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As we find ourselves near the close of another year, I’m hearing people talk about Hello Goodbye, words of the year for next year, goals, and resolutions.  For some people, that’s their love language, but for others, it can all be too much.  If you fall in the latter group, like me, start by naming what matters to you.  Let’s work through this looking at your (my) reading life.  Why are you setting goals?  For me, I set goals so that I have a record of what I want to pursue, where I want my energy to go, so that if I get off course, I have that “map” to get me back on track.  Are my goals going to be specific?  Mostly no, because again this year, that doesn’t matter to me.  I have a target number and I have some priorities in what books those are, and that’s it, because that’s what matters to me, and more will just cause stress.  Even Modern Mrs. Darcy isn’t putting out her challenge this year, because people seem to be stressed by their reading lives and that is the opposite of what she wants readers to feel, and the opposite of what we want readers to feel.  Unless you’re in school, which is a whole other bag of worms, you’re likely reading for your own enjoyment and / or growth because you want to and it helps you feel like a person.  If it’s stressing you out (again, unless you’re in school), then you’re doing it wrong.  Take a step back and consider what matters to you about reading.  Start there, and maybe join us next Thursday to consider how some of the other principles from The Lazy Genius Way can help you look to other parts of 2022.  

All that said, what matters to me is that the books I read help me feel like a person.  I want to read books that help me escape, feel, and / or  learn.  I will be continuing with the goals of reading diverse authors, reading at least 1 nonfiction book a month, and finishing the Virtual Book Club books before book club (not because I should but because it stresses me when I don’t – because reducing stress matters to me).  My goals also include averaging two titles each week, for a total of around 104 books in 2022.  Please don’t let that number intimidate you, or make you think any shoulds about your reading life.  When setting goals (at home and at work), I look at what has been done, and what feels right for the next year.  I know I could average more (and reading more is a common, admirable goal for many readers) but I don’t want my reading life to be stressful – because it matters to me that reading is a stress relief, not added stress.  I also have priorities that aren’t reading and take time, and I can’t do all the things.  Please remember this when considering your own goals.  You have a finite number of hours, so if you want to spend more time on reading, or any other particular activity, that time has to come from somewhere.  A goal of 12 or even 6 books is admirable, but please only make goals you build routines to achieve, otherwise it’ll just be shoulding on you and that’s not helpful.  

What goals are you setting now to make your reading life easier later? 

~Nikki

PS: I feel the need to state, I haven’t even started my reread of The Lazy Genius Way yet, and I am already channeling my beloved Kendra Adachi (just like I did last year) and also already think it’s the best choice for jumping back into life after a two week break from school and work, oh and a new year, that too I guess.

I know I’m not the only one feeling like December goes by way too fast and is filled with way too many things to do. (Even if those things are enjoyable in the moment and stressful leading up to them.) I have been sitting at my computer for literally 2 hours trying to settle in and write the words to this post, but I keep getting sidetracked and distracted by ‘five-minute tasks.’ Did you realize that twelve five-minute tasks creates an hour of your day you can’t get back? Did you just feel called out and seen? Yeah, me, too. Even six five-minute tasks can get you off track from the plan you created for your day. And let’s be real transparent, here, what five-minute tasks ACTUALLY only take FIVE MINUTES?! Pretty much none of them. Ya girl here needs to stop with this messing with her already jam-packed schedule.

What does that have to do with my reading goals? Well, I think this year I am going to be much more selective on WHEN I read and also WHAT I read during those time periods. I have recently tried to implement that on weekdays before noon I only read non-fiction titles. That’s great in theory, but what if the morning is the only time that I have to read all day, and I’m on a time schedule for blog posting? Struggle bus. So I’m going to make goals about the way I read for 2022 rather than being specific about what titles I read in 2022. 

Like Nikki stated, I’m going to continue to read at least one non-fiction title a month, with diverse authors as much as possible, as well as stick to my 100 books a year. I KNOW I can and do read more than 100 books a year, but I’ll discuss that more in the next paragraph. I’m going to stick to only reading nonfiction before noon on weekdays, and have that be 20 minutes of my Miracle Morning S.A.V.E.R.S. everyday! [Check out this post from 2020 that dives deeper into this title by Hal Elrod.] Nikki has built-in reading time with her littles during bedtime every evening (ah, the routines of littles that can be both a struggle and a blessing), and perhaps I need to create that time and space for myself as well. Let’s see if self-imposing a bedtime on myself, a more natural night owl than early bird, will help create a bedtime routine with reading involved rather than Instagram Reels. (I have a problem, this is me calling out for help.)

I have made a point, perhaps not on the blog directly, but in life, that every person needs to have a place in their life where they make goals and crush them. And if your Reading Life is the place where you make it a point to CRUSH your goals, because a win in one area of your life snowballs to wins in other areas, then that’s where you create solid, reachable goals. 100 books might seem like a ridiculous amount if you’ve only read 20 books this year. So maybe next year stretch your goal to 25 books. It’s more than the year before but still doable if you keep consistent and track it. I’m going to keep my goal at 100 books because I know that, any way you look at it, 100 is a damn lot of books. 350 pages for 100 books is 35,000 pages with 300 words per page and I’m looking at tracking 10,500,000 words in 2022. And that’s only with using averages, and most books I read are usually longer than the average. [That’s What She Said.] I’m going to keep tracking my books on Goodreads and in my planner, because it brings me joy – but I haven’t decided how I am going to color code for 2022, besides with all the stickers! Baby steps, y’all.

How do you plan on creating routines for meeting and tracking your goals so that you can reach them in 2022?

~Ashley

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