The basis for the company I am forming is simple.

Pensions are a relic of the past. Your 401(k) puts the responsibility of managing your retirement in your hands.

The same thing is happening with jobs.

Call it freelancing if you want, but that feels like a narrow description of the future of work. The future is income generation. We will soon rely on ourselves to generate money. Staff jobs are disappearing. Machines are replacing people in many categories of work. This is going to fundamentally alter the economic system in America.

YouTube is a peek into the future. You upload a video and make a deal with Google. As your content generates views, you get paid (a little). It’s not enough to live on, but it’s a start. You have value, and the stuff you know and can contribute has value, to a company or another person.

You can start practicing for the future now, by doing things you already love – for someone else.

Read the USA Today article and see how it works.

John Scott is the career services manager and instructor at the School of Multimedia Communications, Academy of Art University, San Francisco. @johnscottsf 

50+ ways to get out of the career rut: John’s latest book, “You. Employed.” Get the eBook