The best investment you can make is one in yourself.

Specifically, when you spend time or money into doing something that you’ve always wanted to do in the effort to gain a new skill (or experience).

It is almost universal among people that we all want to learn something.

Some want to learn a new language.

Others would love to learn computer programming.

The list really could go on.

Sadly many of us don’t pursue these desires, for a variety of reasons. Most of the time it comes down to “lack of time”.

Finding the right time and place to take a seminar or in-person course is not always easy to do.

Luckily there is another option: taking the course virtually.

Distance learning is a where elearning thrives. You can access your course content from anywhere at your own convenience.

That is certainly nothing new. People have known about elearning for quite some time now.

But one of the biggest challenges when taking an online course is motivation.

And this is something that many people are not aware of: elearning has evolved over the years so you’re not so much “on your own”.

At the very least most courses will come with an online forum where you can network with other students.

This is what the popular program Coursera uses, as well as others like Udemy and DuoLingo.

But then there are those that take it a step further by implementing badges, points, and other gaming elements which really helps to maintain your interest.

True, there is no substitute for person-to-person contact in a live training session – elearning will never replace that experience.

However if you are holding off on taking an online course because you think elearning is boring and not motivating, then you owe it to yourself to have another look in 2016!