If you’re on the same side of Tik Tok as me, you may have noticed that its not just kids going back to school this year.
“Personal Curriculum” a trend that involves mapping out a monthly or quarterly learning plan based on your topics of interest, has become popular with women around the world highlighting a variety of topics that they are excited to dive into.
These curriculums include everything from classic literature to investing to making the perfect espresso martini. And I love everything about it!
Its a trend that caught steam after people came across a TikTok from Elizabeth Jean overviewing her personal curriculum and how she organizes what she’s learning. For the Type A girlies across the world, it was just the spark of inspiration needed to get back to what we love most - learning new things.
If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, here’s everything you need to know about the Personal Curriculum trend and tips for how you can apply it to your life.
There’s been some pretty creative topics already:
@ProfessionalCrashout (TikTok) is revisting her love of the french language.
@DrDestini (TikTok) gave me major nostalgia when she mentioned creating string key chains as part of her personal curriculum.
@AaronicaBColeCo (YouTube) is honing in on her sewing and pattern making expertise by going through some of the popular books for that field.
@OliviaNoles (YouTube) is focusing on personal styling this quarter, pairing a virtual color analysis and with a closest review to see what works best when she’s on camera.
If you’re struggling to think of topics, you can ask yourself:
What topics and activities were you most interested in as a child? What types of classes did you enjoy the most?
What are your future personal and career ambitions? What topics could you learn more about to move towards those goals?
What physical activities or hobbies have you been wanting to try?
The possibilities are truly endless!
Here’s a chart we made to provide a little inspiration. It doesn’t include everything that’s possible, but we hope it will get your creative juices flowing.
How much time should you dedicate each week?
I think you know the answer to this one…
Whatever works for you!
Depending on your work and personal commitments, you may only have a few minutes to dedicate towards your learning plan each day. The key is just staying consistent and not feeling guilty about how slow or fast you are moving through the curriculum.
💡If you’re excited about building your own personal curriculum, but not sure how much time you have to spend on it, it could be helpful to do a time audit. Through the audit you can identify how you are spending your time currently and if there is anything you wan to deprioritize to make more time for the things you want. Check out this free resources to get started.
What types of resources can you use?
Books are a great resource of course, but there are a variety of media formats and activities that may align with your particular topics of interest. Your curriculum could include:
Workbooks and Journals
Podcasts
YouTube Videos
Online or In-Person Courses
Mini Projects
In-Person Activities or Bootcamps
Research Articles
Social Groups
Films
Tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude can be helpful for helping you build out that initial curriculum. You may also be able to find a college syllabus online for more popular topics.
Once you map out your plan, tools like Libby and used bookstores can help you save money on resources. You may also be able to leverage things like your company’s education reimbursement program if you decide to take online courses.
💡Remember the plan doesn’t have to be perfect. Your personal curriculum topics and resources can change over time. It may be helpful to limit the amount of time you spend building the plan so you can dive in as soon as possible.
How can I make the most of what I’m learning?
Connect with others - What better way to make new friends that to find people who are already interested in the same topics as you! MeetUp groups are a great place to find people with similar interests. You can also create online content to help you find your tribe.
Apply what you learn - If you’re learning new cooking techniques you can try out a new recipe each Sunday. If you’re learning a new language or the history of a country, you could plan a trip there. You could even create your own article or video on the topic as way for you to synthesize what you have learned.
Keep notes - Whether you decide to keep a learning journal or track notes online, save your key findings and ideas in a central place that you can refer back to later.
How can I keep things fun?
Learn away from home - Studying in a new location can bring some novelty to to your learning time. Picture a slow weekend afternoon cozied in the corner of a local coffee shop, sweat treat in hand, a new book and a nice pen. PERFECTION. You can use your learning time to discover libraries and book stores, new parks, or even rediscover your own backyard or balcony if you haven’t been outside in a while.
Treat it like a new school year - There was always something special about the start of a new school year or semester. It felt like a chance to reinvent yourself - new school supplies, new clothes, new haircut (if you were lucky, one that did not involve bangs). But as an adult you don’t have as many of those moments to stop and think about what you want to learn and how you want to show up in the world. So why not treat each of your personal ‘semesters’ like a new school year? You can revisit your curriculum to confirm if it still aligns with your interests and how you prefer to learn. You can treat yourself to some new supplies like a cool journal, a nice coffee mug or a new tote bag to carry your library finds.
Celebrate Your Progress - Traditional school comes with so many ways to celebrate progress - the report card, the end of year pizza party, the big graduation celebration. Why not bring this fun spirit to your personal curriculum?
Visual rewards - Trackers can help you document your progress. You could create a photo journal with pictures highlighting the new things you try.
Tangible rewards - This could be something small like a new coffee mug, something related to the topic you’re studying, etc.
Experience rewards - Maybe your Spanish lessons end with a fun trip to a Spanish-speaking country or your marathon training can end with a fun race like Disney’s big Marathon weekend. Having a trip or event could be great motivation to keep you going and to celebrate how far you’ve come.
Social rewards - Teaching is a great way to cap of your learning. You could get your friends together to share what they’ve been learning over the month or find a local networking group that interested in the topic.
I love this idea of building a personal curriculum and continuing to learn about the topics that interest you. Its the perfect way to break free from constant doom scrolling and to tap back into the things that bring us joy.
What would you include in your personal curriculum? Are you planning on giving it a try? If so, tag us in your videos and articles, we can’t wait to see where this new learning adventure takes everyone.
