How to Become Self Educated

Co-authored by Kari Samuels

Last Updated: February 9, 2023 References Approved

Can you educate yourself? Of course you can. It requires a willingness to learn, the self discipline to stay focused and a level of interest that exceeds the standard job mill education.

Part 1

Part 1 of 5:

Showing Curiosity

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Be curious. A curious mind seeks to be educated. By asking questions, you can find out a lot of things that many people don't know and won't ever know.^{[1]
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- There is no limit to how many questions you can ask, or should ask.
- Be aware that some people are annoyed by questions. In fact, the less a person knows, and the less patient a person, the more a question will bug that person. That in itself tells you a great deal.
2
Read, watch and see things that you don't know anything about. Try to expand your mind by learning beyond your comfort zone and seeing how other people think, perceive and understand things.^{[2]
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- If you only ever see rom-coms, go and see a documentary or an action film instead.
- If you only ever read comics, try a novel instead.
- If you only ever see car rallies, go and see a museum exhibition instead.
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3
Challenge yourself. Curiosity is about pushing yourself beyond what you're used to. There will be times when you feel really uncomfortable, out of your depth and perhaps even upset when trying to learn new things. This can happen especially where you feel dumb, unlearned or when your beliefs and values are challenged. These are the very times when you should keep pushing yourself to learn and to become wiser about whatever it is you've been avoiding.^{[3]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 5:

Improving the Basics

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Read English literature and improve your grammar as much as possible. Read English from different parts of the world, don't assume that authors from your own country are the only ones worth reading. By extending your reading to elsewhere in the world, you'll discover that even with one language, the thinking is diverse and the ways of seeing the world are wonderfully varied.
- When you feel more competent in this area, push into other languages. Realize that learning a language is about immersing yourself in another culture too.
2
Extend your learning beyond what school or college teaches you. If you're learning or have learned the basics in math, science and other subjects, find out what you've yet to learn and set about teaching yourself. There is much more beyond the basics and most of it will challenge you in much more interesting ways than your initial learning did.
- If you did badly at a subject, do not let this hold you back. Every brain is plastic and capable of being rewired to relearn things and to learn new things. Tell yourself that not being able to do math, chemical equations or spell are just things from the past that you can remedy in the present. Then set about doing so.
- Many textbooks for college and high school are useful starting points when teaching yourself or refreshing on the basics. Use these to get you on the right track, then extend your learning beyond them.
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Read daily. Without fail, always read something, and make it substantial.^{[4]
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- Read world history and learn about different cultures. Understanding history is a key to understanding the present. It is one of the finest ways of self-educating.
- Read about others who self-educate. You will get a lot of tips and ideas for how to continue your own journey of self-improvement.
4
Be self-disciplined. Self-education requires very good self-discipline. You won't have people chasing you to meet deadlines, to get the answers right or to do your studying. It's all down to you and you'll need to keep yourself motivated. In itself, developing self-discipline is a very crucial part of self-education.^{[5]
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American Psychological Association
Leading scientific and professional organization of licensed psychologists
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- The key to self-discipline is thinking big and starting small. If you try to do too much at once, you'll have a harder time succeeding. It's important to build healthy habits in small increments!

Part 3

Part 3 of 5:

Learning with Others

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Learn in concert with other people. There are many ways to do this, all while continuing to self educate:^{[6]
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- Associate yourself with educated people, groups, discussions.
- Join a course or college to get a degree or few certificates at least.
- Audit college level subjects. That means, no exams, just all pure learning. Soak it up.
- Attend conferences, seminars, talks, etc. Just being among other people can give you a buzz, all while learning.
2
Listen to senior citizens. They have lived through it all and have amazing memories of the things that were. You can, and will, learn a lot from them if you just take the time to sit with and listen to them.^{[7]
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Harvard Business Review
Online and print journal covering topics related to business management practices
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- Should you feel that what they tell you is old hat and odd, put aside your biases and really listen. There are authentic human things to learn from older people, regardless of where modern technology sits at any one time.
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Go online. Join a MOOC (multi-online open course) or similar online learning courses. Many of these are free and will really push your learning beyond the simple. You can even interact with other peers learning and get and give feedback.
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Observe the habits and behavior of educated people. Borrow from these people what you consider works well to improve the mind and understanding. Observe, learn, and apply what you see good from them.^{[8]
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Choose a leader to follow or to role model for your life. Who inspires you? Who has said and/or done things that really made you sit up and listen and want to do too? These are the people who make a difference in life and you can make use of their inspiration to further your own learning and relevance.^{[9]
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PubMed Central
Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
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Part 4

Part 4 of 5:

Learning Beyond the Basics

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Become more worldly about spiritual beliefs. Self educating yourself in religion is an important way to understanding the deepest beliefs and feelings of humanity. Aim to learn all that you can about every religion and show all faiths respect.
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Learn to be a good and thorough researcher. Research unearths many answers but many people do not have the patience or tenacity to be good researchers. This skill is a great one to develop, as it will empower you to find out many things, from the simplest (such as what time the library stays open until on the weekends) to the most complex (why do stars die?). But all the in between stuff matters too, the things that make the wheels of everyday life turn, such as resolving neighbor disputes over property lines, knowing how to get the local government to fix broken playground equipment and learning how to get an audience with your government representative. Knowing how to research the answers will give you a lot of handy answers to those questions that the curiosity you've been asked to cultivate with bring forth.^{[10]
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- When researching or finding out something new, if you ever have the question "why" or something related to that to a particular subject, then search up on it.

Part 5

Part 5 of 5:

Using Your Self Education

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Try to behave like an educated person, no matter how you feel. Try to act, then learn from your failures.
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Share your knowledge. Make people aware that you know things through the way in which you converse and the way in which you interact with your fellow citizens. By being an informed and active citizen, you can make a positive difference to everyday lives and may even get engaged enough to help push through changes within your own community.^{[11]
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