I can't remember where I first read this, but one basic piece of advice I've carried in my head for at least three decades is "if you want to be good at something, find a person who is good at that thing, and then do what they do"
This helped me a lot in my first few jobs, i.e. identify a person who is successful and well respected, get to know them and try to do things the way they do.
Works in school too -- if you want to do well, do what the successful students are doing. Usually boils down to pretty simple stuff, e.g. studying a lot more.