Newbie 5 months in. What have I learned?

Hello everyone! I'm writing this post to hopefully let some newbies in on what I've learned in my scant 5 months of internet marketing. Here goes!

First here's the tl;dr version.
All the posts about how hard IM is, it's all true. Don't give up.

What's the most important thing I've learned?
This is hard work. I can't count the number of people on this board that will tell you it's hard work. They're aren't kidding. Yes I expected it to be hard but you never know until you actually do it. I'm certainly not trying to discourage anyone from it. Just be aware that if you think you're going to quit your job in a year and stay home while money is thrown at you then the odds are stacked against you. It takes time and patience. Word to the wise, don't quit your day job until you can quit your day job.

Nothing will kill productivity faster then a vacation, at least for me.
In July I took my family (wife and 2 step sons) on a vacation to my home state for the first time. We were gone a total of 2 weeks. This was painful as it's taken me until now to get back into things again. Vacations are good for the mind and the body but it can still hurt. Discipline is key. However I would trade anything in the world for the look on my moms face when we showed up at her door unannounced. When your 1500 miles away from mom doesn't really expect you to just randomly show up.

Nothing will kill productivity faster then a vacation, except maybe for having a good day job.
I love my job and it pays well. It covers the bills and lets me and my family have some fun a couple weekends a month and put money into savings. But when you have that it can work against you. Like many others though I would like to maybe pay a little extra on a car payment, or be able to really go somewhere for an entire weekend just for the heck of it. Once again, discipline is key. A good job is great, but work past it if you want to start making money.

Be aware of your niche.
My niche is small. I based it around a hobby as it relates to the state I live in. I firmly believe you should write about something you love or are familiar with but I might have narrowed it down a bit too much. Find something you like and write about it, don't fall into the trap of chasing the big niches (how to make money, health, dating, acne prevention, etc..) unless you actually know something about it. If you write about something you don't know it will show.

So how much have I made?
A whopping $2.21. I know, I'll try not to spend it all in one place. However making something is a good sign, yes it's low but it's step in the right direction. I've seen many posts on this board by people that started out and it took them 3 years to get where they're at now.

What does the future hold for me?
Well keep my current site alive for starters. Create another site that deals with my other favorite hobby in order to help fund a brick and mortar version of it. This website also goes along with a business plan for the B&M version and will help get info of my product out there before I receive the funding for it. I also plan on doing one other site in a niche I have knowledge about.

Final thought?
Don't give up.

If you've come this far thanks for reading!