Patience?

[Tan-Sau]

Okay, so here's what's happening: I've been drawing anime characters since I was in the sixth grade, and recently, I've been finding myself rushing to improve my drawing skills. I often plan these practice schedules with unrealistic expectations and end up scrapping them because I'm not sure if what I'm doing is right or not (I even bought a calendar for that exact reason). And as for my character drawings, I can't even stand to look at them because they look the same; there has been no change since I was in high school. My drawings still look like the stuff you'd find on deviantART. Don't get me wrong, I'm starting to like drawing from life, but (at the risk of sounding like a spoiled kid) real life bores me. What I really want to do is draw cartoons, and I know I have to study from life, but the idea of it taking a long time to reach the level I want kinda adds to the frustration. I'm not really sure if what to even ask here, so here are my questions:

1. How can I enjoy drawing from imagination knowing my art's not very good?

2. Is there any way of becoming more patient?

I'm sorry if I come off as some whiner, but I'm tired of this repeating itself, and I really want to improve.