Patrick, I think you've got an excellent attitude towards the art of magic, so my advice would be to trust your instincts. A bit vacuous as advice goes, sure, but I don't think you really need a lot of guidance. Having said that, though, while I'm writing a post, I might as well share a couple of suggestions based on mistakes I've made and learned from in the past.
First off, be clear and honest with yourself about what the ultimate goal is. Is it to make a living from your creations, to earn the respect of your peers, to just have fun, a combination of those, or is it something else entirely? If you can get a simple, one-sentence summary of your overall aim then the way to proceed will probably clarify automatically. When you're absolutely sure what the end point of the journey is, then each fork in the road becomes a lot easier to manoeuvre.
Second off, when deciding what your ultimate ambition is, don't sell yourself short. You want to do something that sounds impossible? Not a problem. There was a first person to perform a centre deal, a first person to freedive over a hundred metres, a first person to walk on the moon.
On the more practical, business side of things, I have three small pieces of advice. One is to never release your best stuff. In other words, always have a few things that you hold back and are the next step up, and only release those when you've got something even better. Second is to never announce something until it's a fait accompli. Don't get people excited about a new move, project, routine, etc. until it's in the can, edited, done and dusted and nothing can possibly stop you delivering on your promise. And third is to not get precious about your work. Yes, magic is an art, but ideally, every six months you should be able to look back on what you did six months ago and laugh at how amateur and terrible it was. That way, you'll know you're progressing.
A few thoughts, randomly collated, and I hope they're at least partially useful. Good luck!
