There are countless thousands of incredibly great musicians trying to get to a point where they have the equivalent of a full time wage. Consider all those "nobody" candidates on the talent competitions like American Idol, The Voice, etc.

It can be done if you resign yourself to practicing/playing like 10 hours daily, and get a good break somewhere along the lines. My H.S. Band Director said if I want to make it as a player to stay away from teaching Band--a good job with a stable salary. "If you go that route you'll never get back into trying to make a living as a performer". 48 years later, I still must admit he was right.