One major hurdle people face when pursuing their own self-education, is how to articulate what they learned.

Rather, to prove that they actually learned it, and the same goes for the Modular Degree. It is a self-directed system, and sure you may have taken real courses. However you don't have that piece of paper saying you did!

Why is Self-Education Important?

  • If you are not self-learning in this golden age of information. Then you are leaving a massive opportunity on the table.
  • Learning on your own terms builds adaptability, it changes your way of thinking, and you get to go at your own pace. As fast or slow as you need.
  • A majority of employers would rather have you have the capability of being able to learn something new. Rather than having a degree. Some roles require it, especially due to HR complications. However being able to adapt and learn is far more important.

Here is a simple post to help you articulate what you learn more effectively.

How Can Being an Autodidact Help You Professionally?

Being able to learn is a base life skill, that applies to quite literally every single other skill in the world.

Personal, professional, and everything in between. If you want to learn something, then you first have to learn HOW to learn. Being an autodidact means you're a self-learner, pushing yourself to get through the boring parts of learning without external pull.

It shows that you have discipline, initiative, and grit. Which are skills that employers greatly love to have.

Nearly every single successful person you can think of, from Steve Jobs to Gary Vee, and more. They all have gotten where they are because they learned. Maybe through books, maybe through observation (like Vaynerchuk), and maybe through taking college courses he wasn't even enrolled for (Jobs).

What is a Modular Degree?

Think of it as a ‘create-your-own-degree’, it is a framework or kit, that helps you create a list of learning materials. An organizational structure for your own
self-directed-learning.

It's built by combining online courses, books, articles, audiobooks, videos, podcasts, and more. All into one cohesive master list, then you simply tag the type and the subject. From there you can decide how you want to pursue it.

You can choose a fast, medium, or slow/lifelong path. After that you then choose what taxonomy you want for organizing. It pretty simple, it could be sprints, semesters, subject based, or even something you come up with.

If you're doing a boot camp style run, then you can choose sprints. Allowing you to have a break in between them if you want. Or do four sprints in a month.

There's nothing stopping you from interleaving Sprints and Semesters. In fact I think this is similar to what I did without realizing it. I had chosen semesters, but I had added sprints in-between for new things I wanted to learn in the meantime.

It is all based on how you want to learn, and WHAT you want to learn. For instance, a Modular Degree in Digital Marketing could combine HubSpot, Google Analytics, and YouTube video tutorials.

How Can You Talk About Your Modegree to Others?

If someone asks "What's a Modegree?". then you can tell them it is a degree I tailored to focus on the modern skills I needed to learn to be proficient at my job.

Another great idea from GPT, couldn't have said it better myself:

  • At Work: “Frame it as your way of gaining specialized skills to solve problems.”
  • In Interviews: “Showcase the specific projects or results tied to your Modegree.”
  • With Peers: “Highlight how it reflects your unique learning style and interests.”

Here Is How You Can Be Confident in It!

“Every expert started as a self-learner.” -ChatGPT

I was asking GPT what it thought about self-learning to help me organize my thoughts for this post. It said something pretty profound, that every expert had started as a self-learner. Not only when you start something do YOU have to pursue new knowledge in that field.

In addition, it is only you who can really learn it. You can't just be told something, it doesn't stick. When I taught swimming I couldn't just tell them to do "X", and then you won't swallow water. I had to let the person deal with the problem themselves, so that they could learn it on their own.

Meaning each time you make progress in some sort of learning. Whether it is from a textbook, course, youtube video, coach, teacher, or guru. They can only provide the information. It is up to you to learn.

Some things you can do:

  • I would say to show off your Modular Degree. Find a way to showcase it on a portfolio/personal brand website. Documenting your journey is a great way to prove to others you know your stuff.
  • Your own confidence lies within. You have to own it in order to have it. If you feel like an imposter, then that is what you are going to portray.
  • There is not really a "fake it till you make it" because you already know it.

Be proud in your own self-learning! You are not an Imposter.

Owning your own education is not something to be ashamed of, and if anything it should be pride inducing.

Having the audacity to choose your own path, and then having the intrinsic motivation to keep going when it gets tough. That is definitely something to be proud of, and not everything does it.

I think that anyone can have the capability to do it, but a lot of people don't push past the plateaus. Proud of you!