Committing to a life of being a professional artist of any kind is not something that should be done lightly in my opinion. A lot of people sleepwalk into the lifestyle and it can work for them and others not so - a case of a happy or unhappy accident. I consider my case a happy accident.

The question you need to ask is if this is really what you want thick and thin, not just something you are doing because you have a talent for it. There are many talented people who’s personalities don’t work well with the lifestyle artistic careers entail despite their talent.

When it comes to your question, the answer is simple but also not prescriptive:

Do you have a network that supports your aspiration? Teachers and individuals that can push you and you can learn from?

Can you teach yourself? Can you reflect honestly with yourself on your shortcomings as a player and find ways of overcoming your technical and musical issues autonomously and without sacrificing your own well being in the process?

Are you content with the solitude that is involved in developing a professional standard of playing? It’s a road you can only go down yourself, no one else can provide you with a silver bullet when the difficulties emerge.

This may be quite laborious post but these are questions worth considering and working towards if you wish to be a professional. If you can’t find stances to these questions you are comfortable with, pursuing any artistic endeavour professionally will likely be unhappy one and angst ridden more so than its lifestyle already entails. Paradoxically part of developing your craft often involves accepting these emotions as part of the deal.