/lit/ - Literature

How do you know if your writing is good enough to pursue as a career?
I post in /crit/ threads and people seem to like it, but I don't know if it's actually good enough to pursue further than a hobby.
I submitted to some journals and things, I'm yet to hear back from them.
My English teacher in my last year of high school asked if I ever considered getting published after she read one of my short stories. I laughed at the time but she seemed disappointed that I hadn't even considered it possible. Was I right to think it an unrealistic goal?

I buy secondhand whenever possible. It's way way cheaper and my local bookshop is super comfy. Only time I buy new is when I really can't find something, which is unfortunately more often than I'd like.