I recently finished reading The Fellowship of The Ring and I thought it was amazing. I’ve always wanted to read it and it finally happened. I highly recommend it if you’re into fantasy novels but this article isn’t about me trying to get you to read The Lord of The Rings (Even though you should).
After finishing a book I always seem to think about how I managed to read it. So many hours were needed and quite a bit of dedication and discipline to read it around my job and other commitments. After reading lots of novels and non-fiction, this comes easily and is just part of the fun. But in the beginning, it can be a struggle, and that’s part of the reason a lot of people don’t read regularly.
Initially, I thought that fiction was a waste of time like watching an extended TV show that was entertaining but didn’t bring any value. But then I realized that how I managed to get through the book in the first place is a lesson that can be applied to many other goals in my life.
It’s an easy way to practice reaching a goal and being able to easily measure and track your progress. This way you can see what works and what helps you to reach your goals and what doesn’t.
In this article, I will share a few examples of how reading helped me to achieve goals outside of reading and finishing novels.
Pushing Through
Most books will probably have some chapters or whole sections that aren’t as interesting as the rest. I remember when reading A Song of Ice and Fire, whenever there was a Bran chapter I just wanted it to be over so I could get to the Jon Snow chapter that was next. I would push through and eventually reach the chapters that were more enjoyable for me. I remember not regretting reading those boring chapters when I finished the book.
This is important to practice and can be applied to many other goals. It’s not always going to be fun and exciting. There will be hard and boring parts that need to be pushed through to succeed in the overall goal. But in the end, I never regret it and have the same feeling I have when I pushed through to finish a thick novel.
It also taught me to let go of the goal if I’m not enjoying it at all or find more interesting ways to achieve the same goal.
For example, if I’m reading and decide I hate the book why bother pushing through to complete it. If the goal is to finish a book then it makes more sense to pick another book rather than force yourself to read the one your not enjoying. It can feel horrible to have lots of unfinished books but I like to think of how I think of articles online. If the writing or story doesn’t resonate with me then I just click away and forget I was ever there. I don’t feel bad that I didn’t finish it. Why cant the same be done with books?
Now you might be thinking that in some cases you just have to complete a goal, no matter whether you like it or not. Maybe you have to lose weight or have to make money and you might not enjoy what you do to pursue those goals.
Reading has taught me that if I have to do it I can find more interesting ways to achieve it. I could change my reading spot. Instead of reading on my bed maybe I could read on a beach or go out into the garden and read in the sun. I could try using an audiobook or a kindle instead.
These changes usually helped me to get through a book that I had to read and the same thing can be done with other goals. In the case of making money maybe you could try to start a business or decide to interview for more interesting jobs in the same field. And for losing weight you could try mixing up you’re workouts or playing a sport instead of running on a treadmill.
Repeating these by reading lots of novels helps to ingrain these in my mind so I can do it more instinctively when reaching for any goal.
Chip Away at Them
How often do you see people with a book in their hand when they’ve got a few extra minutes. On the bus or train or maybe in a waiting room. Readers know that they can utilize every spare minute to finish their goal of completing the book. Every minute counts.
For me, the easiest way to do this is to carry around a Kindle with me so I can whip it out if I’ve got an extra few minutes. Before I knew it all those mini sessions added up and I had completed the book I was reading.
It’s valuable to practice this through reading books as the mentality you develop will help with other goals. The mentality to chip away at your goals whenever you’ve got some free time. Even if it’s just 10 minutes here and there.
I know some goals will need more than 10-minute sessions each time but the point is that reading in this way has helped me to utilize my time better when working toward other goals as I’ve always been practicing ways to fit in extra reading whenever I can.
Also, the habit of repetition that this builds will help with all goals. It makes it easier to keep coming back, either in unexpected spare time or when I’ve calved out time specifically from my schedule.
Passion Helps
This is a simple one but thought it would be worth mentioning.
When reading just like with anything else, the stories and characters that you’re most passionate about will fly by. Before you know it you would have finished the book and be on amazon searching for the sequel. It will feel easy to read and none of the pages will drag.
Finding books and stories you’re passionate about can help you to find other goals you’re passionate about and will prove to you that passion does make it easier.
For example, if you like reading fantasy stories or books about chess, then it could help you to realize other goals that you’ll be passionate about. Goals like writing fantasy short stories or trying to win a chess tournament.
Reading has taught me how to push through if I’m not that passionate about it and also to prioritize goals that I am passionate about as I know ill be able to speed through them.
Easy to Measure
With some goals, I find it hard to measure whether I’m improving or getting closer to the finish line. It’s hard to gauge sometimes if my writing is improving for example. Asking for feedback can help but it just comes down to people’s opinions. An increase in positive feedback is a good sign but it’s still not as clear-cut as when trying to finish a book.
The bookmark is an instant measurement of where you are within a book. You can see straight away how much you read that day or session and how much you’ve got left until you finish the chapter or the whole book itself.
Also, the bookshelf is a quick and easy measurement of how many books you’ve got through in a month or year.
This helped me as I could easily measure what things made me read quicker and then I could apply them to other goals. One of the things reading showed me is that I could get through more pages of a book early in the day while drinking my morning coffee. I figured out that’s when I’m most productive. Now I can translate that to any other goal. Like right now I’m currently writing this article while drinking coffee at 7 am.
I found it’s because I need to work on my personal goals before I start work at 9 am. I needed to prioritize myself for a few hours each day before prioritizing other people for the rest of the day, otherwise, I wouldn’t get anything done. Reading consistently in the morning and measuring how much I read helped me to realize this about myself.
Conclusion
Reading more books has helped me practice discipline and repetition and helped me to find things I’m passionate about.
I hope this article has helped someone to find more value in the number of books they read or has encouraged them to read more than they do now.
This article was written by Jason, who is a software engineer by day and an aspiring writer by night, and writes at https://medium.com/@j.hart122334/about