Ways to Educate Yourself Without a Formal Education

If you’ve looked at any of my blogging posts, it’s pretty apparent I’m a bit lost at the moment. I don’t know what I want in life, and I have a bad habit of comparing myself to others, which social media only exacerbates.

I’ve gotten into a monotonous daily habit: go to work from 9-5, go home, eat, watch tv, sleep, repeat. It’s boring, and one day I asked myself if this was it. Is this what life is like after college? Is this what I’ve been working most of my life towards? I couldn’t help wondering if this was all my life would be for the next 6 decades. I viewed my life as this long string of boring days, and I refused to believe it. This is the only life I get to live, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend it going to work all the time and maybe popping out a few kids along the way.

I started thinking of ways I could keep growing as a person and keeping myself educated. I googled various ways to self-educate, and since those were very general and not a personal list, I decided to make my own. I began asking myself hard questions. What do I want in life? What do I want to understand more of in this world? How can I continue educating myself without getting more formal education? If you’ve asked yourself these questions, I feel you. Over time, I made a list of plausible activities for me to do. This is NOT a bucket list. These are all things I can accomplish in my daily life to improve my overall quality of life, most of which in the comfort of my own home. Each week, I will choose only a handful of these activities to do so that it won’t become another boring routine for me.

My goal is to ultimately become more cultured, educated, and improve my overall health, especially mental. I’m even more happy that I’m not in a relationship while I’m trying to do this. Relationships can be amazing, but I know that I need to focus entirely on myself at this point in time.

Below you’ll find my list. I tried to keep it reasonable and doable for myself. If you’re inspired by my list, feel free to make your own. You don’t need to pay thousands of dollars to become cultured and educated. It just takes initiative on your part, and you can do anything you set your mind to.

MONTANA’S PERSONAL GROWTH LIST

• Watch one critically-acclaimed scripted film
• Watch one documentary
• Read a classic novel
• Read a fun book (a favored genre)
• Watch a TED talk every day
• Listen to one audio book
• Write one short story or poem
• Watch free online lectures about a subject I don’t know (Coursera is the website I signed up for, but there are others available)
• Sketch one image
• Listen to one podcast episode
• Read the Bible and finish a devotional every day (devote 30 mins to this)
• Exercise for 30 minutes every day
• Write a letter to someone every day (I personally don’t plan on sending mine, but it’s entirely up to you)
• Write 2 blog posts
• Go to a new restaurant
• Go to a new place around town
• Read a self-help book
• Explore meditation and yoga techniques/styles
• Start and finish a DIY project

I hope my list has piqued your interest, maybe even inspired you, and if any of you have suggestions to add, please comment and let me know!