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The Art of Self-Directed Learning: 23 Tips for Giving Yourself an Unconventional Education
The Art of Self-Directed Learning is a collection of 23 stories and insights that will help you become a more motivated and self-guided learner.
Drawing on a decade of research, adventures, and interviews conducted by Blake Boles (author of College Without High School and Better Than College), this book will inspire you to craft your own unconventional education, no matter whether you're a young adult, recent graduate, parent, or simply someone who never wants to stop learning.
Each chapter is brief, story-oriented, and accompanied by an original line drawing, making The Art of Self-Directed Learning a great choice for readers and "non-readers" alike.
Drawing on a decade of research, adventures, and interviews conducted by Blake Boles (author of College Without High School and Better Than College), this book will inspire you to craft your own unconventional education, no matter whether you're a young adult, recent graduate, parent, or simply someone who never wants to stop learning.
Each chapter is brief, story-oriented, and accompanied by an original line drawing, making The Art of Self-Directed Learning a great choice for readers and "non-readers" alike.
224 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2014
100 people are currently reading
1463 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
December 9, 2014
This is a great book. I think it might be my new go-to gift for teenagers and any adults looking to change careers or try something new. It's also a great read for parents, since I think it's worth thinking about what educational path is the right one for your child. Blake Boles has a terrific voice - he shares big ideas, truths, and wisdom while telling fun and interesting stories that don't feel heavy-handed at all. What I love best about this book is the idea that compulsory learning is a practice that needs re-examining, that education should be consensual. When someone has a vested interest in learning (whether that learning is through attending school or apprenticing to the master of a trade), he will obviously apply himself more and get more out of the experience. This book is a roadmap for becoming a self-directed learner, someone who can take the reins of her own life and make her dreams come true.
The book is divided into six sections: Learners & Learning, Motivation, Learning Online, Learning Offline, Meta-Learning, and Self-Directed Earning. Each chapter is short and clear, with a one-sentence summary (the "tip") at the end of each one. Is what you are currently doing helping you to achieve your goals? If not, I would highly recommend reading this book.
The book is divided into six sections: Learners & Learning, Motivation, Learning Online, Learning Offline, Meta-Learning, and Self-Directed Earning. Each chapter is short and clear, with a one-sentence summary (the "tip") at the end of each one. Is what you are currently doing helping you to achieve your goals? If not, I would highly recommend reading this book.
December 7, 2014
I originally bought this book for my daughter, as she's expressed an interest in unschooling, but I decided to read it too. I found it very inspiring and motivating. I just gave it to my daughter to read, and I hope it has the same effect on her. I even found myself reading aloud passages to everyone a the dinner table - it spawned a great discussion.
January 10, 2017
Practical advice... gets your mind thinking outside the box a little bit. Hits home for this millennial with trying to find your place in the world, getting you to think about what drives you and makes you happy. One might think this is all intuitive but you would be wrong.
Points of interest:
•Re-framing "I can't" statements into "I could if I..." or "I choose not to" - more empowering.
•Emailing a stranger for help or advice but be concise, short, and thoughtful
•Deliberate Practice - monitored by someone else, challenging, pushes you
•Continuous improvement on oneself
Ultimately it's all about your thoughts and frame of mind/attitude.
I'm ready to get to work.
Points of interest:
•Re-framing "I can't" statements into "I could if I..." or "I choose not to" - more empowering.
•Emailing a stranger for help or advice but be concise, short, and thoughtful
•Deliberate Practice - monitored by someone else, challenging, pushes you
•Continuous improvement on oneself
Ultimately it's all about your thoughts and frame of mind/attitude.
I'm ready to get to work.
April 5, 2020
2015.10.02–2015.10.02
Contents
Boles B (2014) (02:00) Art of Self-Directed Learning, The - 23 Tips for Giving Yourself an Unconventional Education
Introduction: What I Learned at Summer Camp, Down the Rabbit Hole, Back Out Again, and What I Found
• The story of my own education, how I joined the unschooling movement, and why I became a cheerleader for self-directed learning.
Part I: Learners and Learning
01. The Girl Who Sailed Around the World
• Self-directed learning starts with a dream to go farther, see more, and become more than others tell you is possible. But dreaming alone is not enough; you must fight to turn your dreams into reality.
02. What Self-Directed Learners Do
• Self-directed learners take full responsibility for their educations, careers, and lives. Think hard about where you’re going, research all your options, and then move boldly forward.
03. What Self-Directed Learners Don’t Do
• Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Open yourself to the world and soak up as much learning as possible.
04. Consensual Learning
• Reject the tyranny of forded learning, not matter how desirable the end result.
Part II: Motivation
05. Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose
• The secret sauce of self-directed learning isn’t much of a secret at all: find your autonomy, mastery, and purpose, and you’ll find your way.
06. Discipline, Dissected
• Self-discipline isn’t some universal attribute that you either have or don’t. It’s a product of matching your actions to the work that’s most important in your life.
07. Cages and Keys
• Attitude is a self-directed learner’s most precious resource. For every cage, you can find a key.
08. Second Right Answers
• Generate an excess of solutions for the big challenges in life, and the right answer will present itself.
Part III: Learning Online
09. Googling Everything
• The Internet is the most powerful learning tool ever created. Use it early and often.
10. E-mailing Strangers
• Asking for help via e-mail is a low-cost and low-risk move with a potentially huge payoff. Who could you be writing today?
11. The Digital Paper Trail
• Future employers will google you; future romantic partners will google you; and your future kids might even google you, so start filling the Internet with your creations to leave a trail worth following.
Part IV: Learning Offline
12. Information Versus Knowledge
• Humans still do much that computers cannot. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can learn everything online.
13. Alone, Together
• When the challenge of individual work feels overwhelming, join a community of people facing the same challenge.
14. Nerd Clans
• To build a social life as a self-directed learner, seek out pockets of fellow enthusiasts with infectious self-motivation.
Part V: Meta-Learning
15. Learning How to Learn
• Seek out the teachers, coaches, and mentors in life who prefer to teach you how to fish instead of simply giving you a fish.
16. The Dance Lesson
• Learn to dance, and dance to learn. It’s all about communication.
17. Indescribable Sexiness
• To have a great conversation with anyone in the world, all you have to do is PASHE ‘em and ROPE ‘em.
18. Deliberate Practice
• To go from surface-level skills to deep mastery, find the people and places that can push you farther than you could ever push yourself.
Part VI: Self-Directed Earning
19. Pumping Poop for the Win
• To make your biggest dreams happen: embrace setbacks, take the dirty jobs when you must, and always work for yourself.
20. Passion, Skill, Market
• Do what you love, but also keep an eye on the needs of others—that’s how self-directed learning can turn into self-directed earning.
21. Time Wealth
• Time is money, but that doesn’t mean you need to make more money to have more free time.
22. Career Advice from a Robot Dinosaur
• To create a self-directed career, build more than a product: build a personality.
23. How to Light Your Mind on Fire
• Stop focusing on the uncontrollable parts of your life—the nature, nurture, and luck factors—and start working hard on developing your growth mindset. That’s the true art of self-directed learning.
Notes, Asides, and Acknowledgments
• Futher information about the sources, stories, and ideas featured in this book, organized by chapter.
About the Author
Contents
Boles B (2014) (02:00) Art of Self-Directed Learning, The - 23 Tips for Giving Yourself an Unconventional Education
Introduction: What I Learned at Summer Camp, Down the Rabbit Hole, Back Out Again, and What I Found
• The story of my own education, how I joined the unschooling movement, and why I became a cheerleader for self-directed learning.
Part I: Learners and Learning
01. The Girl Who Sailed Around the World
• Self-directed learning starts with a dream to go farther, see more, and become more than others tell you is possible. But dreaming alone is not enough; you must fight to turn your dreams into reality.
02. What Self-Directed Learners Do
• Self-directed learners take full responsibility for their educations, careers, and lives. Think hard about where you’re going, research all your options, and then move boldly forward.
03. What Self-Directed Learners Don’t Do
• Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Open yourself to the world and soak up as much learning as possible.
04. Consensual Learning
• Reject the tyranny of forded learning, not matter how desirable the end result.
Part II: Motivation
05. Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose
• The secret sauce of self-directed learning isn’t much of a secret at all: find your autonomy, mastery, and purpose, and you’ll find your way.
06. Discipline, Dissected
• Self-discipline isn’t some universal attribute that you either have or don’t. It’s a product of matching your actions to the work that’s most important in your life.
07. Cages and Keys
• Attitude is a self-directed learner’s most precious resource. For every cage, you can find a key.
08. Second Right Answers
• Generate an excess of solutions for the big challenges in life, and the right answer will present itself.
Part III: Learning Online
09. Googling Everything
• The Internet is the most powerful learning tool ever created. Use it early and often.
10. E-mailing Strangers
• Asking for help via e-mail is a low-cost and low-risk move with a potentially huge payoff. Who could you be writing today?
11. The Digital Paper Trail
• Future employers will google you; future romantic partners will google you; and your future kids might even google you, so start filling the Internet with your creations to leave a trail worth following.
Part IV: Learning Offline
12. Information Versus Knowledge
• Humans still do much that computers cannot. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can learn everything online.
13. Alone, Together
• When the challenge of individual work feels overwhelming, join a community of people facing the same challenge.
14. Nerd Clans
• To build a social life as a self-directed learner, seek out pockets of fellow enthusiasts with infectious self-motivation.
Part V: Meta-Learning
15. Learning How to Learn
• Seek out the teachers, coaches, and mentors in life who prefer to teach you how to fish instead of simply giving you a fish.
16. The Dance Lesson
• Learn to dance, and dance to learn. It’s all about communication.
17. Indescribable Sexiness
• To have a great conversation with anyone in the world, all you have to do is PASHE ‘em and ROPE ‘em.
18. Deliberate Practice
• To go from surface-level skills to deep mastery, find the people and places that can push you farther than you could ever push yourself.
Part VI: Self-Directed Earning
19. Pumping Poop for the Win
• To make your biggest dreams happen: embrace setbacks, take the dirty jobs when you must, and always work for yourself.
20. Passion, Skill, Market
• Do what you love, but also keep an eye on the needs of others—that’s how self-directed learning can turn into self-directed earning.
21. Time Wealth
• Time is money, but that doesn’t mean you need to make more money to have more free time.
22. Career Advice from a Robot Dinosaur
• To create a self-directed career, build more than a product: build a personality.
23. How to Light Your Mind on Fire
• Stop focusing on the uncontrollable parts of your life—the nature, nurture, and luck factors—and start working hard on developing your growth mindset. That’s the true art of self-directed learning.
Notes, Asides, and Acknowledgments
• Futher information about the sources, stories, and ideas featured in this book, organized by chapter.
About the Author
August 27, 2018
A short read that gives interesting tips into the world of self directed learning. I'm a fan of Blake Boles, but this book felt a little too short for my liking. Although, I found that this is often the case that if I follow an author on other mediums like their podcasts, when I come to their book I'm almost always underwhelmed.
A memorable takeaway for me was to keep in mind "AMP" (Autonomous, Mastery and Purpose) to tell if self directed learning is effective. I also liked the sections where he talked about "deliberate practice", which echoes a lot of the research done by Cal Newport and Barbara Oakley.
A memorable takeaway for me was to keep in mind "AMP" (Autonomous, Mastery and Purpose) to tell if self directed learning is effective. I also liked the sections where he talked about "deliberate practice", which echoes a lot of the research done by Cal Newport and Barbara Oakley.
November 2, 2014
This well written and easy to follow book offers great advice to students (young and old) on how to give yourself a great education. He lists many resources and demonstrates his ideas with real life stories. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants more control of what and how they learn. It's also a great read for people curious about unschooling.
February 21, 2016
Brilliant. Everyone of high school age should own this book, and read it before committing to college. It explains that life is not about following other people's expectations and getting into the rut of school-college-job, but it is about exploring the possibilities of a life where the Internet exists to give us unparralelled information about, and access to, our world.
September 24, 2015
Its a short read about tips to Self-Directed learning. Having read his "Better than College" (which I really liked), I had high expectation. There are some helpful tips. But overall, a bit disappointed. Still would recommend it to young people.
March 27, 2015
Inspiring. Hopefully. Not always practical. Hard to imagine all teens finding self-direction.
July 10, 2015
Just OK. Really short book with a few interesting ideas but not altogether very convincing or substantive. Some good stories, though.
May 3, 2025
The Art of Self-Directed Learning is not just a book—it’s a wake-up call for anyone who has ever questioned the traditional education system or felt uninspired within it. This book opens your eyes to a radically different approach to learning—one that is intuitive, liberating, and deeply personal. It challenges the conventional narrative that learning must happen within rigid structures, guided by external authorities, and instead empowers you to take ownership of your own intellectual journey.
More than just a philosophical argument, the book offers practical tools, frameworks, and stories that illuminate how self-directed learning can be pursued in real life. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or simply a curious mind, it encourages you to cultivate a mindset of lifelong learning driven by passion, not pressure.
What makes this book especially powerful is the sense of community it evokes. If you’ve ever embarked on your own path of self-education—navigating online resources, diving into passion projects, or experimenting with unconventional learning methods—you may have felt isolated or misunderstood. This book reminds you that you’re not alone. There is a growing global community of learners who are questioning the norm, forging their own paths, and in many cases, thriving because of it.
The Art of Self-Directed Learning is both validation and inspiration. It affirms the value of learning that is fuelled by curiosity and purpose, and it offers hope to those brave enough to learn differently
More than just a philosophical argument, the book offers practical tools, frameworks, and stories that illuminate how self-directed learning can be pursued in real life. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or simply a curious mind, it encourages you to cultivate a mindset of lifelong learning driven by passion, not pressure.
What makes this book especially powerful is the sense of community it evokes. If you’ve ever embarked on your own path of self-education—navigating online resources, diving into passion projects, or experimenting with unconventional learning methods—you may have felt isolated or misunderstood. This book reminds you that you’re not alone. There is a growing global community of learners who are questioning the norm, forging their own paths, and in many cases, thriving because of it.
The Art of Self-Directed Learning is both validation and inspiration. It affirms the value of learning that is fuelled by curiosity and purpose, and it offers hope to those brave enough to learn differently
August 12, 2020
This has some great ideas and started lots of great conversations with my 16 yo. But at the same time there is a level of privilege that needs to be acknowledged as a thread throughout the stories. a great pairing for us was the intro in salt, fat, acid, heat. It gave another example of how someone combined a traditional school path with self directed learning. I think this helped because it and a few of the stories in this book showed the hard work of self directed learning.
May 19, 2021
The principles are really good for getting started on a serious pursuit of self directed learning. I think our educational system would be better off with a little more of this approach. Formal education often seems to get in the way of learning but this book has some good ideas for breaking out of the rut.
December 28, 2023
3.5 stars.
I’ve phased out reading self-help books, but I enjoy watching motivational videos of a self-made millionaire and this was the book he recommended everyone read for success. So, I did.
Most advice is all the same, just different word choice. I think I was expecting something different, but the stories were interesting enough.
I’ve phased out reading self-help books, but I enjoy watching motivational videos of a self-made millionaire and this was the book he recommended everyone read for success. So, I did.
Most advice is all the same, just different word choice. I think I was expecting something different, but the stories were interesting enough.
May 8, 2024
This book is not written for everyone and also not for those who have travelled a long way in the direction of self-learning (because you won't learn anything new from this book that you haven't experienced on your own) but can be a mind-opener for people who are confused and feel that school and college can not teach everything and value their own opinions.
February 18, 2025
Practical tips, read it for work purposes.
One thing I DEFINITELY wanna do is take a proper summer off (2 months) and just enrol myself in a camp for adults (if that's a thing somewhere in India).
If not, just intern at 4 orgs for 2 weeks each. Bare minimum I wish to do. I've been doing things by a structure for far too long.
One thing I DEFINITELY wanna do is take a proper summer off (2 months) and just enrol myself in a camp for adults (if that's a thing somewhere in India).
If not, just intern at 4 orgs for 2 weeks each. Bare minimum I wish to do. I've been doing things by a structure for far too long.
February 22, 2017
This book is mostly inspiration, not as much practical tips. So for younger readers who need to be convinced it's possible this is a good read. But if you're looking for ways to make it happen, then this won't do very much for you.
December 18, 2018
What a terrific little book about maintaining the passion of life long learning outside of a formal classroom. For those that may not like school this is a great introduction to there is more than one way to gain knowledge. Highly recommend it.
April 21, 2019
This was a good read. Very inspiring and gave a good overview of what successful self directed learning can look like. I still have young kids but I do homeschool and feel like this would be a great book to give my kids as they begin their teen years.
March 20, 2021
This was like a quick version of his other book, Why Are You Sending Your Kid to School. I really liked the positive focus--not what he's rebelling against but what he's rooting for. I read this thinking of helping my kids, but it inspired me to want to be more of a self-directed learner myself.
January 23, 2024
Great book for younger people, directs them in life on how to learn, grow and expand their knowledge. It covers almost every way to learn and how to do it properly. I would recommend it to everyone around the age of 18-30!
May 11, 2024
Great book. Short and sweet. I really appreciated the prompts he gave for changing how you think and speak about situations.
It had some helpful reminders and things to think about as a parent of unschoolers and those that want to keep pursuing knowledge.
It had some helpful reminders and things to think about as a parent of unschoolers and those that want to keep pursuing knowledge.
August 16, 2024
god send us to learn
This book is amazing it thought me how to become better at self education . And thats a reason why good send us aswell to learn life is not just about happiness its about everything single emotion you have and learning
This book is amazing it thought me how to become better at self education . And thats a reason why good send us aswell to learn life is not just about happiness its about everything single emotion you have and learning
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November 16, 2024I read this at the recommendation of my boss and I think it's a good resource, but also I am not sure how much of what I read is actually new-to-me information, and how much was just reminding me what learning and motivations and intentions really are.
June 21, 2017
might be good for a teenager. Not deep enough for me
May 14, 2018
Wonderful!
A gem of a book, full of good ideas and inspiration for pursuing a lifelong adventure of self-directed learning. Highly recommend.
A gem of a book, full of good ideas and inspiration for pursuing a lifelong adventure of self-directed learning. Highly recommend.
January 2, 2020
The best book I've ever read about andragogy and heutagogy. Simple examples on how to be a self-directed learner in various situations. It was a watershed on My studies about adult education.
July 15, 2020
It would have gotten 5 * for being a very engaging memoir/advice book, but he ended with Carol Dweck and I have a fixed mindset about her and her work.
June 4, 2021
A quick and easy read. Succinct chapters offer good advice in bite sized chunks.
September 2, 2023
Concise and simply said. Short and digestible
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews