.png)
I've always enjoyed reading. Granted there was a time in my life (high school) where reading wasn't overly prominent, I've rekindled the love over the past decade.
It was 2023 however that really jumped me to a personal best level and taught me something about my health practices... but maybe not how you'd expect. By the end of that year, I read 12 books. Now for some reading this, you may do that in a few weeks time. Hell, a few days even.
Side note: This brings up a great reminder immediately doesn't it? - It's important what YOU do and how YOU feel, without comparing yourself to others. Don't take away your own joy, progress and happiness when you do something you're proud of. Be proud of YOUR progress, YOUR learning and YOUR positive change as a human!!
For me, I've been a slow reader most of my life. Granted, after these past few years, I definitely recognize I'm speeding up. The other factor in that is that I used to read predominately at bed time; meaning I'd read 5 pages (if I'm lucky) and fall asleep. That doesn't get much reading done. 🤣
The pandemic really sparked changes in my reading habits that have stuck with me since "those days" that began in early 2020:
-I read in the morning, afternoon AND/OR at bed time
-I have at least a couple books on the go at one time (at least a fiction and non-fiction. Not usually more than one fiction book at a time though)
-My morning reading is often work-related books
-My bed time reading is fiction, biographies or non-fiction/non-work related books (such as fly fishing for example)
-I use GoodReads as a means to track my progress on my books (in addition to my Kobo e-reader)
In 2022 when I started using GoodReads, I also discovered the "Reading Challenge". This allows you to set your own challenge to read 'x' number of books in a year. As I said, my slow reading/falling asleep never allowed me to plow through a ton of books even over a 12 month period. So I started small in 2022 and set a challenge to read 5 books. It was a very do-able goal, relatively simple, yet 3-4 more books than I typically would read most years. By the end of the year, I had hit seven. Woo!!!
As you can see in the picture, our cat Oreo was keeping an eye on me throughout my challenge 😉. So helpful.
The following year, as I coach clients to do, I simply progressed things in a small way and challenged myself to read just 6 books in the year. By the time 2023 finished, I read twelve! That's a personal best without question and works out to ONE BOOK per MONTH!! Woo!!!! Why did this work? There was NO pressure. The year prior I had read 7 books which told me, six is totally realistic. Yet, by challenging myself to just read one more than last year as my target, I also knew it was "a little bit better" than last year, but I didn't need to stress about the process. Just read and enjoy. BECAUSE I ENJOYED the process, it doubled my books read.
Last year, in 2024, I bumped the challenge to a bit of a higher target number, to 10 books. I read fourteen by the end of last year. 🥳 Again - No pressure and I enjoyed my reading.
What my reading habit has taught me / reminded me about health practices
Of course we can learn health related and specific things from books. But in the case of this post, I'm looking at it from another perspective...
The first thing I've been reminded of during my reading challenges the past few years and as my clients are used to hearing: FOCUS ON TODAY. If I would've said to myself at the start of 2023 that I'd read a book a month worth this year, I'd tell myself "no way". Once the challenge was set and I simply got "down to work". It was a straight forward action; Just READ. Don't think ahead, don't overanalyze the possibilities... Just READ. Stressing about the number of books at the end of the year WON'T HELP ME READ MORE. But reading more TODAY will help me read more! See? 😉
The second thing I've been reminded of, that relates to our health practices, is that SMALL STEPS CREATE BIG CHANGE. When we read, we don't just snap our fingers and the book is done. We have to read one page at a time as we progress toward the end of the book. There are steps to take to get from the front cover to the back page, just as there are in our health. We can't snap our fingers and hit our goals. We have to take small steps to get there. Focusing on just one page at a time, got me to reading increasingly more each year. That just makes me smile.
The third thing I've been reminded of, is the idea that if we ENJOY WHAT WE'RE DOING we can achieve sustainable and positive results. I used to have the mindset that I "have to" read just one book at a time. "If you start a book, you 'should' finish it before starting another." When I tossed that mindset and approached my reading the way I wanted to, I finally realized THAT in itself was a personal barrier for me. I'm curious by nature. I love many things. The ability to move from one book to another based on how I feel that day, my environment (home, work, cottage etc) or the time of day allowed me to ENJOY my reading much much more, and therefore it keeps me WANTING to COME BACK for more!
The fourth thing I've been reminded of goes along with my previous point, which is that RIGID RULES ARE NOT SUSTAINABLE. It's not that we can't set some level of control to aspects of our daily routines/choices, but making RIGID binary rules DO NOT allow us to create consistent and sustainable habits. In my case, my prior "rules" surrounding my reading held me back and didnt' make it as enjoyable. I know many people (myself included) who have been held back with their health for the same reasons. When we lift "rules" and/or "restrictions" from ourselves in how we do things, we very quickly find an ease and enjoyment in what we choose to do.
The fifth thing (so many 'things' I know!) that my reading challenges have reminded me to do, is setting SIMPLE and REALISTIC goals. Every goal I've challenged myself with is a bit more than the previous year, yet totally attainable when I put in the work. Many of us overlook this element of goal setting, especially when it comes to health. The more goals we achieve / succeed to meet, the better we feel about ourselves. Think about it? What is more motivating for a person - Constantly "beating themselves up" because they "failed" to achieve their goal OR feeling the joy of doing what you set out to do (no matter how small) and being proud of that fact?? The latter is correct. My reading challenges have been a nice little reminder of that.
The sixth thing I was reminded of is the fact that NOTHING is perfect. We can also, within this thought, be reminded that progress is NOT linear. Some days, I read quite a bit. Other days, I don't read at all. But I don't let the "non-reading days" bother me. I don't start bullying myself to get back to it or tell myself I'm being lazy with my goal. I trust that my enjoyment of reading and the books I'm reading will bring me back to it when I'm ready. In saying that, because I have a few books on the go, it's also easy for me to create an environment that will trigger my desire to open a book up. I have books in a few spots at any given time, so that wherever I am, I can read a page or two if I want.
My final reminder from my reading challenges, is that ACTION PRECEDES MOTIVATION. As I remind clients on a daily basis, motivation will not "magically kick in one day". We have to TAKE SIMPLE ACTIONS first. In turn, those ACTIONS CREATE our MOTIVATION. In my case with reading, the act of playing with WHEN I read and also the act of choosing books I wanted to read (even at the same time as another) created an awesome boost to keep going. In addition to that, seeing my progress in each individual book itself AND in my annual challenge has also become a motivator for me, which can only happen by taking the action of reading.
Our health is the same; We can't improve our health or reach our health goals, without taking action.
If you want to learn more about how to approach your health and lifestyle goals in this way, connect with 'Coach D' to see how health and wellness coaching can help you change your mindset to cultivate positive, sustainable (and enjoyable) change.
Comments