my new (wildly different) reading goal for 2024
after years of reading 150-200ish books a year, i'm mixing things up. and sharing a LOT of goal ideas for inspo!
let’s talk about reading goals, shall we? i, for the first time ever, am setting a wildly (for me) LOW goal, and it’s sparked some questions, and i am excited to share my rationale behind mixing things up this year.
first, let’s travel back in time a bit!
i’ve always looooved reading, but somewhere along the way in high school/college, i stopped reading as much for fun. it took me a few years post-grad to really get back into reading, and 2015 was the first year i set an intentional goal to read 50 books, kickstarting what would rapidly become a reignited love affair with reading as much as i could.
i read 84 books that year, over 150 the next, but it was hitting 200 in 2017 that really unlocked something in me. once i knew i COULD read 200 books a year, it was always in the back of my mind that i SHOULD.
(please note! this has so much to do with my enneagram 1, firstborn daughter, high-achieving, gifted kid personality! i have this innate thing in me that makes me feel like i have to be PERFECT and always IMPROVING and can never just CHILL and it is exhausting!!!)
so anywho. i hovered around the 150-200ish range ever year since then, mostly really enjoying reading that much, finding a pretty steady pace and rhythm with it, BUT ALSO always feeling this underlying pressure to keep reading, keep reading, keep reading.
you all have seen some of the sillier things i’ve done in attempts to hit those big numbers (reread american girl books! read a lot of holiday novellas! fly through fluffy romances! etc!) and while none of those are bad things, i knew that i was MAINLY doing them TO HIT THE NUMBER.
and the more i saw myself making choices in my reading life to serve this arbitrary goal INSTEAD OF seeking enjoyment or chasing my interests or picking books i was truly excited about reading, i knew something had to shift.
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