It's been almost 1.5 years now for me since I started to pursue environment art/level design. I set a goal of 2 years to build a solid portfolio... 
I have a part-time job and some support from my family which leaves me enough time to learn, but I don't think I've learned as much as I should have in that time on my own.
I think part of the problem is that I'm split between level design and environment art. Can't figure out how to commit to one... 
Anyway, I'd definitely appreciate some advice. I wanna hurry up and actually get out of this damn pipe dream phase!