You can find valuable advice by attending a User Group meeting but have you ever given thought to asking someone to actually help you improve your IT skills? Professional athletes have coaches, as do actors, singers and even writers (actually they are called editors). Why couldn't IT people have a coach?
My guys get asked a lot to "bless" a setup...a second set of eyes that checks out a new deployment. That's one way to add a "coach" to your routine. Another idea is the old "Personal Board of Directors" where you formalize a group of people you look up to to help guide your career. That's less skill specific but you can always grab a coworker and create mini-competitions among yourselves as a way to keep sharp.
A great article on the subject of professional coaches was in The New Yorker last month. It was written by a surgeon who decided he needed a coach. Not a bad idea!
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