What I learned from reading 40 books in 2019
In 2019 I read about 40 books. I achieved this primarily because I had set it as a goal using GoodReads annual challenge. While I could have read more, I did spend more time than I have in the past thinking more deeply about many of them and making notes as I read. That said, I still don’t think I spent enough time doing that with the time I have. The notion of having a target, while motivating me to read, also motivated me to move on to the next book more quickly. Plus, it influenced the length of the books I chose to try and hit my goal. In hindsight, that’s backwards. I’m not reading things to hit an arbitrary objective of books or pages read. I read for enjoyment and gaining knowledge and wisdom. If in reading I’m not meeting those criteria, why bother?
In 2020 I’m revising my approach to reading. Instead of reading for volume, I am reading for ideas. My goals are oriented around picking up ideas and more importantly putting them into action. I’m not worried about how many books I read, but that I ensure I put at least one idea from each book into action. In fact, I intend to revisit several books I’ve read from the last few years to solidify my knowledge from them and see what I’ve actioned, if anything, from them.
To help me do this and keep on track, I’ve created a page on my site which I’ll keep up to date as I read with the ideas that I’ve taken and put into action from the books I read. You can follow my progress on my Book Actions page.
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