So my goal this year is to read two books a month. That’s not an outlandish goal by any means. But with three kids, it felt like a good goal to me. So far this year this has looked like a chapter or two a night, or I’ll read some in the afternoon. Pretty casual. I’ve been hitting my mark each month, but some months I have to be more intentional about that goal. Like in June.
Sweet June rolled around. And we went on vacation, (ooooh a flight, I’ll read then, as I’m chasing my two year old down the aisle), I got to spend time with my best friend (totally worth not reading!!!) and so vacation was kind of a bust on reading. No big deal, I’ll read when we get home I thought. Needless to say, my books I picked were hard to mull through chapters, which I do not like to do anyways. A parenting book that is going to take me six months or more to read, because it’s heady. Therefore, I only finished one book in June. Everybody Always, by Bob Goff. (As I look back now, if that is the only book I read this year it was worth it, great read!)
Now this is where my downfall normally happens when I set a goal.
I failed.
Goal: two books a month, read: 1 book in June. Those numbers aren’t matching sister! There’s still one left over which equals fail. (I’m math minded so I see a lot of life this way.)
For some reason, I channeled this thinking towards another route. My books were too tough to thumb through quickly. So in July, I picked up a few young readers novels at the library about the Holocaust. Tough topic, but I was confident I’d finish them in a week. Boosting my self-esteem on not finishing my goal for June. July pasted and I had read four books! Boom.
And I read four books without feeling like I was just reading to finish, I was able to absorb.
I love this. It was simple. I need simple. Sometimes our course just needs a little boost or readjustment, not a whole overhaul.
Shift your perspective, give yourself a boost, and continue on those goals you set in January. You are worth it. And I bet if you wrote them down, the goals you set are worth it too.
