DESIGN YOUR

Clear-Minded
the
OWN
Creative

CURRICULUM

A Clear-Minded Creative Publication

By Milo McLaughlin
 Design Your Own Curriculum

Invest in Yourself
Welcome to Design Your Own Curriculum, the 2nd The internet in particular
microguide in the Career Masterplan for Mad Geniuses means we can learn pretty
series. much anything we want to,
without paying extortionate
In Refresh Your Mindset I talked about how university fees and ending
Clear-Minded Creativity means being flexible. up in thousands of pounds/euros/dollars of debt.

The world is changing fast, especially the world of work. It also means we can learn specific skills in a short
Much of this is to do with advances in technology. amount of time, and combine all manner of skills and
knowledge, giving us a unique combination which we can
The Clear-Minded Creative needs to keep up, or offer the world.
preferably be ahead of the curve.
You and your creativity are your most important asset -
We also understand that there’s much more to life and so it’s time to take your potential seriously and invest in
our own definition of success than what’s on the syllabus yourself.
at educational institutions.

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

Contents
p, 4 Too Cool for School p. 26 The Power of Books

p, 7 The Lie of Higher Education p. 28 The Online Education Revolution

p. 11 The Judge Dredd Guide to Finding Time p. 32 Keeping Up With The Cutting Edge

p. 12 Get a Beducation p. 34 The Library In Your Pocket

p. 14 Focus! p. 35 Amazing Online Resources for CMCs

p. 15 Go Deep p. 37 Level Up

p. 17 Project-Based Learning p. 39 Trad Ed Ain’t Always Bad for Grads

p. 18 Honing a Craft p. 41 Conclusion

p. 20 Choosing a Direction p. 42 About Clear-Minded Creative

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Too Cool for School
 Design Your Own Curriculum

It’s time to get angry. A similar argument is put forward by Sir Ken
Robinson, the author of Out of Our Minds:
Our education systems are broken, and those of Learning to be Creative and The Element: How
us who are primarily creative have suffered our Finding Your Passion Changes Everything,
whole lives as a result.
In his TED talk on how schools kill creativity
I saw Brené Brown, author of Daring Greatly, Robinson says that “creativity is as important in
speak at the 2012 World Domination Summit education now as literacy and we should treat it
(WDS2012). with the same status”.

She talked about how children, though naturally However he argues that public education systems
creative, were hitting a ‘creativity slump’ at around are still based on an outdated goal - to meet the
4th and 5th grade (9-11 years old). needs of industrialism. This meant that those
subjects considered most important for that kind of
At this age, children start to feel shame, and the work are given priority, and:
criticism of teachers, parents and peers, whilst
perhaps well-meaning, only makes this worse. “You were probably steered benignly away from
things at school when you were a kid, things you
But as Brown says, that no-one should have the liked, on the grounds that you would never get a
right to tell a child at that age that they’re “not job doing that”.
creative”.

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

In addition to this, academic ability has become Watch Brene Brown talk about the power of
synonymous with intelligence, despite the fact that it is vulnerability:
only really useful in terms of a career if you intend to
become a college professor.

“And the consequence is that many highly talented,

brilliant, creative people - think they’re not. Because the
thing they were good at at school wasn’t valued, or was
highly stigmatised.”

He says however that this is now “profoundly mistaken”

because “the whole world is engulfed in a revolution”.
Watch Sir Ken Robinson: School Kills Creativity:
“In the next 30 years, according to UNESCO, more
people worldwide will be graduating from education
than since the beginning of history” he says.

Making that expensive, time-consuming degree worth a

whole lot less than it used to.

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The Lie of Higher Education
 Design Your Own Curriculum

The Personal MBA is a book by Josh Kaufman seem to be doing pretty well for themselves.
which distils the business knowledge he has learnt
from his own experience and the many books out Chris Guillebeau describes his decision not to take a
there on the subject. PhD in his first book, The Art of Non-Conformity:

Kaufman believes traditional business degrees aren’t “It all started with the observation that my MA Thesis
necessary and may actually be harmful. According was read by a grand total of three people. Each of
to him, they are extremely expensive to pay off, the them said nice things about it, but the audience was
concepts and practices they teach are often out-dated, extremely limited.
and studies have shown that they don’t guarantee a
good job or a decent income. By contrast, an online manifesto I published around
the same time was downloaded (and presumably
He says - “Instead of spending huge sums of money read, or at least glanced at) by more than 100,000
to learn marginally useful information, you can spend people in the first six months of publication.”
your time and resources learning things that actually
matter. If you’re ready and able to invest in improving OK, so Chris is better at reaching such a large
your skills and abilities, you can learn everything you audience than most of us.
need to know about business on your own, without
mortgaging your life for the privilege.” Just over 200 people so far have downloaded the
Career Masterplan for Mad Geniuses Micro-Guide,
Many bloggers/entrepreneurs are promoting this so I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, but at least
‘educate yourself’ mantra, including James Altucher, SOMEONE (that’s you) is reading what I write!
Chris Guillebeau and Penelope Trunk - all of whom

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

And of course it’s a well known fact that many of great deal of thought because it’s what’s expected of
the most successful business people didn’t even go us immediately after we leave school.
to college/university or dropped out, including Steve
Jobs, Bill Gates and Richard Branson. I started my degree just before I turned 17. I mainly
chose the course I did because the college was in
In his book The Education of Millionaires, Michael Edinburgh and I wanted to leave home in Northern
Ellsberg interviews some other people who have Ireland and come somewhere there were more gigs
become very rich without high-faluting qualifications, (which was the case back then). Plus there was a
and his conclusions are pretty damning about higher picture of a pretty girl with a videocamera in the
education in general: college prospectus. Such was my decision-making
prowess at the time.
“When many people are getting into $100,000 of
unsecured debt at the outset of their adult lives, with Indeed, Ellsberg points out the insanity of blindly
no easy way to get out relative to their salaries, pursuing education for education’s sake at such a
something has gone terribly wrong.” tender age.

Now it seems that education in general is more “People make mistakes, and they should be given
expensive in the US than it is in the UK and Europe, a second chance in life. Yet we as a society have a
but let’s face it, any debt and wasted effort is to be strange blind spot around this concept; we (meaning
avoided. adult society at large, including parents, teachers,
politicians, and media pundits) more or less corral
The worrying part is that many of us sign up to our adolescents into taking on massive amounts of
expensive and time-consuming courses without a unsecured debt to pursue a college education”.

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

He interviews Peter Thiel, who cofounded PayPal and Ellsberg says: “In this increasingly unpredictable
has started a fund for young people who drop out of and chaotic world, the wisest choice for thriving
college to start a businesses instead. Thiel told him: and flourishing is to focus your efforts on cultivating
skills, habits, and ways of being that will work for
“I think it’s very hard to know what people want to you under a wide range of market circumstances
do over 20 years... even in these limited cases where and economic realities, and which will allow you to
college is actually an investment, it only works if you bounce back and adapt to changes, shifts, shocks,
actually do that career... crashes and new opportunities as they arise...

You are constraining the kinds of choices you make ..Our education system as it stands, from kindergarten
when you’re just eighteen, starting out... formal through to graduate school, is the opposite of
education has become a way to be on autopilot, and resilience, flexibility and adaptability.
not to think about what you want to do with your life”.
It teaches a narrow set of academic/analytical skills,
So what’s the alternative? And what if like me, you’ve mostly divorced from the practicalities of life, and
already spent several years and several thousands of drills them into you for hours, days, weeks, months
pounds on an ineffectual education? and years on end... Success, happiness, contribution,
innovation and leadership depend on a range of
human skills, most of which are not taught in school”

So, with that all said - are you ready to design your
own curriculum?

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

But How do I find the Time?

The Judge Schedule It and Stick to It like it was
The Law.
Okay, so this is the same question as ‘how
can I find time to be creative’ or ‘how can Judge Dredd likes to say ‘I Am the
I find time for exercise’ or ‘how can I find Law’. You need to imagine that Judge
time to watch all four seasons of Breaking Dredd is in charge of your new
Bad that are currently on Netflix’. curriculum.

In the end, it comes down to being ruthless Dredd Guide to There is very little more
in pursuit of self-improvement. What are important concerning your career and
you currently doing which doesn’t serve creative satisfaction than ensuring you
your goals and dreams? develop and progress your skills, so
don’t relegate it to the bottom of your
It’s time to stop doing it. to-do list.

Unless of course you just HAVE to watch Reserve a slot in your calendar on a
one more episode of your favourite TV weekly basis (at the very minimum)
drama… and don’t let anything interfere with it.
Finding Time Or Dredd will fry your ass.

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Get a Beducation
 Design Your Own Curriculum

Not all of us thrive under a Judge Dredd style fascist I can’t offer any more convenient solutions to those
regime. basic human needs, but apart from that, this is
extremely easy.
If you’re even half as lazy as I am, you’re going to love
my alternative to formal education and unforgiving All you need is a book, or an ereader, or a tablet, or a
self-discipline. laptop, plus a notebook and pen, and a couple of
hours of free time to yourself one morning or evening.
The best part is, you don’t even have to get out of bed! Whether you learn best by reading, by listening, or
watching videos, this is a great way to take in new
And if you’ve got half a dirty mind as I have you might information.
be coming to all sorts of conclusions right now. Well
I’m not talking about *that* kind of beducation. So clear a few hours one Saturday or Sunday
morning, turn off your phone and settle down with the
No, this is the being kind to yourself, relaxed style of media of your choice.
education that you can do pretty much everywhere,
whether from your bed, at your kitchen table or on the That’s how to get a beducation - you’ll be surprised
couch. how much you can learn using
this method.
For me, the bed wins almost every time.
Of course the other kind of
You might have to get up from time to time to make beducation can be fun too...
yourself a cup of tea or coffee, grab a snack and go to
the toilet.

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

When it comes to learning, the

best way is to focus all your
attention on what you’re doing.

No multitasking!
Focus!
No trying to watch TV at the
same time!

Turn off your notifications,

turn off the internet if possible,
and give what you’re trying to
learn your full attention.

Taking notes also helps with

recall, especially if you review
them the next day.

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

Go Deep

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

We’ll talk about online learning shortly and the almost which is essential in this fast-changing world.
infinite possibilities it presents in terms of learning. The other aspect of ‘Going Deep’ is about searching
out the most thorough sources, and most expert
But there is a certain amount of self-discipline teachers.
involved in designing your own curriculum. And we
only have limited reserves of willpower. The deeper you go into your subject matter, the more
you become an expert.
I’ve learnt over the last few years that the best way to
learn is still the immersion technique. Your knowledge and skills become extraordinary and
you will stand out much more than someone with a
Whether it’s evening classes, a weekend course or superficial understanding.
something else, if you commit to being there in person,
with a teacher and fellow students, and actually turn You will also be much more likely to have meaningful
up - then you no longer need willpower to actually insights if you know everything there is to know
learn, because you won’t have much choice. about your topic or are actively involved in your field.

This obviously works better with practical skills. Of And those eureka moments are what all mad
course I still think you’re better signing up to short, geniuses (and the world) value most.
extremely focused courses than a four year long
course because it gives you much more flexibility

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

Project-Based Learning
The Clear-Minded Creative isn’t concerned with
learning for learning’s sake - we’re interested in
results. That’s why it’s often best to give yourself a
project, and then learn what you need in order to
get the project done.

Decide what you want to do, and then find out the
best way to get it done. Don’t spend all your time
learning and not getting results.

Also, don’t worry about being the world’s best.

Sometimes the bare minimum is enough, if it
means you get something out there into the world.

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Honing A Craft
 Design Your Own Curriculum

As creative people it’s useful to have an overview of the agrees. In his guide to branding yourself online, The
industry we work in and stay up to date with current Outstander, he says “it’s super-challenging to become
developments. But perhaps most important is honing successful as a generalist UNLESS you’ve already
our talents and skills and being good at a craft which made a name for yourself.”
in time could become the main source of our livelihood,
if it isn’t already. In Renaissance Business, Emilie Wapnick’s
excellent ebook for multipassionate people who just
This can be a tricky one if you’re multi-passionate aren’t wired to be specialists, she advises coming up
and haven’t even decided what your craft is yet. Not to with an over-arching theme for your work which you
worry - you don’t need to cut off all your options. can use as an umbrella for all of your different interests
(this is an affiliate link).
Learning your craft can be about mastery of one
specific skill, or it can be about honing the ability to doIn her book Renaissance Soul Margaret Lobenstine
lots of small things which add up to something useful suggests choosing no more than four focal points
and impactful. at any one time, and emphasises the importance of
realistically evaluating whether any of those interests
There are a number of different opinions out there can (immediately or eventually) be linked to a source of
about whether we should specialise or if it’s better to be income.
well-rounded.
Best-selling author and publisher Seth Godin is
Copywriter and blogger Ashley Ambirge believes adamant that it isn’t important what you do, as long as
that it’s easier to stand out from the crowd and get you do something.
known by doing something very specific. Mars Dorian
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Choosing A Direction
 Design Your Own Curriculum

What Will Have the Most Impact? Are you naturally curious about it?

If you’re having difficulty choosing what to study If not, then it seems mad to try to learn about it.
ask yourself, what will have the most impact right It’s probably a mistake to try to learn something
now? What would help to improve your life in the because you’ve heard it’s a money-spinner, rather
shortest possible time? than because you care about it.

Of course all depends on your own priorities, Do you enjoy it?

but it’s good to be clear on the reasons you are
learning something. It can be torture trying to learn something that you
just don’t enjoy. As a general rule, life’s too short
What specifically is this skill, or knowledge going to force yourself to do something that’s not in any
to help you achieve? Is it going to help you get your way pleasurable. Having said that, we can’t expect
dream job or set up your own business? everything to be fun - for example if you want to
work as a freelancer you will have to learn some
Is it going to help you achieve your dream of business/financial basics, even if that’s what you
making a feature film or recording a classic consider the opposite of a good time.
album? Is it going to help you make money, or help
you conquer an addiction, or your own self-doubt?

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

Does it Come Naturally?/Am I Talented Enough?

What if, the little voice in the back of our head
When we’re trying to choose something the goes, we’re just like them? Completely deluded
question is often - am I talented enough to even about our talent?
spend time trying to learn it?
Well in this case I think having those doubts is
We tend to have a natural aptitude for, or probably a good sign that you’re not completely
inclination towards certain things. But usually we self-deluded. In the end, if you really want to learn
only actually become talented through practice and how to do something, it’s got to be worth giving it
effort. a go.

And as creative people we are plagued with Ira Glass famously describes this as the gap
doubts. We witness the awful spectacle of those between our taste and our work, and says that
poor deluded fools on The X Factor or American whilst at first we are aware that our work isn’t
Idol, convinced they are the next Beyonce, but who good enough, you can get to the level you want to
have a face like a bag of frogs and the voice of a by working hard. He says:
wombat on ketamine.
“It is only by going through a volume of work
Yes, we have a little judging panel inside our heads, that you’re actually going to catch up and close that
complete with a mini Simon Cowell who’s even gap, and the work you’re making will be as good
crueller than he is on the telly. as your ambitions”.

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

The 10,000 Hour Rule DON’T follow your passion?

In his hugely popular and oft-quoted book Another speaker at WDS2012 was Cal Newport,
Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell highlights the 10,000 who argued that the age-old advice to ‘follow
hour rule and a number of studies that support it. your passion’ is mistaken. It’s the central hypothesis
behind his new book So Good They Can’t Ignore
He quotes neurologist Daniel Levitin who says: You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for
Work You Love.
“The emerging picture from such studies is that
ten thousand hours of practice is required to He cites the message that Steve Jobs shared in his
achieve the level of mastery associated with being inspiring Stanford Commencement speech: “you
a world-class expert”. have to find what you love - if you haven’t found it
yet, keep looking - don’t settle.”
It’s important to note that this 10,000 hours won’t
be effective if spent merely tinkering or messing According to Newport this was widely
around - it needs to be focused and disciplined misinterpreted to mean “if you want to love what
practice. you do for a living, you have to do two things.
You have to first, figure out what you’re passionate
about, and then you have to second, match that to
your work.”

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

out in advance what’s going to lead to a passionate

Newport says that it’s an idea which has been life - you need to get out there and live your life and
around since 1940s and admits that it is an work it out as you go along.
“astonishingly appealing concept” but he says it is
also “astonishingly wrong”. He gives the example of one study which found that
amongst university staff, the longer that someone
His book is based on the question: “Why do some held a particular position, the more likely they
people end up loving what they do, when so many were to see it as their ‘calling’. He says that more
other people do not?” important than following your passion is to get good
at something that’s rare and valuable, and then
He outlines in his talk how Steve Jobs came to leverage it to get what’s important to you in life.
found Apple Computers through a series of happy
accidents, as opposed to some kind of masterplan: He also claims that it doesn’t matter if you’re
passionate about the thing you choose to get good
“I don’t doubt that Steve Jobs very quickly grew to at. He says it is in fact almost irrelevant what we
be more passionate about what he did. But it’s also choose to get good at, as long as it’s rare and
the case that he did not simply follow his passion valuable and we can leverage it to get the lifestyle
into Apple Computer. He did not simply sit down we want.
and plan in advance - ‘I want to start a technology
company’ and then go and try to make that happen.” I agree with Newport’s hypothesis to a point. It’s
true that it’s near-impossible to predict where your
Newport’s point is that you can’t sit down and figure passions will lead you.

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

But I think he’s misinterpreted Steve Jobs’ story. In I also strongly disagree with Newport’s assertion
fact, it was following his passion in a variety of fields that the kind of work you do doesn’t matter.
which gave Jobs his creative edge.
From my own experience, doing work that you’re
He attended calligraphy classes after dropping out of not suited to is a quick recipe to being miserable, and
college, and this interest resulted in Apple’s attention I wonder if Cal Newport has ever really been in the
to detail with fonts on the Mac - one of its early situation that many others find themselves in - stuck
selling points. So it’s hard to say that Jobs wasted his doing something they don’t enjoy without a clear way
time by following that particular passion. As Walter out.
Isaacson says in his biography of Jobs:
Perhaps the word passion is itself to blame. Passion
“The delightful assortment of Macintosh fonts, when is not always an easy thing to define. It suggests
combined with laser-writer printing and great something which we’re 100% committed to, and have
graphics capabilities, would help launch the desktop no doubt in our minds that we will love it forever.
publishing industry and be a boon for Apple’s
bottom line.” Whereas in reality, we are often finding our way one
uncertain step at a time, Maybe passion really does
This is just one example of how Jobs followed only come with time and commitment, in which case
his passion, and although he didn’t know where it it might be more advisable to “follow your natural
would lead him, it eventually worked out in his best interests”.
interests.

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The Benefits of Books
the
power
of
books
 Design Your Own Curriculum

The Benefits of Books You can easily preview the content

We live in an age of information overwhelm, where we Whether it’s by Amazon’s Look Inside service, sending
are constantly bombarded by often trivial, and fragmented a free sample direct to your Kindle or some good old
pieces of information via TV, radio and the internet. We fashioned browsing through the book in a store, you can
may well be learning from this on a superficial level, but to get an idea of whether a book is going to be a good read
get in-depth knowledge you can’t beat books. and useful for your current situation.

They’re cheap Good authors pour their heart and soul into their books

If you can find the book you’re after in the library and Many authors spend a year or several years working on
won’t want it as a reference later, then you can get access their book, so you’re getting a lot for your money when
to almost unlimited information for free. Second hand you buy one. Obviously this doesn’t count for ghost-written
books are usually extremely cheap. celebrity memoirs, especially when said celebrity is only 21
years old and only famous thanks to a sordid sex tape or
Even if you buy all your books new, and even if you read appearance on an exploitative reality TV show.
hundreds of the things, you’ll only be paying a fraction of
the price you would for a formal education. They’re portable and you can read them whenever you
want
They’re easily accessible
Whether it’s a well thumbed paperback or a Kindle which
Again, you can pop into your local library or bookstore, can contain thousands of books in it’s slender frame, you
or use Amazon. If you’ve got a Kindle or other ereader, can’t ever get bored if you have a book with you. If you
you can download a new book in seconds. drive or walk a lot, audiobooks are a great alternative.

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The Online

EDUCATION

Revolution
 Design Your Own Curriculum

This guide could have been extremely short. It could

have just said: Some people may just refuse point blank to pay for
online products such as ebooks and courses.
1. Type what you want to learn into Google
2. Read/watch/listen Personally, I’ve found them extremely useful. I’m
3. Apply. happy to pay because I see it as investing in my future.
And I have a short attention span, so I like to be
it’s not quite as simple as that though is it? For one entertained as well as educated.
thing, there’s often an overwhelming amount of
information out there on any given topic. That’s what the new breed of online educators/
entrepreneurs does really well. The information, in
Secondly, whilst most information can be found for many cases, is nothing new.
free, it can be extremely time consuming to find it all
yourself, which is why some people are making a But the presentation, and the personality and unique
living from charging people for information or online perspective that goes into it, is what people are willing
courses. to pay for.

This brings up a whole bunch of other questions/ So if there’s 20 products out there teaching you how
dilemmas. Who to trust? How much should I spend? to blog, you could go with the one who’s personality
How do I know I’m getting good information or good gels with you the most (or just learn by watching
value? what they do!)

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 Design Your Own Curriculum

The benefits of online learning The drawbacks of online learning

• It’s usually more up to date than a college/university • It can be hard to know who to trust amongst those
course, especially if the topic is cutting edge who offer courses
• You can learn at your own pace • No-one to hold you accountable to actually applying
• You can learn at times which suit you what you’ve learnt and putting it into practice
• There’s loads of info available for free • It’s easy to forget that you’ve bought an online
• Even paid courses/products are more affordable course. It could be sitting on your hard drive some
than traditional courses where, unused.
• Can be a lot more entertaining & engaging than dry or • If you’re confused about what to learn, you could
overly formal academic courses waste a lot of time and money buying everything
• Many courses offer multimedia options e.g. audio under the sun but not applying the information
and video recordings so you can learn using the • You might have mastered a new skill but won’t have
method that suits you best a recognised qualification to prove it
• You can get it immediately, with just a few clicks • Can be overpriced and persuasive sales tactics might
instead of waiting for a specific date convince you that you need to buy a course even
• You can learn from the comfort of your own home, though you can’t afford it!
or from a coffee shop, train or plane

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 Design Your Own Curriculum
There’s a few ways to get around the above disadvantages Online subscriptions/Membership Sites
though, some of which are pretty obvious.
This is a category in of itself, and something that you’ll
1. Only sign up to/buy courses online from people you see increasingly offered on blogs. Just like a magazine
trust 100%. Not sure? Test the waters by buying a small, subscription or a gym membership, you can sign up once, but
inexpensive product from them and then you can judge a monthly charge will be taken from your account.
whether they are providing value or not (relative to the price).
If you’re going to sign up to this kind of course, make sure
2. Only sign up to courses with some kind of accountability you are going to get the most from your money. It’s very
built in, or find yourself a ‘study buddy’ who wants to learn easy to forget to check in until you see the money leave your
the same topic - you can partner up with them and make sure account at the end of the month.
you are both making progress with the course. The other
benefit of this is you can sometimes share the cost (perhaps Then you tell yourself now that you’ve already paid for
not always an officially approved tactic!). another month, you will definitely use it this time, and if not,
you can always cancel it before the next payment. You forget
3. Only buy a course if you absolutely need to know the again, and soon a year has passed and you’ve spent a couple
information right now. Be realistic about what you will of hundred quid on something you didn’t get much value out
actually use and what level you’re at. Whilst it’s sometimes of.
good to have an overview, too much information leads to
‘analysis paralysis’! However these kind of membership sites often include forums
and can be a good way of connecting with like-minded
4. Don’t start/buy any new courses until you’ve used and people. You might feel safer to share what you’re learning
applied the one you already bought. because it’s not accessible by every Tom Dick and Sally with
an internet connection - the people paying are more likely to
5. Sign up to people’s newsletters or ‘advance discount lists’ be serious and care about the topic and if the person who
and wait until they run a special offer. Not everyone will do runs the site is committed, these can be very useful.
this, but it’s possible to get some real bargains this way.
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Keeping Up with the Cutting Edge
 Design Your Own Curriculum

Of course for those of us who need/want to make a living Of course all of that information can also get pretty
from our creative work there’s also pressure to keep up with overwhelming, and some weeks I was too busy to keep up
current events and new developments in technology and the with it all. that’s why I created a ‘favourites’ folder within
media. Google Reader for those blogs I didn’t want to miss a single
post from, and then I would skim through the rest when I had
I use a combination of Google Reader and Twitter to keep up time.
with my areas of interest.
I like Google Reader because you can star stories to keep
As a media monitor for the Scottish Government I used them for reference or read later. There are also services like
Google Reader to keep up with relevant blogs and other sites Pocket or Instapaper which you can send stories to. Once
by subscribing to them via RSS, which stands for Really you’ve synced them, they can be read offline.
Simple Syndication. Once you’ve subscribed, the feeds for
each blog automatically update, meaning you don’t need to However the signs are that Google doesn’t care about the
remember to go and visit your favourite sites. service anymore so one day soon I may have to look for an
alternative for my RSS subscriptions. Luckily, there are a
I soon started using it for my own interests too (obviously I few services out there already which you can import Google
set up a different personal account!). Soon I was subscribed Reader into.
to hundreds of feeds, allowing me to keep up with tech news,
other blogs writing interesting things about creativity, music, For many people Twitter has already replaced Google
geeky TV shows and whatever else took my fancy. Reader as their way of keeping up with blogs and news.
There is definitely some cross-over there, but I prefer to
You can even link it up to the Flipboard app, which presents use Twitter for following individual people, and engaging in
all of your favourite blogs in an attractive magazine style conversation, rather than keeping up with blog posts. Still,
format which looks great on the iPad and smartphones. Twitter is extremely useful way to quickly get up to date with
There are plenty of other services which also sync with what’s going on.
Google Reader.

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 The Library in Your Pocket

The rise of mobile computing, whether it be smartphones, e-readers or tablets, has made the online education
revolution even more powerful.

It’s no exaggeration to say you can now carry the equivalent of a library in your pocket or handbag. You can also
carry video and audio, or just stream it from wherever you can get a decent wi-fi connection.

All the signs show that mobile devices are the future. If you can afford to, I’d advise getting on board. It’s a brave new
world, but for the clear-minded creative it’s one ripe with opportunity and possibility.
Amazing Online
Resources for
Clear-Minded
Creatives
 Design Your Own Curriculum

Lynda.com - online software training (for a monthly subscription Entheos Academy - classes on personal development, creativity
fee). and spirituality.

iTunesU - An app for Apple devices which offers free online TED Talks - free video recordings of talks which are deemed
courses from top universities. ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’.

Academic Earth - free online classes and learning tools. Creative Mornings - a global, monthly breakfast series for creative
types. (hence the name!) Founded by Tina Roth Eisenberg, aka
Open Culture -curating some great cultural and educational gems Swiss Miss.
that are completely free.
Unconventional Guides - useful guides tailored for different
Code Academy - Learn to code for free. purposes from Chris Guillebeau (affiliate link).

Craftsy- online crafting classes. Sustainably Creative membership - daily podcasts, free ebooks and
courses from Michael Nobbs at an extremely reasonable price.
99u.com - Behance’s education website for creatives - with a focus
on making ideas happen. Lateral Action Creative Pathfinder - a free course from poet and
creative coach Mark McGuinness.
Brainpickings - expertly curated site from Maria Popova.
Vimeo video school - handy film-making lessons.
Mediabistro - their courses aren’t cheap but their daily email will
give you a great summary of US-centric media news. Good Life Project - A weekly web show fromJonathan Fields
featuring in-depth interviews with “acclaimed entrepreneurs, artists,
Yogaglo - take yoga classes in the comfort of your own home (for authors and thought leaders”.
a monthly subscription fee).
Blogcast FM Excellent podcast for bloggers and online
Skillshare - offers a range of collaborative classes, both free and entrepreneurs, hosted by Srinivas Rao.
paid, taken by people around the world.

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Level Up
 Design Your Own Curriculum

At some point you’re going to want to ‘graduate’ from An alternative to coaching is finding a mentor, or more than
learning on your own to learning out in the real world, one if you need guidance on a number of different areas of
where you can get input and feedback from other people. your life.

Here’s a few ways to do it. Coaching is usually something you pay an hourly rate for,
and it can be expensive depending on how in demand the
Learn While You Earn person is. Mentoring is something that can be arranged
through an official programme, or on a more informal basis.
Possibly the best scenario to find yourself in is to be able to
learn new skills and possibly even gain new qualifications Either way, what most successful people have in common is
whilst getting paid. Many employers will subside or fully that they are quick to look to others for help and advice from
fund their employees to take relevant courses, and if you’re others who’ve ‘been there, done that.’
lucky enough to be in a job where you can pursue your
interests then it makes sense to embrace it. Learn by Teaching

Even if your job is less than ideal, there are probably ways You don’t have to be a world expert before you can share
you can use it to your advantage in terms of developing your what you know with other people. In fact, you will probably
skills. We’ll address this more in the final guide, Write Your learn quite a lot yourself from the experience.
Own Job Description.
I recently volunteered at a couple of community events locally
Coaching/Mentoring helping people with blogging and video production, and I
found it extremely rewarding. It both reminded me how
There’s no doubt that we can learn faster and more much I knew, and also highlighted a few things I needed to
effectively by tapping into the knowledge of others. you might improve in the future.
get to the point where reading books is no longer cutting
it, and you want advice that’s tailored to your particular So once you’ve got even a small amount of knowledge, start
situation. This is when coaching comes into play. sharing it!

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Trad Ed Ain’t Always Bad for Grads
 Design Your Own Curriculum

Are there advantages to traditional/formal education & your peers and hopefully friends for years to come. Look for
qualifications? courses where you will be taught by people who are actually
working in the industry as opposed to just being academics.
Despite everything I’ve said in this guide, I’m not against more
traditional forms of education. You can get a scholarship/other funding

Here are some of the clear advantages of sticking with a There may be ways of getting funding to attend a course.
more tried and tested approach: In the UK each adult is entitled to a £200 learning account
which you can use to sign up to a short course.
Employers recognise official qualifications
Student Discounts!
There’s no doubt that the proof is in the pudding - if you can
show an employer work you’ve done, then it’s hard for them Don’t underestimate the value of a student discount. Even
to argue that you don’t have the required skills. However in signing up to an inexpensive course can give you access to a
some cases a qualification may give you the edge, or may student ID, which means you can get stuff at a significantly
even be required to get a job. Traditional education still has reduced price.
more prestige than an (unofficial) online course, especially if
there’s no way of proving you’ve completed it! For example - I signed up to a web design course using my
£200 allowance (in other words it cost me nothing). With this
You can make valuable contacts/meet mentors I was able to get a student discount on the expensive Adobe
Creative Suite software, and a half price gym membership.
Many traditional courses have established links with key
industry figures, and sometimes they may even teach or Foreign Placements
come to speak to students. If it’s a vocational course then it
may also involve a placement where you can get valuable Signing up to a course might be your chance to spend a year
work experience and make invaluable contacts. That’s not abroad gaining international experience in your industry.
to mention the other people on the course who may well be

Page 40
 Design Your Own Curriculum

Conclusion...
So we’ve looked at why it’s important to invest in your own education,
and why it might just make more sense to use inexpensive and up to
date resources such as books and online resources rather than costly
traditional education - although we also saw that the latter can have
benefits too.

We’ve also looked at the process that goes into choosing what to learn
next, and whether the advice to follow your passion is overrated.

I’ve also mentioned a few different approaches to self-directed

learning and making sure you take action on what you’ve learnt.

I’d love to hear your experiences and thoughts on this so please do

leave a comment on the blog to let me know if you agree or disagree
with what I’ve said in this microguide.

And if you’d like to stay in touch and get notification when the next
microguide in the series is available (for free!) please subscribe to the
newsletter.

Page 41
 Design Your Own Curriculum

About Clear-Minded Creative

Hi, I’m Milo. I’m 35 years old and live in Edinburgh,
Scotland.

I founded the Clear-Minded Creative blog in 2011 in order

to help creative people fulfil their true potential and improve
their lives and careers.

In February 2o12 I took voluntary redundancy after ten

years as a civil servant and am currently freelancing as a
copywriter.

If you’re a fellow mad genius in the making, I’d love to

hear from you. You can get in touch by emailing me at “Milo McLaughlin’s fascinating blog does
[email protected] exactly what it says on the tin - help creative
or via Twitter - I’m @milomclaughlin
people stay focused.”
And please do visit the blog at:
www.clearmindedcreative.com The List Magazine:
Scotland’s Best Websites 2011

www. Page 42

MADVERTISEMENT

This is the third of 7 free micro-guides in the Mad Genius series.

Download the Career Masterplan for Mad Geniuses

&
Refresh Your Mindset
at
www.clearmindedcreative.com
 Design Your Own Curriculum

The End.
If you made it this far, many thanks for taking the time to read this micro-guide.

I hope it’s been useful!

If you have any feedback or just want to get in touch for a chat,
email me at [email protected]

Photo credits (utilised under a Creative Commons license):

Cover photo by Dospaz

p.4 - source unknown
p. 7: a.mina
p. 14: visualpanic
p. 15 Hamed Saber
p. 17 thejbird
p. 18 supersum
p.20 andrew prickett
p. 26 Paul Lowry
p. 32 kholkute
p.35 Johan Larsson
p. 37 JD Hancock
p. 39 clgregor

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