Your Syllabus, Your Rules. Life’s Too Short.

robert

Your Syllabus, Your Rules. Life’s Too Short.

Two years ago, I caught myself scrolling through yet another list of “must-read books before you die.”

There it was: 100 titles, neatly arranged, mostly written by dead men with big beards.

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I thought: If I actually tried to finish all this, I’d be dead before book twenty.

That’s when it hit me — life’s too short to live by someone else’s syllabus.

The False Comfort of Other People’s Lists

We love lists because they give us certainty. Read these books, watch these films, follow this routine, and you’ll be “well-read” or “well-rounded.”

But here’s the trap: other people’s lists are someone else’s idea of a life well lived.

Yours might look different.

You might get more out of one slim volume of poetry than out of five volumes of Tolstoy. You might prefer a good pub story to a Harvard lecture. You might learn more about humanity by watching your neighbour try to back a caravan into a driveway than by reading an 800-page biography of Churchill.

The point is, the curriculum of your life doesn’t need external approval.

The Syllabus You Don’t Need Permission For

When I took this seriously, I began with a stop-doing list.

I ditched books I was pretending to enjoy. I unsubscribed from newsletters that made me feel behind. I closed the tab on those “50 documentaries that will change your life” articles.

Instead, I asked: What do I actually want to learn?

For me, it was:

  • Why some people stay curious at 70 while others pack it in at 40.

  • How AI might be a tool for creativity instead of just more noise.

  • The history of the North East of England, where I grew up.

That became my syllabus. Three topics. No committee approval.

Small Choices Add Up

The moment you set your own syllabus, something shifts.

You read with interest instead of obligation.
You remember things because they matter to you.
You share what you’ve learned with energy, because you care.

And here’s the kicker: people notice.

When you talk about something you’ve discovered on your own terms — whether in a blog, a conversation, or over a pint — it carries more spark than ticking off item 37 on someone else’s list.

The Challenge

If you’re stuck, overwhelmed by the world’s infinite “shoulds,” try this:

  • Take 10 minutes and write down three things you want to learn this year.

  • Ignore whether they’re “important” or “impressive.”

  • Treat that page as your personal syllabus.

Then follow it. Add to it. Tear bits out. Rewrite it.

Because nobody gives you a certificate for reading the right books or watching the right films.

But you do get the life you designed.

Your syllabus, your rules.

Life’s too short for anything else.

✨ If this struck a chord, don’t leave it sitting in your browser. I share more ideas like this every week on my Substack, The Old Grey Thinker. People who join are already building their own syllabus for life — you’ll want to be in that circle: https://substack.com/@theoldgreythinker

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