3D has always been a hobby for me (15 years+), and I was a web designer for a living, so already had the 2D sh*t down, but when I realised I enjoyed 3D more than web design I began working doubly hard to fill the gaps in my 3D knowledge, and to specialise in at least one field (modelling in my case). I waited 5 years before I went part-time commercial, and 7 years to go full -time, mainly to ensure that I was at least approaching expert is most areas of the program, and could solve 98% of problems on my own. Some people say I waited too long, but I disagree. Rather too often on this forum we get people who are patently unqualified to be doing commercial work, and yet still they try, before coming on here and pleading for deadline-based help when they come unstuck at the first client hurdle ! :) But we're all different, and learn at different rates - I have also seen people who are producing astonishing work within 6 months to a year, but they are few and far between, and tend to be able to spend all day every day learning their toolset, so are putting in the same huge amount of effort, but getting through it faster.
CBR