At the beginning of this year, I had a goal to become a voracious reader! I went big; I thought I’d read at least 40 books; I bought a Kindle Oasis and started searching for excellent titles to devour.
However, by the end of the year, I have just finished four entire books and many halves or quarter reads. Though I am not disappointed, and I would like to argue it was for the better.
Intention Of Reading:
My intention of reading books has always been to acquire knowledge, learn something new, and generally become a better human in some capacity.
If your intention of reading is to have fun or some entertainment, then it’s completely alright to read as many books as you’d want, and you can skip this blog post :)
On Acquiring Knowledge:
Learning a new concept requires you to load up the idea, sleeping over it, and allowing your subconscious mind to process it till it becomes part of you. This is a time-consuming and challenging task.
Keep burdening your brain with new concepts without the necessary reflection; it won’t integrate with your consciousness.
Action Steps:
- Read up materials around the theme you want to grasp.
- Reflect on the idea at various intervals.
- Use it at work or day to day life in a different context.
- Literally, sleep over it and give it some time.
On Finishing Books:
Reading a book cover to cover that isn’t engaging or relevant for you so that you can tout that you read X amount of books is not the best use of your time.
Instead of reading the entire book, find what interests you, read those sections, and parts related to it. Post that, if you find the book isn’t keeping you hooked at the moment, feel free to move on.
Our attention is one of the most precious resources we have.
Action Steps:
- Stop reading books cover to cover.
- Read segments that interest you.
- Once the book isn’t engaging, move to something better.
On Being Content:
In a world obsessed with excessiveness, it might be hard to on being content. The fear of missing out is real; we always have the hot new books coming.
Not running in this race to pursue books that interest you requires you to be kind to yourself and seeking ideas you want to learn more about. It’s hard to, especially when everyone screams you to consume more.
It takes courage to go on an information diet and be content.
Action Steps:
- Read to be content instead of being top of everything.
- Learn on topics that you like, instead of bestsellers of the season.
- Understand what reading means to you and personalize your own reading journey.
Conclusion:
Becoming better needs effort and patience; it doesn’t happen overnight.
Instead of reading 100 books this year, read 10 books on different subjects that you wanted to always learn about.
Give it the attention and time that it deserves. You’ll digest things much more effectively while being a lot more content and relaxed!
