I'm going to change things up a bit this year: I'm not making any book-related resolutions (my actual life ones? Simple: drink more water, hit 85,000 steps a week, stick to my grading calendar at work, and save more money. So more about maintaining good habits).
As I look back at mine from last year, I accomplished some and not others. So, pretty par for the course, since that's been the trend since I've started making them many years ago.
Considering I have an active toddler, a full time job that requires a lot of work at home, a house to take care of, and like to be active, I read a lot. I read a mix of authors and I know what I like. I have no intentions of imposing any book buying bans on myself, and I am happy with the genres I read.
I also am the type of person who likes to finish what she starts and one with a decent amount of discipline. So when I see that I didn't accomplish something or I fell short of a goal I feel a nagging sense of disappointment in myself (see also: my to-do list every weekend of my life).
Sure, there are things I'd like to be better at, like reading books from a variety of countries, reading a few more classics than normal, and being better about commenting on blogs, but I honestly do what I can. Once things start feeling obligatory then I start resisting. And why would I take one of my favorite past times and make it feel like a chore? In college when I was reading a two or three books a week for all of my classes I'd sometimes dread sitting down with a book (if only I had appreciated my life at the time) and I don't want to make myself ever feel that way again. This is part of the reason why I don't do any of the reading challenges.
So, in 2017 I'm going to read whatever I want. Not read whatever I want. Buy whatever I want. Reading makes me happy and we're going to keep it that way.
Have fun with your laid back reading goals. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteThat step goal is impressive! I have trouble going that high consistently unless it is summer myself.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right though - if challenges and resolutions make reading feel like a chore or an assignment, it's better to skip them. I've cut back on challenges, but I can't resist a few fun ones.