How to Improve in Visual Storytelling Skills

Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time to read this post. It is greatly appreciated!

I've recently been consuming more narrative media as of late and comparing it to my own works (minus looking at quality and budget) and noticing how much information one shot or a sequence can convey. I think I have fallen victim of focusing more on the technical side of things rather than the creative, and this is something I would like to quickly rectify before I develop bad habits. What are some ways of improving/practicing visual storytelling ability? How do you transfer those lessons learned into productions? We work in a visual medium and I want to push my cinematography past "just looking good". Any wisdom on this topic would be greatly appreciated, thank you again.