Personal Curriculum Ideas: How to Find Your Perfect Topic

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In this series of posts, I’m covering what a personal curriculum is, how to design one unique to you, personal curriculum ideas for skills to learn and topics to research, where to find high-quality educational content, and effective study tips for self-study as an adult with a busy life. 

When I started seeing the trend of the personal curriculum getting traction online, I knew I needed to write about it. Not only do I have a blog devoted to personal development, but my career is in adult education. It’s so great to see people active on social media taking a stand against “brain rot” and promoting things to do instead of doomscrolling. 

I previously provided a step-by-step guide to designing your perfect self curriculum. But before you get started with that, you’ll need a topic. Here, I want to delve into more detail about how to come up with research topics for your own personal curriculum. 

What Is a Personal Curriculum?

For more info, check out my introductory post on the personal curriculum for adults.  

In short, a personal curriculum for adults is a way to foster personal growth by designing an individualized and structured study path to explore a topic that interests you. Just like syllabi you had in school, it includes a schedule, readings and other resources, and assignments.  

Unlike courses you had in school, though, you create this curriculum, aligning it with your personal interests, your preferences, and your schedule.  

Basically, it gives structure to all those topics to research, skills to learn, and hobbies to try that you have in the back of your mind but never seem to make time for.  

It’s also a way to retrain your brain on how to focus and think deeply. Many of us have trouble with that after years of near-constant exposure to social media posts and shot-form videos. 

I’ve seen the personal curriculum attributed to TikTok creator Elizabeth Jean (@xparmesanprincessx). It became popular, as even TikTok viewers recognized the need to sometimes pull away from scrolling and apply yourself to intellectual pursuits. 

Personal Curriculum Ideas for Topics

My last post, a step-by-step guide to creating your personal curriculum, includes some details on how to choose a topic. In this post, my goal is to provide some concrete ideas to spark your imagination for potential topics. 

Some of you heard the term “personal curriculum” and immediately knew what topic you want to explore. If that’s you, skip ahead! 

For others, choosing can be a challenge. Maybe because they have no idea what to learn. Or because, like me, they have so many ideas that they can’t choose just one to focus on first. 

My advice to the latter group: It’s better to focus on one topic at a time. Remind yourself that you can keep exploring new topics, one at a time, for the rest of your life if you want. So, there’s no need to rush and try to do everything at once! That’s a recipe for failure and burnout. 

Types of Personal Curriculum Topics

In my view, there are 3 basic categories of personal curriculum topics: 

• Skills or knowledge that would be useful for your life/career 
• Skills or hobbies that you just think are fun 
• Interests you never have time to explore deeply 

Let’s dig into some personal curriculum ideas for each of those categories. 

1. Useful Skills or Knowledge

This category includes skills and knowledge that would benefit your life in a practical way. This may mean changing careers, making money through a side hustle, or just improving your quality of life.  

They may not be quite as fascinating to you as some other topics. But you recognize that they’d improve your life. And that’s sufficient motivation to complete a curriculum. 

Let’s look at some examples of both job skills and life skills that can benefit you.

Job Skills Personal Curriculum Ideas

• Graphic design 
• Advanced Excel functions 
• Basics of a coding language – Python, JavaScript, C# 
• Technical writing 
• Generative AI prompt writing 
• Digital marketing – SEO, social media 
• Data visualization – SQL, Tableau, Power BI 
• Persuasive writing 
• User experience (UX) design 
• Project management 
• Web development – WordPress, Wix, Squarespace 
• Foreign languages 
• Public speaking / presentations 
• Job application & interview skills 
• Leadership / people management 

Life Skills Personal Curriculum Ideas

• Personal finance 
• How to invest in the stock market 
• Cooking skills 
• Parenting techniques 
• Communication / interpersonal skills 
• Nutrition 
• Personal style – keys to dressing well 
• Makeup application 
• Interior design principles 
• Home repair basics 
• Car repair basics 
• Sewing 
• First aid 
• Sex education 
• Media literacy 
• How to exercise safely & effectively 
• How to save for retirement 
• Driving 
• Etiquette 
• Emotional regulation 
• Typing 
• Negotiation skills 

2. Fun Skills or Hobbies

This category is for fun skills to learn and hobbies to try. 

 The ideas above may or may not be your definition of “fun.” But they’re important for life nonetheless.  

On the other hand, maybe you’re in the mood to learn something just for fun. Maybe there’s a skill you’ve always admired in others. You can develop it yourself! All you need is time, structure, and discipline. 

Let’s look at some examples of personal curriculum ideas for adults who want to learn a skill for fun. 

Fun Skills Personal Curriculum Ideas

• Woodworking 
• Knitting 
• Embroidery 
• Crocheting 
• Ceramics 
• Pottery 
• Painting 
• Drawing 
• Musical instruments 
• Musical composition 
• DJing 
• Yoga 
• Creative writing 
• Pastry making 
• Cake decorating 
• Microbrewing 
• Birdwatching 
• Gardening 
• Photography 
• Quilting 
• Visual storytelling / video editing 
• Canning 
• Cocktail making / mixology 
• Candle making 
• Jewelry making 
• Origami 
• Calligraphy 
• Dancing 
• Soap making 
• Nail art 
• Bicycle customization 
• Digital art 

3. Intellectual Interests

This category really could include almost any topic. But I’ll provide some examples from different genres below. 

Just keep in mind that you’ll want to find topics that are not too broad and that you can reasonably learn on your own. If a topic would usually require a four-year degree, you might not want to tackle it for your three-month personal curriculum, for example. It should be more like a topic for one college-level course. Or even a topic for one long research paper. 

Here are some examples: 

History

*Note that I’m from the U.S. and my history topic suggestions may bit a bit Eurocentric. I’d love to hear other ideas in the comments! 

• Conflicts – World War II, The Peloponnesian Wars, the Crusades, etc. 
• Mythology – Greek, Egyptian, Norse, etc. 
• Your own family history/ancestry 
• History of a specific religion 
• The rise of an empire – Rome, Egypt, Mongolia, Aztec, etc. 
• A subgroup of people – women in Ancient Rome, Mexican Americans in the U.S., etc. 
• A civilization – the Vikings, the Mayans, the Minoans 
• Revolutions – French Revolution, Haitian Revolution, Arab Spring 

Literature

• Female Authors in the 18^th Century 
• African American authors of the 19^th Century 
• Gay & Lesbian literature of the 20^th Century  
• Social and political commentary in fantasy literature 
• Famous epics – Homer, the Epic of Gilgamesh, Beowulf 
• Storytelling in online games 
• The works of Shakespeare 
• Coming of age novels from different parts of the world 

Art

• Art of a specific region or culture 
• Renaissance art 
• Art history of various world religions 
• Modern & contemporary art 
• History of photography 
• Prehistoric art 
• History of anime 

Philosophy

• Metaphysics  
• Stoicism 
• Logic  
• How to argue 
• Ancient Greek philosophers 
• Mindfulness 
• Understanding science through the lens of philosophy 
• Ancient Chinese philosophers 
• Ethics 
• Bioethics 

Sociology & Anthropology

• Medical anthropology 
• Anthropology of a subculture – goths, “incels,” fandoms 
• Human rights frameworks 
• Anthropology of food 
• Sociology of deviance 
• Race relations in the U.S. 
• Sociology of gender identity 
• Influence of mass media in the 21^st century 
• Consumer culture in the 21^st century 
• Globalization and the creation of a global culture 
• Disability and identity 
• Culture-bound syndromes 

Psychology

• Psychology of serial killers 
• Psychology of decision making 
• Marketing psychology / how ads manipulate human behavior 
• Cognitive biases 
• Psychology of cults 
• Hallucinogenic substances  
• The science of happiness 
• Personality typology 
• Dopamine manipulation in the food industry 
• Effects of social media on the human mind 
• Representations of psychological dynamics in fairy tales 
• Understanding of neurodivergence throughout history 

Spirituality

• Astrology 
• Divination tools – tarot, runes, palmistry 
• Numerology 
• Dream analysis 
• Yoga as a spiritual practice 
• Reiki 
• Mysticism 
• Shamanism 
• Witchcraft 
• Myth & folklore for a specific culture or region 
• Crystals for energy healing 
• Paranormal experiences –  precognition, past-life memories, near-death experiences 

Science 

• Astronomy 
• Sustainability / how to reduce your environmental impact 
• Herbalism / medicinal uses of herbs 
• Forensic science 
• The science of well-being 
• Geology 
• Paleontology  
• Quantum physics (yes, there really are self-study guides for this) 

Film & Media Studies

• Representations of AI in film 
• How horror movie themes mirror current events & collective fears 
• Analysis of soundtracks in various genres 
• Depictions of mental illness in cinema 
• Portrayals of a particular group in cinema –racial minorities, transgender individuals, teenagers 
• Social impact of cinema in the 20^th century 
• Portrayals of good and evil in cinema 
• How streaming services are changing the film industry 
• Bollywood’s cultural impact 
• Representation of extraterrestrials in film 
• Moral themes in children’s television 

Health & Wellness

• Understanding the gut microbiome 
• Nutritional science 
• Chinese medicine 
• The circadian rhythm and sleep optimization 
• Nutrition for mental health 
• Nutrition & training for athletes 
• The obesity epidemic 
• Effects of GLP-1s on society 
• Keys to healthy aging 
• Findings of “blue zone” studies 
• Fad diets & their effects on culture  
• Deep dive into a chronic illness, its causes, and management 
• Science of skincare & delaying skin aging 

What Do You Think?

Hopefully the personal curriculum ideas above sparked some of your own things to research and hobbies to try. I’d love to hear your personal curriculum topics in the comments! 

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