I decided to jump into the business head first over a year ago, dedicated half a year towards saving up capital, building upon a decade of landlord knowledge/experience, and networking.  

The same habit, different age, different collection.The rest of it is dedicated work, which is a prerequisite for most business endeavors. 

Keep using that same dedication you showed with the diabetes on REI and you WILL succeed, no matter how many obstacles you have to overcome :) Now for a little advice... like some others have already suggested, finding a side hustle is a great way to build some extra income.  

When do I wake up/go to bed, how many hours a week do I dedicate to my short/medium term tasks, developing other skill sets that I will need along the way, ectWhen I reach a short term goal I reevaluate where I stand and if I have learned anything that has changed my desired destination.

obsessed,  a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.

In your case I’m sorry but you can not circumvent dedication perseverance and the work required to achieve this .

When you invest, time, money and sweat in a project, your focus and dedication are all in the same place and learning can be accelerated.....as they said, experience is your best teacher. 

I've been a lurking member for 7 months  & will soon (July) have much more time to dedicate in the direction of financial freedom.  

@Rich Vogel, certainly my pleasure you earned the praise through your hard work, dedication and grind! 

Or a hungry agent without a ton of personal listings and could dedicate more time to you.I’d recommend asking other investors in your area for referrals.