There’s a reality I’ve been circling these days: I’m bored with attempting to be my “finest self.” Someplace between the micro-habits, the stacks of self-help books, and the infinite discuss of optimization, wellness began to really feel much less like care and extra like efficiency. I’ve caught myself questioning, virtually sheepishly: Has wellness gone too far? And the uncomfortable reply I hold coming again to is sure.
I don’t need to optimize my life anymore—I need to stay it. To really feel curious, expanded, and impressed, not continually polished. As a substitute of perfecting my routine or hacking my habits, what I crave is one thing more true: enlargement, not effectivity. Depth over self-discipline. Studying not as a result of I ought to, however as a result of it makes me really feel awake once more.
A Private Curriculum for Residing Absolutely
That’s why, after I stumbled throughout the thought of a private curriculum, it felt like an exhale. Not one other system to beat or follow to grasp, however a return to the best impulse: following what fascinates me. Exploring concepts, books, and expertise as a result of they spark one thing—not as a result of they promise to make me higher.
I’ve at all times believed curiosity is my biggest superpower. I don’t faux to have every part found out (removed from it), however my intuition to comply with what lights up my thoughts has by no means led me flawed. It’s stored me versatile, hopeful, and related by means of each chapter of my life.
Studying for pleasure—not perfection—expands us in methods achievement by no means can.
A New Method to Develop This Season
This winter, as an alternative of setting targets, I’m designing a syllabus—one constructed not round productiveness, however round pleasure, curiosity, and aliveness. A private curriculum isn’t about turning into somebody new. It’s about returning to components of your self that felt pushed apart below the load of self-optimization.
So in the event you’re feeling the identical pull, right here’s what a private curriculum actually is, and how one can create one which looks like a deep breath as an alternative of a guidelines.
What Is a Private Curriculum?
A private curriculum is strictly what it seems like: your individual self-directed “course” within the topics and concepts that spark one thing inside you. It’s a follow rooted in curiosity reasonably than achievement—a return to studying for the pure, unpolished pleasure of it.
Possibly this appears like a month immersed in poetry, a season spent studying to bake bread, or a quiet stretch learning philosophy or pictures. No efficiency. No measuring. Simply the sluggish, regular thrill of following what feels nourishing proper now.
In a tradition obsessive about progress, a private curriculum lets us be college students of life once more—curious, playful, open. Not striving, however increasing. Not attaining, however awakening.
Why It’s the Antidote to Winter Burnout
Winter invitations a distinct tempo. The sunshine softens, routines blur, and our our bodies ask us to show inward. However as an alternative of honoring that, we frequently attempt to outrun it with plans, resolutions, and productiveness binges.
A private curriculum meets winter the place it’s. It provides us a strategy to keep engaged—not by means of urgency, however by means of inspiration. Burnout comes from output with out replenishment. A private curriculum is replenishment, reminding us that progress doesn’t should seem like striving. Typically it appears like paying consideration.
Discover What You’re Curious About
Step one isn’t planning—it’s noticing. Curiosity reveals up as a tug: a e-book you retain choosing up, a recipe you’ve saved 3 times, a subject you analysis late at evening.
Ask your self:
- What am I drawn to, with out attempting?
- What concepts or matters hold resurfacing?
- What looks like nourishment, not obligation?
- What would make me really feel extra alive to find out about?
Begin there. Your curiosity is already pointing someplace—your job is solely to comply with it.
Create Your Personal Private Curriculum
As soon as you’re feeling that spark, give it construction—sufficient to assist it, however not a lot that it feels inflexible. Suppose readability and rhythm, not guidelines.
1. Select 1–2 themes
Depth, not breadth. Let this season be about one or two significant threads. Examples could possibly be: poetry, seasonal cooking, philosophy, pictures, artwork historical past, or nature examine.
2. Choose your studying codecs
When you’ve chosen your themes, determine how you need to be taught. A significant private curriculum blends enter and expression—absorbing concepts, then partaking with them. Take into consideration selecting one format from every class:
Enter
- Learn (books, essays, Substacks)
- Watch/Pay attention (lectures, documentaries, podcasts, talks)
Motion
- Apply (writing, cooking, pictures, sketching, language)
- Expertise (museum visits, nature walks, workshops, lessons, conversations)
Reflection
- Journal or voice memo
- Finish-of-week notes on what moved you or sparked one thing
The magic is within the stability: be taught ? do ? mirror. It retains your curiosity alive and helps your studying really stick. Let concepts are available in, transfer by means of you, and remodel you—that’s the place progress actually lives.
3. Set a delicate rhythm
A private curriculum involves life by means of rhythm. This appears like small, constant touchpoints that assist curiosity change into a part of each day life. Select easy anchors you’ll be able to look ahead to, like:
- Sunday morning studying ritual
- One winter stroll every week to note mild, stillness, and seasonal change
- One new recipe on the weekend
- A month-to-month artistic or cultural outing (a museum go to, workshop, bookstore browse, movie, writer discuss, and so on.)
The aim isn’t to fill your calendar—it’s to create moments you come to.
4. Keep versatile
Your pursuits will shift as you discover. That’s not a failure, it’s a part of the method. If a theme stops inspiring you, pivot. If a brand new curiosity begins tugging, comply with it. A private curriculum isn’t meant to lock you in; it’s meant to maneuver with you.
5. Mirror weekly
Take a while on the finish of every week to examine in with your self. You don’t want a spreadsheet or a journal routine — only a second of sincere noticing.
Ask your self:
- What sparked one thing in me this week?
- What felt nourishing or significant?
- What do I need to discover extra subsequent week?
Concepts to Discover
Consider these not as duties, however invites—small methods to comply with your curiosity in on a regular basis life. Select one or two that really feel thrilling or just fascinating. Let inspiration, not stress, be the information.
Creativity: Research a brand new poet every month, annotate one poetry assortment, weekly free-writes or journaling
Meals: Deep dive into one delicacies, be taught foundational winter methods (broth, braise, bread), host a comfortable dinner to share your studying
Philosophy and self-inquiry: Select one thinker or college of thought, learn one textual content slowly—a chapter at a time, hold a pocket book for questions + concepts
Artwork and visible examine: Choose an artist or motion, go to a museum or gallery as soon as a month, sketch or {photograph} what evokes you
Nature and seasonal consideration: Study winter vegetation or constellations, stroll the identical route weekly to note modifications, hold a easy nature pocket book
House: Research one design philosophy or period, create small seasonal vignettes, discover and elevate one on a regular basis second (a candle at dinner, a bedside vase of flowers, thoughtfully plated meals)
The Great thing about Studying for Studying’s Sake
Winter provides us the present of slowness—an opportunity to ease off the accelerator and switch inward, not in retreat however in gentle enlargement. A private curriculum honors that rhythm. It reminds us that progress doesn’t solely occur by means of achievement. It blooms in curiosity, play, and the act of paying consideration.
As you progress by means of the season, let your pursuits information you. Choose up the books that tug at you, comply with a recipe that feels comforting, or stroll simply to note winter mild on the timber. Let your studying be private and your tempo be type. There’s no end line—only a path ahead.
Right here’s to a winter of rediscovering the enjoyment of studying.
