In 2011 I decided to start a New Year's resolution, to read more books. I never liked reading in my youth, something about deciphering Romeo and Juliet was not interesting to me what-so-ever. The books we read in school were to help us understand and mold our learning, but it never gave me much interest. I even would skip most reading assignments and found myself skimming and picking out key points throughout the book, plotted them together and voila!! A story. Makes perfect sense why I never excelled in English class.
I was pregnant and had a ton of time to myself at the time, prepping for this little baby. I didn't realize that there was so much to read about the development of a healthy baby. What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff was my guide to get through the highs and lows of pregnancy. It was totally bizarre how scary the internet can be, almost like a tug-of-war of information trying to grab your attention on co-sleeping, nursing, and diapers. It was insane. So I turned to books for the first time and found that I did like reading, but only when I wanted to.
I expanded into novels such as the Hunger Games series which were fun and dramatic. Quick reads with good reviews were the start for me, because I started to develop this read a book halfway, then start another kind of thing. My friends would ask, "What have you been reading?" to which I would reply with a distance glance mentally picturing all 5 books that lay half read by my bedside. "Oh you know, I started this one book.." I never seem to finish them.
This is when I made my New Years resolution, I knew I wanted to read more, but more appropriately I specifically, I needed to finish the darn books!
So I wrote down, "Finish 1 book per month."
It seemed like such a small goal, but it was doable! I thought 5 books a month would be good, but one finished book a month is great.
After finishing a book, I would tell someone about it so I can share the excitement or the knowledge that I learned from it. It also kept me accountable to tell people about what I was reading, especially when someone would ask how it was going.
The more I read, the more I realized how much calmer my life started to become. The progress of reading was that some months I would read only one book, but then others I would read and finish almost 3! Keeping track of my progress showed that there was a positive trend in my reading, and it kept me motivated to keep going!
Finally, I would celebrate finishing a book by putting it on the left side of the shelf. I had an owl figurine at the time that was heavy enough to hold a line of books. All the books that I had read were on the left versus the books on the right were to be read in the future. Maybe some day I will alphabetize them!
Reading a book a month added so much flavor to my life. Even years later, I have expanded into audio books and love spending time with stories I truly enjoy.
New Years resolutions were a way for me to expand myself and try something new. It doesn't always have to be related to health and fitness, though they can be great goals to work towards! A few others that I have worked on are playing guitar, writing poems, getting stronger, and climbing mountains. Each one by using this method have stuck with me in a growing trend.
Identify and specify your goal.
Write it down.
Tell someone about your New Years resolution.
Keep track of your progress.
Celebrate the wins.
Happy New Years!!
- Coach Burke