SEO is by no means hard, but if you know nothing about it, it may seem confusing. If you want to learn the basics of SEO have a look at my signature link.
yup, u have to work hard to achieve anything. and patience is the key in not only seo, but in a lot of other fields as well.
I would say its hard to achieve good results. The online space is competitive in markets where there is money to make.
Hard work and determination will lead to success. These are qualities that everyone should have and are not hard to practice.
I am new to SEO and believe it or not, I am nursing graduate with my local license of course. I find SEO and Google very interesting that help me get motivated in doing SEO techniques. All i can say is that its tedious work (depending on the competition) and not that hard. All we have to do is strive more harder, wait patiently for results and be happy about it.