9 ways to sharpen your saw in 2025

Here are nine suggestions to reinvigorate your professional life this Summer.

Invest every day in your career. Think of investing in your career as if it were a 401(k) account. Do just one thing — even if it only takes 15 minutes — every day. But do something.

Keep learning. If you want to accelerate your career growth, then you’ll need to fill up your well with new insights and information. Consider obtaining a professional certificate, or at least consume books and articles, watch videos, attend seminars, and meet with other professionals on a regular basis.

Network outside your company. Learn more about a specific area such as content marketing or big data by attending a local Meetup. If you don’t see a Meetup meeting on a topic that you’d like to know more about, then start one yourself.

Network inside your company. Whether your job is with a small organization or Fortune 100 company, you probably work with fascinating people. Considering taking a coworker out for coffee to learn about them, their work, their views on the company and their career goals.

Volunteer. Volunteering is an excellent way to gather new skills and experiences that you might not get in the for-profit world. Opportunities abound: Look to your local professional association chapter, your faith community, your local school district or a nonprofit representing an issue about which you are passionate (such as protecting wilderness areas or building bike trails) and get involved.

Mentor others. Contact the college or university that you attended, or the college nearest your office, and offer to mentor a student in your profession. Or mentor a new professional in your field. I have started mentoring programs in enterprise and association settings, and the response is rewarding.

Enter an awards competition. Regardless of your profession, there are opportunities to showcase work you do. Creating and submitting an award entry is a great way to compare your work to that of other professionals.

Promote your expertise. Look for opportunities to experiment with getting your work out into the world. For example, look up examples of white papers online and write and share your own on LinkedIn, or start a blog, or consider pitching a story to an online publication.

Be grateful. Every day, write three things you’re grateful for. Sometimes we don’t need more, we just need to appreciate what we have.