lift you up in ways numbers never will.

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I don't disagree at all, but so far I've had little luck because most folks don't take my seriously because of my lack of "credentials".

And the thing is I don't disagree with them necessarily. I understand I have my own work to do, but that's the hardest part for me personally, having enough drive or whatever to build myself up in the first place.

There are ways to get in the door even if you don't have credentials. Who you are surrounded by and interact with day in day out, can drastically change whatever trajectory you are on. So if you spot interesting people. Reach out and find a way to work with them. I got my first job in a research lab full of PhDs not because I had anywhere close to the credentials they had. But cause they needed someone to move equipment around campus. And the only reason they remembered me, was cuz I kept calling them asking for work and showing interest in what they were all individually up to. Ended up writing code for them and named in many of their published papers. Similarly I got a job at a startup, not through their regular interview process, but because I mailed the CEO telling him I had a few hours to spare every week, and whether they had any small tasks I could work on that no one has time for (startups always have a huge list of things to do that no one has time for). I did that for 2 weeks before they offered me a full time job. So get creative. Keep your eyes open for interesting environments. And make contact even if you don't have credentials show genuine interest in them and their work. Sooner or later someone will invite you in.

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