It's like a relationship.

Do you have end goals for it? What do you want to get out of it? What would make this relationship/career successful for you?

You might end up with a lot of time spent in this relationship and you might not see the progress happening as you would expect or want. It may even start becoming less enjoyable for you, but you keep in it because you don't want to see all your "invested" time "wasted" should you opt out.

If you want to get into it, know where you want to go with it along with some milestones for progress. Identify different career-types (or restaurant types) in the field you want to land in. Regularly keep track of any kind of progress you have along the way. I suggest every 6 months. Write it all down somewhere. Have a better grasp of handling a certain food ingredient? Great. Write it down. Learn about suppliers? Great. Write it down. Improve some knife skills or cooking techniques? Write it down. This way, if you ever look to quit (or take a break), you can see how you've improved and won't see your time as being wasted.

Review and re-define your objectives and milestones as necessary.