My Reading Goal for 2021

In 2019, I set a goal of reading 40 books during the year. I ended up obtaining this goal and immediately set a goal for 50 books in 2020. This goal failed, however, and I ended up reading around 30 books.

During both of those years, these goals felt a little bit wrong. I was adding all my read books to Goodreads and it gave me a sense of achievement when I was progressing. But that sense was more about recognition, or strengthening my identity as an avid reader. I noticed this effect getting stronger in 2020, as I started choosing shorter books to increase my count, avoiding longer books despite them being interesting.

For 2021, I am trying a new approach. Instead of focusing on the number of books, I will track the time I spend reading. Specifically, my goal is to read for 30 minutes every day. During this time, I can read any book I want, and there are no constraints on having to finish a book og only reading new books.

This goals feels much better than my previous ones. The real reason I like to read is for the insights; reading a good book has changed my life for the better many times. The more time I spend reading, the more insights I am able to find. And furthermore, this goal is a much better system:

1. Control. By focusing on the input, rather than the output, I have complete control over my progress.
2. Function over form. There are no vanity metrics anymore, so I can focus on finding insights regardless of e.g. the length of the book, or whether it would make a good update on Goodreads.
3. Accountability. Every day, I will pass or fail on my goal. Last year, I procrastinated reading for a few months until the annual goal felt unattainable. This year, my failures will be immediate, so procrastination is hard.
4. Habitual. The goal is habit-based. Habits are one of the strongest drivers of our behaviour. By adapting a daily reading habit, I am hopeful that reading a lot will gradually become effortless.

When the year is over, instead of a pass or fail, I will have a compliance score. For example, if I manage to read for half an hour on 300 days out of 365, my score will be 300/365 = 82%. The compliance score is not the goal, however, it will only be a result of my daily reading goal.

In addition to reading, I have other similarly defined goals. My compliance scores at the end of the year will tell me how well I did on each, which will help me make adjustments for 2022.

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