In watching my kids and the various sports teams they are involved with, one thing is apparent: the athletes that put in extra time to develop their skills fare better in the game.
Some of the athletes on the team rely solely on scheduled practices to get them ready for the game. In other words, they do what is required and not much beyond that.
In contrast, the "high performers" on the team tend to do more than that, such as practicing skills & drills on their own time, doing conditioning and weights to strengthen themselves, etc. These “extra” activities make those players better athletes in general and you can see that in their performance on the field (and they also tend to experience fewer injuries).
There is something to be learned there about business, too. Are you a “show up for practices and games” kind of person, or do you work on your skills, conditioning, and other aspects of self-improvement away from work?
For me (while I’m not always consistent about it), this kind of extra conditioning involves reading, attending webinars / seminars, benchmarking with other people to share skills, and things like that. It also involves trying out different skills in other environments such as some of the scouting, church, and other teams I’m involved in (it’s much safer to try out a new “influencing others” play in volunteer roles, and it can be fun).
What about you? How do your sharpen your saw away from work? If you have any best practices to share I’d love to hear them.