Great Blog post on Cameron Fielding's blog "Flip" about making the leap from actually being an animator as opposed to just animation itself. Below are a few key points that I directly fed from.

"I still needed some "acting" on my demo reel and to do this I had to really work hard. I would get up at 4:50 am every week day, make some coffee, and work on a shot from 5am until 7am. Not only was it hard because it was early, but more so because it was only 2 hour sessions, and it was difficult to get "into the shot" and get a groove going. I did this for about 3 months and completed the "smoking girl" shot on my demo. The key thing here is that you usually have to go out of your way to do at least some kind of extra work in your own time that you need for your demo... 99% of the time you don't get everything you need at the day job. The sad truth is that people get screwed by this because they get stuck in a job where they can't animate what they need, and they don't do any work in their own time to remedy that... don't be a victim!"

"Be willing to take a risk even if it seems insane.
Expand your skill set outside of animation.
If you can't do it at work - you have to do it in your own time.
You can't decide if moving overseas is the right thing or not by sitting on the couch and thinking about it.... you only know by doing it.
Ask lots of questions and don't be afraid to ask for more.
enjoy the ride."