I may be wrong, but it sounds like you may be frustrated about not making progress as fast as you would like, and are questioning how long it took others to get up to speed.
If so, I think the real question you (all of us) need to be asking, is "how do I get to 1000 the fastest?"
For me, I spent most of last year (my first year playing) shooting right around 800, then I met Eric McCabe, and he gave me some really good advice on how to manage my game. The last tournament of the year, I shot an 825, and I have a tournament coming up in a couple of weeks in which I am shooting for 850. To get there, I need to work on the upshot part of my game, as that is where I had the most problems at the last tournament.
Everyone gets there at their own pace, and I bet that some of the top guys got there really quick, and others had to work a lot harder, and longer, to get there. Figure out the weakest part of your game, and go work on it. When that becomes your strongest part, find your next weakest part and work on it.
Good luck!