Why Grown-Up University?

Grown-Up University is a self-improvement blog run by me, Leslie.  I am a psychology Ph.D. living in Pittsburgh, PA. I am also trying to get my act together while I’m still sort of young (if you consider 34 sort of young).

This blog chronicles my experiment in learning to improve my health, happiness, and relationships, and in the process I hope finally to feel like an actual Grown-Up.  Where better to learn than college?  Sadly:

1)      I already finished college.

2)      No college I know of can help me fix the baggage I’m carrying around.

So I’ve designed my own college with my own classes.  Starting on September 1, 2010, I set a goal of finishing 9 classes over 3 semesters.  Just like the real, tuition-charging kind of college, each class in Grown Up University has a syllabus explaining my course goals, reading lists, assignments, and exams.

What kinds of things will I be doing?

To start with, I worked on my eating, exercise, work and leisure habits for the first four months.  In the second  “semester,” I completed three classes: Food Science 101, Physical Education 101, and Occupational and Leisure Studies 121.

Over the first two semesters of my blog, I went a month without television or eating out, I read over15 books on my course topics, I started regularly exercising and cooking, I took a gourmet cooking class, completed a weight lifting regimen with a friend, and I reconnected with one of my oldest passions, dancing (among other things).  It didn’t go perfectly, but I accomplished so much of what I set out to do.  For the full deets, check out the course syllabi and “Completed Courses” posts.

This project was initially an experiment to see if a year was enough time to close the gap between the kind of person I am and the kind of person I want to be. It turns out that I needed a little more time, and took a 10-month hiatus from my blog.  I’m returning this winter (Jan 2012) for a six-month semester working on two things: healthy eating and exercise (“Healthy Living 103″) and living in accordance with my own values (“Authentic Living 101″)

What kind emotional baggage was I carrying around when I started my blog?

• I ate too much food that’s unhealthy for both me and the environment, usually out of take-out containers.
• I was a sedentary, lazy couch potato and had trouble dragging my tush to the gym more that once a month.
• I spent too much money on useless crap I didn’t need.
• I neglected my own interests and talents, mostly in favor of using my spare time to watch lots of TV.
• I spent too much time dealing with irrelevant daily tasks, rather than looking deeply at the meaning of life.
• I haven’t “given back” to my community.
• I got distracted by day-to-day life and was not the family member, wife, and friend I’d like to be all the time.
• I used more of the earth’s resources than the environment can sustain, adding to the Earth’s problems.

Maybe you can relate.

Why I want to graduate from Grown Up University

This project is about me taking the time to school myself in getting my act together and living according to my values.  Being done with my Ph.D., I finally have the time to think about what I am doing with my life.  I am a psychologist who helps people change for a living, but struggle to change myself, and I don’t want to be a hypocrite.   What I needed was a project to shake things up.

Grown-Up University is that project.