First off, he mentioned that this is primarily about knowledge workers, which happens to be a highly competitive market where individual qualities are of importance. That said,

Places the responsibility (and the blame) for individual outcomes completely on the individual, without mention of external influnces, like health crises, educational opportunities available, social networks, luck, etc.

His argument is a response to the advice often given to (young) people on what to do with their lives. Follow your passion has nothing to do with external factors either.

This is an idea tailored for those who will eventually specialize in a topic (combined with the fortuitous continued demand for that area of business) to such a degree that all the happiness.. things.. fall into place. It is not an idea that will work for those who want to be average, or feel they can only attain not-world-class levels of mastery in any particular subject.

Does it need to be an idea for those that want to be average? It's not just for the extremely talented either: this is more a path to become better than your competitors than to become the world's best at what you do.

Maybe the passion mindset works for some people: that doesn't confirm it as a good rule to live by. Besides, the passion mindset is even worse on the point of reaching happiness: if you just follow your passion, the rest will come by itself! I think the craftsman mindset is better to reach happiness because through increased experience and expertise, you are more capable of arranging your situation in a way that you like best. E.g. if you're a really good designer, you are valued more and can afford to turn clients down that you don't like, which increases your happiness.

and being willing to practice the hard things for years without payoff

Where do you get this from? Of course the first part of one's journey into a new field is riddled with inexperience, but that doesn't mean you won't make any money off it. This technique is about self-improvement more than anything.

The time management techniques are him describing how to translate these general ideas into practice.