Every year, for the past couple of years, I have listed (at least mentally) “read more” as one of my goals. This usually meant setting a goal in Goodreads with the number of books I planned on tackling, reading about half my book goal in January and February, falling off track from March through November, and then scrambling to complete my goal by cramming in as many books as possible during the holidays. My yearly book goals were often pretty low – from 12 books (one book a month) one year, to 24 books (two books a month) another year. I learned not to set my goals too high because I ultimately I never seemed to meet the challenge.
Last year, I just barely accomplished my goal of reading 20 books, so this year I thought I’d challenge myself to read 25. I ended up blowing that number out of the water by reading 80 books, exceeding my goal by 320%! As someone who has always loved reading, but could never seem to “find the time” to read, I think I finally found the right mix of factors that motivated me to read consistently throughout the year.