Building a Learning Charter
As adults, most of our learning is ad hoc and unstructured. Something that comes in the way of learning effectively.
For the last few years I’ve been using a Learning Charter - a map that guides my personal learning journey. Here are 6 steps on how you can build your own -
1/ Calibrate the compass 🧭
When we think of learning something it's easy to quickly get into the what. But it’s important to start your learning journey by defining your why. A good way to look at this is by defining what is your desired future state.
For example -
Instead of “I want to learn how to write better”
Start with “I want to build an online audience”
While we can learn for the love of learning something, learning is also means to an end. By focussing on the why before the what - you are not only more motivated but will also realise that there is a lot more you need to learn in order to achieve that goal.
2/ Pick your North star ⭐️
Once you’ve defined your why, get to the what. Define the uber goal for your learning journey. These could be topics, areas or even specific concepts.
For example -
In order to learn how to build an online audience, I need to learn:
How to write effectively
How to create a idea generation machine
How to engage with people online
When we start learning something, we often don’t know what we don’t know. This list of north stars might keep growing for you as you learn more and more about the topic you’ve picked. Pick one to start with.
3/ Assign your crew 👯♀️
Once you’ve covered the why and the what, get to the who. You crew could be peers who you are learning with, mentors who might help you in your journey or teachers who might be helping you learn better.
For example -
In order to build an online audience, my crew could be -
My partner who helps me ideate on topics for my articles
Peers who help me proofread and vet ideas
A facilitator of a course I took
While we may not reach out to the entire crew all the time, it is important to identify who they are before we embark on the journey. Learning is not a solo activity, we need people in order to learn effectively.
4/ Chart out a path 🗺
Once you’ve identified the why, what & who; it’s time to get to the how. There are different ways to learn something - from reading about it to watching videos to taking a course on it and many more. It’s good to identify the path you’ll take.
For example -
In order to build an online audience,
I will do a 30 day atomic writing challenge
I will take an online course on Audience Building
I will subscribe to newsletter x
Like people, your path is also ever evolving. But without knowing what path you’ll take, it’s hard to take the first step.
5/ Take the first step 🚶
As adults, learning is something that is a part of our lives, this means that we need to make time for it in the middle of our busy lives. Building a learning habit is part intent and part planning. Think of small steps that you will take in order to learn something.
For example -
In order to build an online audience,
I will read for 30 mins everyday
I will take out 2-3 hours every weekend to write
I will write & publish 2 articles every week
Break down your goal into small daily/ weekly/ monthly actions that you will be taking. Hold yourself accountable to those - calendarise it, set reminders!
6/ Look Back 👀
Now the final step, figuring out ways to look back and measure what you’ve learn and evaluate how far you’ve come.
For example -
In order to build an online audience, I will measure -
Number of likes, comments and shares on every post
Number of followers on my account every month
I will write & publish 2 articles every week
While learning something new it is important to define success and celebrate small wins even if it is just progressing from one milestone to the other. Find time to look back!
To summarise, here is a simple framework you can use -
In order to ____<Insert Why>____ I need to learn ____<Insert What>____.
I will learn with _____<Insert Who>____ through _____<Insert How>_____.
Every (week/day/month) I will do _____<Insert Actions>_____ and I will measure it by _____<Insert Metrics>_____.
Use this charter and let me know how it goes for you, I’d love to hear from you!