Ever feel like everyone is clicking around on stuff, but no one is actually learning anything?

I threw this out on Twitter last week, “Imagine if you asked a surgeon, ‘What are the 5 best tips for operating on this patient?’ Why do we spend all day online doing equivalent?”

Really. Stop and think about this for a moment. We’re all just clicking, reading, clicking, reading, sharing, clicking, and reading. But, are we really learning anything?

Of course, I’m not suggesting that books, blogs (especially this one), and YouTube (minus the cat videos) aren’t valuable. Gaining knowledge is always valuable. But there’s something more valuable to your business… mastering skills.

I’m not talking “technician” skills like baking a pie or fixing a clogged pipe, although those may be important to your business as well. I’m talking about business skills. Such as…

  • Leadership – your ability to create a vision and inspire others to join you.
  • Sales – your ability to influence your customers to buy, not be sold.
  • Networking – your ability to relate to others and to connect, engage, and be liked.
  • Time Mastery – your ability to focus on your highest and best use, manage priorities, handle conflicting demands, and achieve harmony in what you do.
  • Negotiation – your ability to uncover complementary needs and reach mutually profitable agreements.

Business skills… are you dedicated to mastering them? Or are you seeking more information, tips, and the hottest trends? Information seekers always seem to be a step behind, while people who master skills keep crushing it.

Here’s what I’m going to encourage you to do. Pick a skill from above. It doesn’t matter which one, but preferably one you currently suck at. Now, go master it. Go embarrass yourself, fail, struggle. Work, work, work. Practice, practice, practice. Fail some more. Then, start getting good, get better, and master it.

And remember, information isn’t our problem. Application is. Get off of the Internet (after leaving a comment on this post of course :)) and get on with mastering skills.

What do you think? Are we seeking too much information at the expense of developing skills? Or am I just crazy? (Wait, don’t answer that last question.) Also, what other business skills should we be mastering? Share in the comments.