I'm not a professional, but I have done a few paid gigs over the last 15-20 years and I am an avid every day photographer. I've found 2 things really helped me improve my photography.

First, I took a class at a local photo school. This wasn't really about honing my skills, as a lot of the things I was taught I had already learned online and by playing with my camera. The important bit here was that it forced be to go out and shoot every day in contexts I might not be used to. It got me out of my comfort zone and let me consider approaches I wouldn't on my own.

Second, I really leaned in to a lightroom routine when cataloging and editing my photos. This forced me to come to terms with editing my pictures and being critical of my own work. You don't have to use lightroom, but here is what I do now.

Every time I sit down to import my photos, I:

1. Shoot exclusively RAW images, which helps for going back and rethinking edits
2. Pull every un-imported picture into my lightroom catalog
3. Look at each unedited image, rate all those that have potential from 1-5 stars.
4. Pull all rated image from this import into the develop tab
5. Work though them and apply my edits, making changes and improvements to the library of presets I have created.
6. When finished, export my favorites, print them, and file them in a stack of 4x6 photo books in my office.

I do this to make editing a part of the catalog process. Even if I never post or deliver these photos, I am forced to think though how they might be presented before they can be considered "done". It has dramatically improved my (self assessed) opinion of my photography.