I have been playing now for thirty years. After that much playing I have made many discoveries and I will share one or two of them with you here...
1: Listen.
Listen to the music that moves you. For my money, music is far more than the raw technique of the fingertips and much more about what is in your heart. The music that moves you will also inspire you to make your own. Music is not made with hands. It is made much deeper inside you.
Emulate players you like to listen to. Copy a phrase here and a phrase there and incorporate them into you own playing from time to time.
2: Just breathe
It's not about the "chops". A great solo is not always about shredding out 96 notes per bar and setting your fretboard alight with the friction. Have a listen to Steve Lukather's solo in a song off Toto-IV called I Won't Hold You Back. (phew! Really showing my age there eh?) That solo is as simple as falling off a log but packs so much power even in its simplicity.
I can walk into any guitar shop in Sydney and there will be a fifteen year old kid who could blow me away technically but it will be at least another ten years before he gets beyond the technique and learns to play real music.
I could go on and on and on but if you get a hold of these two concepts, it will really help you become the player you are and not the player you necessarily thought you'd be.