I took up a sort of a hobby of just hanging around the local library. I'd pick out an author and I would read all their books.
If I'm two pounds heavier, I'm fat. If I'm skinnier, I'm sick. It's ridiculous. And that's not coming from agents or designers.
One likes to think one grows as a writer as one ages, else all you get is an 'old' young writer. Beyond that is the changing landscape of the universe and the stories I choose to tell.