Sep 21, 2026 · 47 min
Adults can build a curriculum around curiosity
How to Keep Learning as an Adult: Build Your Own Curriculum & Become a Student Again
The episode reframes lifelong learning as an intentional practice that can support growth, wellness, and renewed confidence without returning to a conventional degree path.
- 1Adults can design flexible curricula around curiosity, practical skills, wellness, and personal growth.
- 2Quitting a pursuit that no longer fits can create room for better questions and more relevant learning.
- 3Classes, retreats, conferences, and community college offer different ways to practice being a beginner again.
Don't miss
Jean and Cherie recount being surprised by the electric political discussion between Rahm Emanuel and Glenn Youngkin at the Milken Institute conference.
The brief
Jean and Cherie distinguish career-focused education from curiosity-driven learning, arguing that adulthood does not have to end the experience of being a student.
Their case for lifelong learning includes permission to abandon pursuits that no longer serve you, using Jean’s unfinished CFA studies as an example of useful redirection.
The sisters propose building a personal curriculum by listing subjects, skills, teachers, and environments, then exploring without demanding immediate mastery.
Learning can happen through wellness retreats, personal training, acting classes, community college, and conferences—settings that make experimentation social, practical, or immersive.
At the Milken Institute conference, an unexpected political discussion between Rahm Emanuel and Glenn Youngkin showed how unfamiliar rooms can widen a learner’s curiosity.
The episode closes on the vulnerability of relearning neglected skills, from viola and singing to art history and ceramics, and the freedom of beginning again.
Books & mentions
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