What careers will meet the growing deficit of skills and talents in the coming years? What are the sectors? 

The way we work has already changed and the continuing evolution of technology will change the skills needed to obtain the best jobs over the next 5 years. 

Look to sectors that are being disrupted or will be disrupted. 

• Artificial Intelligence - Scientists like Trevor Darrell, a computer science professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said that in the next five or 10 years, the abilities of smart devices will multiply by orders of magnitude. Read More
• 3D Printing - “Today 3D printing is still perceived as a technology solution, but the future of 3D printing is as a business solution,” wrote Joe Allison, CEO of SDM. Read More
• Cloud Computing - “Cloud services are an explosive industry and the careers associated with cloud services have never been in more demand,” said Penland. “Cloud solutions require three items in order to be successful: a need, a service, and reliable Internet connections.” Read More
• Big Data - As an April report from technology market research firm Forrester put it, “Businesses are drowning in data but starving for insights.” Read More

This is the future of work, It has already started and moving forward with or without you. 

Today I watched a marketer pretend to be an educator. 

Online learning is never about passive income or get rich quick schemes, it's about value and offering courses that are more than just a well-produced lecture video. 

Here are three changes in online learning that are happening and will hopefully give us less of the online learning used car salesman.
 
1. Video focused based learning sites are less valuable to the learner and most do not complete the course

2. The most valuable form of learning is consumed through peer to peer social networks

3. Project-based learning online is becoming a powerful force in developing skills for success, essential knowledge, and understanding 
 
Just about every big online learning site and course instructor minimizes the importance of the last two.

I went to my temple the other day. Not a religious temple as most traditionally think, but my temple, the place where I feel inner peace, am able to reflect, think about life and study art, nature and history. 

That temple is the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I was able to bow to the Masters...Rembrandt, Homer and one of my favorites, John Singer Sargent.

Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation". Portrait painting allowed him to gain commissions to earn a livelihood. 

The show at the Met, Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends celebrated the non-commissioned portraits that showcased his skills as an artist who can master creating a work of art with just a few brush strokes. 

I took the day to study his work, first by observation and then by copying. By studying his work, I learned the following:

1. Know when to stop: Sometimes over analyzing or overdoing something might kill the spirit of the work or take away the spontaneity that makes it special.
2. Observation: Cultivate an ever-continuous power of observation. Wherever you are, be always ready to take notes. Store up in the mind without stopping a continuous stream of observations from which to make selections later. Test what you remember by doing it over and over again until you have got them fixed.
3. Step Back:  The subtleties of whatever you are working on must be controlled by continually viewing the work from a distance.  Stand back – get well away – and you will realize the great danger there is over overstating something. Keep the thing as a whole in your mind.

Although I love the detailed completed work, the real passion and enjoyment was the actual doing and creation of the work. 

I started to get wrapped up in the details and I noticed myself getting more anxious as the time went on. 

The goal was not perfection...but to learn, relax and enjoy my time creating. 

Even as I write this post to you the question I ask myself is: when is it good enough?

Over the past few years, I have signed up for online courses, watched videos, listened to Podcasts and attended talks. But my biggest learning experience has been through my PLN (Personal Learning Network).

A PLN is an informal global network of people that you personally choose to interact with online and share knowledge with. I have created my own personal learning network on multiple social media channels, become part of a Mastermind group and have found learning opportunities through many experts around the world.

For those of you that are interested in creating a PLN you might have been creating one already and not even have known it. How many of you are part of a Facebook group, chat daily on Twitter, connect on Linkedin and create & share Pinterest boards? Well some of these groups, boards and Twitter conversations are actually part of your PLN. 

Now don't get me wrong, some Facebook groups are not PLN's like the local group on Facebook for selling or swapping things, but I do have groups that I am part of around specific topics or interests. Here are some examples of my own PLN's:

• Facebook Groups: I am part of a few different Facebook groups that focus on a different topic or interest. For example; I am part of a Dad's Entrepreneurs Group, Choose Yourself Group and a Smart Passive Income Community Group. What's great about each group is that I can learn from others on different areas in my life that I need help in. By posting questions or just by helping someone else with their specific problem, I am able to build relationships with others that I can add to my network. The most important thing to remember is being part of the conversation and giving as much information as you can to help others. 
• https://www.pinterest.com/: There is super value to Pinterest boards for learning and connecting with others. Pinterest is easy for me to discover very specific topics that I want to learn about and the best part is, someone has already done the work and created boards for me. I can't tell you how many times I have found a very useful infographic, made personal connections and have found links to informative blogs, videos, and websites. 
• Twitter: I learned that Twitter doesn't work if you are not part of a conversation, asking questions or sharing resources and learning opportunities. Twitter is successful if you jump into a conversation and help bring value to it. For example there are multiple scheduled chats that I jump into, most recently I have been into James Altucher's weekly Twitter Chat on Thursday's at 3:30pm. I like asking James questions, but I also like to create a longer Twitter conversation and learning opportunity by jumping in on other people's questions, respond to a question or expand their question with another one for an even great learning opportunity. 
• Mastermind Group: This past spring I became part of a private Mastermind Group that grew out of a Facebook group. My Mastermind Group meets weekly and is made up of 3-5 people. Each week we meet and someone is the hot seat where that person's business is the focus. During the hot seat each person can ask questions, share what they are working on and most of all get new ideas and advice on anything that will help them move their business forward. Without the original Facebook group finding these specific people would have been impossible. I have made some lifelong relationships and have not only learned a lot, but I am inspired each week to do more.
• Blab, Periscope and Meerkat: I have not jumped into the  video networks Periscope and Meerkat yet, but from what I see there is huge potential in teaching, connecting and learning. I know of artists, chefs and musicians who have been killing it on these platforms and they not only share their knowledge but also learn from others and make bigger connections offline. Recently, I have been checking out Blab which is a video platform that reminds me of a video version of the old AOL chat rooms from back in the day. The connections and conversations have been inspiring and I can't wait to see the opportunities that all of these video platforms can provide to my PLN over the next few years.
• Linkedin: To be honest, I haven't really been heavily involved in using Linkedin for my PLN besides just reading some of the posts and connecting with others. There is just so many networks and so little time. If you have have been able to create a great PLN on Linkedin post in my comment section below and let me know what was most successful for you. 

These are examples of my personal PLN, you now have an opportunity to create your own individual PLN around your own interest, whether it is photography, business, marketing or furniture making. 

For me being a connected learner has been my greatest learning experience, I can't tell you how many times people have taught me something new or have given me advice, ideas and most of all have helped save me from wasting  a ton of time on ideas that  just weren't good. 

As seen in my list above, there are plenty of networks to connect on, just try not to overwhelm yourself and do them all. 

How do you learn best? Please leave a comment below and share a success story on a great self-learning experience that you have had?