This year was the second year I set myself a goal. One that was born out of a frustration that my attention being stolen from me and my concern that I needed to get it back. 2022 my goal was to watch more movies. Like most New Year’s resolutions, it failed miserably in the first few weeks. Whereas reading, that’s my thing!

Making Goals

Setting a goal always seems a bit strange to me. I followed in the footsteps of Matt Birchler for movies, and was encouraged by micro.blog to set one for reading. The trouble was I had no idea what to set it at. I had been using the excellent Epilogue app for a while, but not long enough to track a whole year.

I honestly had no idea how many books I could read in a year, and even setting a goal based on books read seemed strange. Some books are easy to polish off in a day or so, whereas some I have read required a long slog of considerable effort. I thought about hours of reading, but that seemed like a chore. I could think about counting pages turned, I guess, but that’s more work than I want to put in. So books read is a happy medium.

I settled on 30. It was a bit finger in the air, sitting a long way below the extreme levels I have seen online, and also felt achievable. 30 books was a little over 2 a month and with a long backlog of purchases I felt confident.

The Result

That realistic goal setting turned out to be the perfect motivation. Once I had worked my way through the books I had waiting, there was a considerable lag in the middle of the year. However, with confidence in my heart and the positive results I was experiencing, the motivation to read even a few pages a day really helped.

I finished the year completing 38 books. There were a few re-reads in there, but they all make up a fairly eclectic bunch that I have mostly enjoyed. Check them all out below.

More than the small feeling of satisfaction having met a goal set 12 months ago, is the difference it has made to my mind. I feel like I have made a small win in the fight for my attention. Taken back, something that I felt I was losing control of, and learnt plenty of lessons along the way. I love reading now more than ever, and I owe a thank you to the micro.blog community that pushed me there.